6 – called the sound four

"So what is it you wanted to tell me, Sakura-chan?" Naruto looked up from his ramen. He still looked pensive, a little more quiet than he usually was. It unnerved Sakura slightly—but then again, everything seemed to unnerve her nowadays. Naruto hadn't even cheered or seemed smug when she told him she'd go on a date with him to Ichiraku's—there'd only been a nonplussed expression on his face, and "Really, Sakura-chan? Why?"

"There's something you need to know," she'd answered.

Things weren't being normal.

You gave up being normal when you became a ninja, hell, deal with it!

"Er—" Sakura fixed her gaze on the posters lining the back of Ichiraku's. "You told me that you met Orochimaru when you went to find Tsunade-sama."

Naruto's chopsticks clattered. "Yeah! What's this?" He turned in his seat toward her, looking at her, and the intensity of his gaze communicated more than any words he could say.

Sasuke-kun said not to, but—some things are more important than what he wants.

"… Sasuke-kun didn't want me to tell you this," she muttered, picking at the fabric of her dress. "He didn't want you to worry, but during the chuunin exams—when Orochimaru was there, he bit Sasuke-kun here—" she raised her left hand and pressed it to the base of her neck, angling it so Naruto could see more clearly "—and gave him a curse seal. It's—it's how he fought off the Oto nin in the Forest of Death." She shivered slightly.

Naruto picked up one of the chopsticks again and stuck it in his bowl of ramen. "So… that's the bruise you were talking about back then, weren't you?" he said musingly. His head was lowered over his bowl so that Sakura couldn't quite see his face.

He remembers that? Sakura nodded. "Yes," she said. "And—oh, I shouldn't have listened to Sasuke-kun, Naruto!" Shouldn't have kept the seal a secret from Naruto, shouldn't have let Orochimaru get to Sasuke in the first place; shouldn't have glossed over her training, because now when she needed to be strong she had less to work with than her teammates—and the disappointment twisted in her stomach with all the cold cruelty of a serrated knife. "After Orochimaru gave him the curse seal, he said… he said that Sasuke-kun would go to him for power."

"Power?" Naruto repeated, looking up. "Why would he bother?" He added, more grudgingly, "Sasuke's strong enough anyway, I still have to beat him first."

"You don't have to do that, Naruto."

"What do you mean?" He frowned, and his face closed up in a flash of simmering indignation. "You think I can't win?"

"No!" Sakura said sharply. "It's just," she paused, unsure of how to continue, because she couldn't identify what she thought herself—only that wonder of why do you keep on like this? You're fine. "Just. You two don't need to fight all the time, you know? All the time—oh, you are both so ridiculous!"

Naruto slurped up the last of his ramen. "He was the one who wanted to fight me, Sakura-chan," he said crossly. "Although—"

"You shouldn't have agreed!" Sakura snapped. "I don't know what's wrong with Sasuke-kun, but you shouldn't have fought!" She realized she'd raised her voice more than intended, and flushed. "Sorry, Naruto," she said and glanced over guiltily. "I'm just stressed."

But Naruto didn't look like he'd paid attention to what she'd said. He was staring down at his empty ramen bowl, a silent surprise slowly dawning across his face. "… he was jealous of me," Naruto said almost wonderingly.

"Huh?" Sakura frowned. "What are you talking about?"

He stood up, still looking at the bowl as if it held all the secrets of his life, everything that he had ever wanted to know. "Yeah," he said; said again, as though trying to confirm his sudden realization, "Yeah, he really was."

"Naruto…" Sakura said, getting up from her seat and grabbing Naruto's arm, swinging him around so he would look at her. "Who's he? Sasuke-kun? What are—"

"Let's go back to the hospital. I want to talk to Sasuke again."

What? Sakura frowned. "Kakashi-sensei said to leave him alone for now," she reminded Naruto. "Now probably isn't the best time—besides, it's really late, you ought to go home and sleep—"

"It's just for a moment!" Naruto looked distracted. "I want to talk to him about something, Kakashi-sensei won't know."

Sakura loosened her grip on Naruto's sleeve. "Well—I suppose there's no harm done…" To see Sasuke-kun… that's all right, isn't it? We should be able to visit him, even after that fight—I mean, I'm sure they know Naruto and Sasuke aren't going to actually start scrabbling about and kill each other. They wouldn't do that. "Okay then. Don't be loud, though; otherwise the nurses might yell at us."

"Sure, Sakura-chan. There's just something the bastard said that he's going to be explaining to me, that's all." He started to walk away, then glanced back. "Are you coming?"

Sakura bit her lip. I ought to be home by now—but, well, it should be fine. My parents know that being a ninja means staying out really late if necessary. And it's my team. "Of course I am," she replied loudly, running to catch up with him. "Why are you even asking? You're so stupid sometimes!"

Naruto's face took on a comically wounded expression. "But Sakura-chan—"

"Don't start whining, you look even worse when you do that—"

"Hey, I'm not that ugly!"

Sakura huffed. "Honestly, I didn't say you were ugly—"

"Oh, so I'm handsome!" Naruto put his arms up behind his back and grinned widely. "You think I'm handsome, Sakura-chan? You really think so?"

"Idiot!—don't jump to conclusions like that!" Sakura stalked past him, but the corners of her mouth twitched up. "Walk faster, Naruto, you're the one being slow now."

Naruto laughed.

oOo

Sasuke squinted his eyes and turned his head slightly to the right; even through the darkness he could almost make out the spidery-thin crack that darted its way across the hospital room's ceiling and down the wall, splitting into a network of tiny fissures at the top of the window.

His pillow felt rougher than usual—or perhaps he was just being overly sensitive to everything. Ever since Kakashi had brought him back to the room and left him there, he'd felt a sense of uneasiness—or anticipation, but what he was anticipating, he didn't know. He only sensed that everything seemed sharper and more real to him, as if some unknown part of his mind wanted to memorize every shuffle the leaves made, every passing shade of night across the room, every fleeting whiff of the sanitizer-scented air.

Something's different. The thought settled and lodged in his brain.

Different from what?

He had been lying in bed for the better part of the night, thinking and envisioning lots of—absurdities, really, because what else could he call them? Sometimes he remembered Naruto's face, although he remembered it looking older and much more angry, an older Naruto who was busy yelling at him, and he remembered smirking down, always smirking, and corridors darkly cold and blank.

And when he'd been fighting—No. Don't think about that. But the voices sounded so similar—that had been Itachi's voice, he knew his brother's voice as well as he knew his own—and he had sworn, for a moment, that he could taste the spray of water in his mouth, even though they'd been on the hospital roof—been at that valley—valley? Nothing else was definite; he recalled vaguely that someone else had been speaking to him about Itachi, but…

Sasuke had never prized imagination, because imagination was for fools, he thought—he didn't need to imagine his dreams, he simply made them happen. Only—so maybe he did have an overactive imagination after all. I'm better than this, he thought. I should know better than to be bothering myself with these kinds of things. They wouldn't even happen, not in my lifetime.

His gaze traveled back to the crack, following it again across the ceiling—down the wall, past the top of the window before it stopped halfway down—why am I here? I'm not doing anything here, Sasuke told himself. I'm not learning what I need to learn

Even without his Sharingan activated, Sasuke was good—good enough—at remembering how things were supposed to be.

Something's different.

—that crack.

He let his breath slowly hiss out between his teeth—gauged the speed of his heartbeat. It hadn't changed much, had it? At least, not enough to alert whoever it was that was fiddling around.

The crack had changed. It had been a spider's web, like tiny tree branches that grew into nothing, but now—he looked at the single line winding innocently down the wall.

His nebulous thoughts hardened to suspicion, and he sat up in bed, turning his head casually to the right. He brought his hands together under his chin and strained to hear something, anything.

—like that, the noise near the door. There was more rustling then there should be, now that he was really paying attention, a barely audible shuffling and strains of a melody (a melody, of all things) but just there—

"Kai!" he snapped, sliding out of bed and turning around, facing what seemed to be an empty room. "Who the hell are you, and what are you doing here?" His stomach clenched tightly.

I'm sitting in a water tank, what do you think I'm doing? But I know you—your team was the one that killed Zabuza, wasn't it?

Sasuke stiffened. What the

"Well, damn," said a disarmingly casual voice that floated out of the shadows. "Nice genjutsu, Tayuya, he noticed it after all."

"Shut your mouth before I rip it off your ugly face." A kunoichi with bright red hair moved away from the hospital door and glared at him, tossing a flute back and forth in her hands. "You're Uchiha Sasuke, huh." Under her breath—although he heard her anyway—she muttered, "Looks like a regular brat."

He bristled, but didn't reply; instead, he stepped back and fell into a guarded position. After this, Sasuke thought wildly, I am going to demand my weapons back. Kunai, shuriken, the choku—the security here is so damn shoddy. "What's it to you?" he snapped. One here, but there's more—called the Sound Four, that's what they said—and then his thoughts came to a stuttering halt, because—

Three others slid into sight then, like faded wraiths of ink on burnt paper as they moved out from the shadows. He blinked and tried to clear away the patterns of black that momentarily danced across their faces. Why did his vision have to choose this time of all times to screw around with him? "You're the Sound Four," he said, and didn't pause to think about how he'd know that, because—he skipped past the protest of common sense in his mind. "Why did Orochimaru send you here?"

That's not a question.

"You know us?" drawled one of the newcomers; he pushed back pale hair and smirked. "I'm flattered."

"I don't know you," Sasuke said tersely. "I'll say this again—who the hell are you all?"

"South Gate, Jiroubou," said one of the four who hadn't spoken yet. Sasuke glanced sharply at him; he stood with his arms crossed over his chest, and his eyes were narrowed in wary deliberation.

"West Gate, Sakon," said the pale-haired ninja.

"North Gate, Tayuya," the red-haired kunoichi said, still scowling.

Sasuke looked at the last one, who smiled placidly and said, "East Gate, Kidoumaru. Of the Sound Four, but you already knew that, didn't you?"

"There's no reason why I shouldn't," he said coldly—to them or to himself, that was another matter. "What are you here for?"

"Exactly as you said," Kidoumaru replied. "Orochimaru-sama sent us."

Sasuke glared. "That wasn't an answer," he said. "Why?"

"You're a bitchy one, aren't you?" said Tayuya. She looked rather disgusted. "Just like Kimimaro. Stuck-up fucker."

He didn't deign to respond to her and kept silent; sooner or later they'd have to give up some information.

Something like irritation crept over Sakon's face—he has no patience, Sasuke noted. "An offer," he said. "Come with us to Orochimaru-sama—he will give you strength." Strength, and he said like it was a reward.

"What does that matter?" Sasuke said, putting a scornful twist in his words. "I don't need to get strength fromhim."

Jiroubou shifted and said, "Orochimaru-sama is one of the Sannin. You should be glad that he's willing to stoop to someone as weak as you and give you this offer." He spoke blandly, but his words—weak?

"One of the Sannin." Sasuke didn't move from his position. "There's two more in Konoha—I don't see how this makes Orochimaru particularly special. I can go to the others—" he stopped short and pressed his lips together tightly. He remember who already had one of the Sannin for a teacher.

Naruto.

"What's wrong? Something else?" Kidoumaru said. "Oh yes. Jiraiya's already taken on your teammate, hasn't he? It's rather surprising you got passed over—" the words struck at Sasuke's resentment, hard "—especially since you're the last Uchiha. Really, quite surprising. And Tsunade is the Hokage—hardly time for a genin like you. Pity."

Sasuke felt his fingernails digging into the palms of his hands. "That has nothing to do with you," he said stiffly.Naruto's an apprentice to one of the Sannin—he beat Neji, and Gaara too—he nearly beat me on the rooftop, if it weren't for what I did—whatever he'd done, he didn't even know, so that wasn't helping—and. Itachi's target.

Why did he ignore me like I was nothing? My damn brother.

"It has nothing to do with us?" Sakon echoed. "We're the ones making the offer."

"There's no reason for me to leave Konoha," Sasuke said aloud, watching the Sound Four. "I don't need Orochimaru to become strong."

Sakon started forward, a look of irritation on his face, but Jiroubou stopped him and gave Sakon a pointed look. Kidoumaru looked smug.

Tayuya let out a derisive bark of laughter. "Hah! You're as ignorant as the rest of the Konoha nin, spouting that shit about your Will of Fire, aren't you? All that stuff about worthless connections! You've never really thought about what you need to do—what is your purpose in life? Are you going to stay here and cry on everyone's shoulders? What about Uchiha Itachi?" Her words dripped with contempt.

Sasuke jerked back as if he'd been lit on fire.

What is your purpose in life?—What about Uchiha Itachi?

He—had heard that before. Yes, I've heard that, Sasuke thought furiously, angry and bewildered all at once, because how could he hear what hadn't been said? Until now, and Tayuya had said it exactly the same way, that curious mixture of callousness and disdain.

Kakashi was there, and he had been standing on the hospital rooftop.

My purpose in life—

is to kill Uchiha Itachi, he says with all the stark single-mindedness of a twelve-year-old as he sits with his teammates—I'm going to kill Uchiha Itachi, he says again to the shattered remnants of a water tank—now that he's gone, Karin asks as she hands him a bandage, what now? He looks up, and the color of her hair seems too intense because even after all this time he can almost imagine pink hair instead—just one more, he says; he doesn't hide his weariness, and hopes that this is the last. I'm after Akatsuki—I need to kill Uchiha Madara

You're late. What are you teaching me today, Orochimaru?

Don't fuss, Sasuke-kun. He turns toward Sasuke and laughs that eerily rippling laugh which always irks Sasuke even more. You have all the time in the world.

Time has nothing to do with it. I want to kill

"Are you going to make up your mind?" Sakon broke in. He looked annoyed. "Are you coming with us or not? If not—"

Sasuke didn't miss the look he threw to Kidoumaru. What was that for?

"Make your decision." That was Jiroubou. He continued, "You haven't had any good come from staying here in Konoha and doing nothing—Orochimaru-sama can make you powerful."

Sasuke suddenly tasted blood in his mouth, and realized he'd bit down on his tongue. Damn it. I didn't get Itachi by staying in Konoha… didn't? No—I won't be able to. There's no "didn't" if I haven't done it yet.

And also, there was the nagging feeling that of course he would go with them, as if he hadn't been willing to do it before.

"Well?" Kidoumaru demanded—

"Fine," Sasuke snapped, falling out of his fighting position. "I'm coming with you to Orochimaru." He tried not to think—Naruto Sakura Kakashi—because it'd always been Itachi from the beginning, and if Naruto was catching up then he had to get stronger. And—don't bother with this, he decided. It's already settled and done. "I take the offer."

Kidoumaru looked strangely disappointed.

Jiroubou smiled. "Good," he said. "Otherwise, it would've been a pity—"

Sakon and Kidoumaru suddenly vanished from Sasuke's vision, and he drew back, startled—

"—if we'd had to actually force you," Jiroubou finished, and even as he spoke, Sasuke felt the cold point of a kunai barely against the back of his neck. And—a gleaming row of silk spun in front of him, that would have blocked him if he'd moved forward to fight.

"What the hell?" Sasuke said.

"I was hoping I could have some fun with you," Kidoumaru's voice came from behind Sasuke. "If you'd refused—well, we can deal with you quite easily."

Then Sakon spoke—he's behind me too? How did they both get there? And—how did I not notice? "I could've put my kunai right through you, if I'd bothered," he said.

Sasuke let out his breath in a rush of anger and looked back at Jiroubou and Tayuya. Jiroubou returned his gaze mildly, and Tayuya—

Tayuya blew across her flute one more time and moved it away from her mouth. "You're such a stupid bastard, Uchiha," she said, and Sasuke heard the hint of darkly amused laughter in her voice. "You never even noticed that there was another genjutsu on the room—Sakon and Kidoumaru have been behind you the entire time. Some genius mind you've got, dumbass. My kind of skill is what you get when you're under Orochimaru-sama." She smirked and looked over Sasuke's head. "You fuckers, I told you my genjutsu would work."

"Let him go now," Jiroubou said, his expression still unflappable. The threads of spider silk fell away in front of Sasuke, and he felt the kunai's pressure vanish from the back of his neck.

"Don't fool around, Sakon, Kidoumaru." Jiroubou looked back at Sasuke. "I assume you'll get your belongings. Meet us outside Konoha once you're ready."

"Yes," he said. I never noticed. I didn't notice. I wasn't good enough to figure that out—resentment and anger at the Sound Four—at himself—bubbled up and battered his mind. To become stronger—"I'll be there."


Some people commented how they hoped Sasuke would win the fight against the Sound Four this time or something of the like, so I'm sorry if you're disappointed. However, I'd never intended to have a full-out fight in the first place. Imho, in canon the Sound Four deliberately goaded Sasuke into fighting because they'd seen how resentful Sasuke was from the Kakashi-Sasuke confrontation (I assume they didn't see the hospital rooftop fight), and were willing to take the risk of a fight and potential for drawing attention to drive home their point of how "weak" Sasuke was. However, in the AU situation, they don't have any idea about Sasuke's mindset; they only know that he's in the hospital because of Itachi, and haven't had the chance to observe him and how he reacts. So in this case, they decided to start off approaching Sasuke in a much more non-confrontational style.

If it's not clear—Sasuke noticed the first layer of genjutsu because Tayuya had made the difference obvious to make him assume that he'd already seen through their attempts at concealment. Then she overlapped the first layer with another so that at the end, they could still hint to Sasuke that they were powerful (as in, Sasuke hadn't been good enough to notice the second one, and the passing mention of Orochimaru serves to emphasize their argument for going to him and becoming more powerful). However, please keep in mind that Sasuke is also a lot more skeptical than the first time around. ;)

What is your purpose in life?—What about Uchiha Itachi?
Ch. 179 ("Don't Forget")