DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.
Continuum of Chaos
Chapter Nine
Never Gone
Without any emotion, Raiden said, "That's where Kaa-san was killed."
Sasuke's body froze in mid-step when his ears heard this. His head quickly turning toward the older blond while his pulse quickened. "Killed. Here?" he asked in a low voice, not wanting to believe that someone he will one day love would be killed in the same house that witnessed his parents deaths. Even if Sasuke didn't exactly know who his possible future wife was and wasn't in love with this person yet, his heart still clutched tightly with just the knowledge that he would unnaturally lose another person he'll care about.
"Nii-san! You shouldn't be saying this!" Chidori desperately reprimanded her older brother with a stern tone. Wishing for him not to continue on with this subject.
But the latter ignored it and continued up the stairs as he said over his shoulder, "Yeah. Kaa-san was found in their bedroom." Then he turned his head to Sakura, who was now behind him and sneered, "So that should answer your disgusting accusations about my Kaa-san." His eyes showing the infamous Uchiha glare that sent a shiver down the pink haired kunoichi's spine. But at least, Sakura had the decency to look regretful as she lowered her gaze to the steps she was climbing.
Naruto silently ascended the stairs slowly, trailing slightly behind the others. He knew that there was a possibility that his possible future self was no longer in the world of the living. But there was a big difference from speculating the thought and actually knowing it. He guessed the upside to this morbid knowledge, is that he now knows that his future in not just bleak but also pitch black--pitch black of complete deadness.....
The small group reached the second floor with Raiden and Chidori in the lead as they began to walked down the hallway laid out in front of them. Their footsteps echoing off the walls of the dreary hall. As they turned a corner in the large house, Sasuke's jaw clenched as his vision landed on the familiar crime tape across a door down the hall they were currently heading down.
Chidori abruptly stopped in her steps in front of a closed door, causing Raiden and the younger Team Seven behind her to stop also. She kept her eyes firmly on the floor and away from the sight of the door up ahead as she said softly, "My room's here, Sakura-san." indicating the door to her left. She gripped the handle as she turned to Sakura, smiling slightly, "Come on, we better get some sleep before tomorrow. Night Nii-san." Then entered her room without making sure that Sakura was following.
"Night...." Raiden responded lowly, his voice not even loud enough for her to hear. He then addressed the two that would sleep in his room. "My room's at the end of the hall." he informed them before continuing on his way.
Sakura hesitated a moment as she looked at her teammates warily, inwardly wanting to stay with them and not be left alone in an--technically--unknown place. Sasuke stood still for two seconds before following the older blond. Wanting to find out more about his future wife and since Sakura wouldn't be around, he could ask the one question he wanted to clear up. And he didn't care if Naruto was around or not, he had a feeling that the blond already knew the answer to it anyway.
Naruto gave Sakura a reassuring smile, sensing her uneasiness and patted her shoulder. "Night Sakura-chan!" he said as he removed his hand from her and proceeded to catch up with the other two. She let out a depressed sigh and reluctantly entered Chidori's room.
As Naruto caught up with the other two that stopped just before the taped door, he heard Sasuke seriously ask Raiden, "I want you to tell me if Naruto's your mother?" This made Naruto stumble in his steps and almost fall on his face. "Teme, what the hell?!"
Sasuke ignored the blond, waiting patiently for the other to answer. The latter's expression didn't change from the unexpected question. He merely answered with a, "Yes." With an Uchiha smirk crossing his features, "But Naruto already knew that." His statement caused Sasuke to quirked an eyebrow before he turned and glared at Naruto. "How did you know dobe?" But inwardly his heart was beating with a thrill that Naruto would one day be his. And his alone.
Naruto straightened and began nibbling on his inner cheek. "Ummm....." What was he supposed to say? Sasuke didn't know about Kyuubi and he wasn't about to tell him now. "I just did.....It's not like it wasn't kind of obvious! You suspected!"
"But I wasn't completely sure." he sneered at him before his eyes narrowed with suspicion. "Did you know that you could bear children also?"
"No! Of course not! Not until Ky--" he bit his tongue to stop himself from going any further. 'Crap...'
Sasuke's glare grew in tensity. "Until what dobe?" When the blond replied with a simple, "Nothing." he took a step towards the younger boy. Then another and another, until he was standing in front of a fidgeting Naruto pressed against a wall. "Until what?"
"It's not like it actually matters!" chimed in Raiden to hopefully help Naruto out of this situation. Because it was kind of his fault that he was in it in the first place.
"You stay out of it." he growled out without taking his glared onyx away from the blond in front of him. Though that didn't stop Naruto from turning his head toward Raiden and giving the older blond a dirty look for getting him into this. The latter blond gave him a apologetic look in return.
Naruto's head was forced back forward by Sasuke's hand gripped on his chin. "Pay attention."
"Fuck you." came the defiant reply.
The raven smirk and shook his head slightly. "No dobe. I'll be the one fucking you someday. Not the other way around." His smirk deepened when Naruto's entire face turned a bright red. He positioned his hands on either side of the blond's head and leaned closer. Causing Naruto's face to burn more. He only stopped when he was a couple of inches from him. "Now I'm only going to say this one more time." His breath mixing with the blond's. "Until. What?"
'Ohohohhh, two can play at this, teme.' Naruto thought wickedly before closing that small distance between their lips only enough where his lips were lightly brushing Sasuke's.
The only thing that showed that what Naruto was doing was affecting the raven was his breath hitching. His body remained glued to where it was, not moving. Not even when he wanted to press his lips harder against the surprising soft ones of the blond.
Naruto remained like this for a moment longer, also ignoring his own impulses, before he breath out, "That's none of your business. Not yet that is." And before Sasuke could comprehend what the blond said and get back to his senses, Naruto was already out from in front of him and a fair distance. So the raven couldn't try anything else.
Sasuke growled deep in his throat at the grinning and blushing blond. ".To." he sneered out dangerously.
Raiden immediately stepped between the two, "Alrighty, not that we have established that you two are the younger versions of my parents. Can we continue on to my humble aboard?" Wagging his eyebrows up and down in a fake suggestiveness.
Sasuke's eyes rolled before they went back to glaring at his teammate. But he decided that it would be best to let the thing with Naruto go for now. He'll find out eventually. He'll make sure of it. A shiver went down Naruto's spine when an unexpected smirk adorned the raven's features. 'That's never a good sign.'
Seeing the crime tape from the corner of his eye, brought Sasuke back to the realization that Naruto won't be around in the possible future. That thought switched his smirk into a deep frown as he turned his head to looked at the seemingly forbidden door. "Do you know who killed your mother?" he asked kind of randomly.
Well, it was random to Raiden. The playfulness that he had a moment before was now gone. Diminished once the questioned was asked. "No. There are theories but whoever did it was never caught." he informed flatly as he passed the taped down and down the hallway.
Sasuke "Hmn." mostly to himself and followed the older blond.
All the while, Naruto stood glued to his spot and stared intently at the taped door. There was just something that felt off when he looked at the door. Something he couldn't explain but could feel deep inside him. Something was wrong about all this. He didn't know how he knew there was something wrong, he just knew. This wasn't right.
'Ne Kyuu, you awake?' he asked his demon tenant.
'Yeah, what do you want Kit?'
'I was wondering, if I'd be able to smell blood even if it's like two or so years old?'
'As long as there is still evidence of blood. Then it wouldn't matter how old it is. Is that all?'
'Yup, thanks Kyuu!'
'No problem, brat.'
Normally, Naruto would of retaliated with one thing or another but right now, he was so caught up in his thoughts he didn't bother. Usually when someone kills another shinobi with a family in their own home, it means that it was some type of justice killing or revenge or some other thing along those lines. It really depended on what his future rank is. But the point is, the crime scene would normally be gruesome--visually taunting the family member who found the body.
But that's what had Naruto confused. If his speculation was right, 'Then why don't I smell any blood?'
A sharp pain suddenly shot through his stomach, breaking his thoughts. His soft groan of pain catching the attentions of Sasuke and Raiden further down the hall. An image flashed in front of Naruto's eyes. An image of a elaborate seal with someone's hand hovering above it. With that same hand being gripped by another. As fast as the image came, another replaced it. This time it was an image of three baby boys being held by masked nurses. Once again the image was replace with an image of dead bodies sprawled around him with blood everywhere.
'What the hell's going on?' he asked himself just as he turned to look down the hall. Which began to blur and change into an unfamiliar corridor right before his eyes. The feeling of being an observer in someone else's body returning.
He was walking down a dimly lighted hospital corridor. His footsteps echoing off the white walls as his steps took him closer to the double doors at the end of the hall. 'This again!' he screamed inwardly as he made a futile attempt to move some kind of body part. And as he already suspected, nothing moved that he actually wanted to move.'Great....just great....'
Raiden mutter something loud enough for Sasuke, next to him, to hear, "What the hell is he staring at? It can't be that interesting."
"Dobe!" Sasuke called out to the blond's back when he realized that he wasn't moving anymore. After a long moment of getting no response from the absolutely frozen Naruto, Sasuke quickly approached the left side of the blond with Raiden approaching the right.
Once Sasuke was in front of Naruto, the first thing he noticed and secretly wished he would never see again, were his eyes. They were violet. Just like the time in that damn white room. When he thought it was just his imagination. He lifted his hand and placed it on Naruto's shoulder. "Naruto." he said, his voice unconsciously going soft as he addressed the other. His hand shaking the blond mildly.
Raiden curiously leaned closer to Naruto's face. "Are his eyes violet?" he asked curiously as he stared intently at the unusual shade. "Does this happen often? 'Cause personally I've never seen my Kaa-san's eyes violet before. Red maybe but never violet."
But the raven wasn't listening to a single word that Raiden said, because he was silently panicking. 'What's wrong with him? Why isn't he moving or saying anything?' He shook the blond harder in hopes that it would stir him into consciousness. "Dobe!" he tried again but once again, got no response.
He was nearing the double doors, now only a few steps. And just as he was about to push pass them, a voice from behind yelled, "Iida!" which caused him to stop. He felt his head move against his will and turn around to see who called him. The annoyance that was rising up, not belonging to him nor the other presence within.
Naruto's fear began to bubble when he saw a man, looking to be in his early forties, walking in his direction. His waist length forest green hair, that was tied into a pony tail at the nape of his neck, swayed with each step he took. The dim light reflecting off his glasses in a sinister sort of way as he stopped a few feet in front of him. "You have another mission tomorrow." he informed in a sense that he was going to do it if he liked it or not.
Inwardly Naruto let out a sigh of relief that he wasn't going to get injected again. But an undignified snort unwillingly escaped his throat. "Another--"
"--village?" his voice sounding disgusted at the prospect.
Both Sasuke and Raiden startled at the fact that the blond spoke when he hadn't said or done anything for the past minute. And then to say something so.....random, it was just getting stranger and stranger for the two.
"What's he talking about, 'another village' ?" Raiden asked to the raven, thinking that he might know. But Sasuke turned slightly and glared at the older blond like he hit his head stupidly. "How would I know that?" he snapped at the other. Disliking the fact that he didn't know what was going on with his dobe.
They both suddenly went silent as Naruto began speaking again. "Where's the challenge in those pathetic places?--"
"--They barely even fight back. It bores me....." he trailed off as his fingers fiddled with, what felt like, a hem of a long jacket. Though Naruto couldn't see what the hell he was actually wearing, since the body he was in hasn't look down at all. So he could only go by what it felt like to get an idea of what he was wearing.
The green haired male quirked an eyebrow, "I thought you liked the violence?" he said with a smirk present on his features.
A creak from the slight distance caught Raiden's attention. For a split second, he was going to disregard it but then his mind automatically gave him the reason why that noise was so familiar. 'Oh shit.' he thought as his eyes widened and hastily muttered to Sasuke. "Tou-san's coming."
"Maybe he might know what's wrong with Naruto." Sasuke, for an unknown reason, whispered back.
"I'm gonna let that stupid comment pass, since you don't really have any idea how my Tou-san gets with anything that involves Kaa-san. So, I'm telling you, don't get my Tou-san involved." His onyx eyes pleading with his unrelenting younger Tou-san. "Please, Tou-san doesn't need it alright."
Sasuke sighed when he heard the other resort to begging. 'Damn it, I think I'm going soft.' "Fine. Grab his legs." he ordered as he moved behind Naruto and positioned his arms underneath the blond's armpits. Raiden bent down, grabbed a ankle in each hand and literally swept his younger mother off his feet. Sasuke supporting the upper half of Naruto's body with his arms.
"My room's the last door on the left." he muttered to Sasuke, while tilting his head at said door. Sasuke took a quick glance before they both began scurrying down the hall with Naruto in their grasps. "Hurry hurry hurry." whispered Raiden to Sasuke.
He glared at the annoying smirk and said in an eerie calm. "Only when it's a challenge. I prefer to go visit him, though. The one that keeps floating around in this head." He felt a sinister smile form on his face. "He's the one that I want to play with. Not massacring random villages.--"
Raiden visibly stiffened and faltered in his steps at the 'massacring random villages' bit. Staring at the blond like he shouldn't know something like that, as Naruto continued in his odd speaking. "--At least he'll be a challenge. A wonderful challenge....."
Sasuke noticed how Raiden stiffened up when Naruto said something about massacring villages and made a mental note to ask about it later. But right now, he was the one that had to open the door to Raiden's bedroom. Since he was the one that was walking backwards, which got him to the door first. Sasuke shifted the blond's weight and snaked his left arm around Naruto's torso. Hugging the boy close to his chest as he used his right arm to open the door.
"Don't worry, your chance is getting closer. Be patient." stated the green haired male as he came closer to him. "You're the ultimate weapon that will surely be his demise." The male's hand lifting and lightly caressing his cheek. Inwardly making Naruto cringe and whoever the other presence within, sick at the touch. "I don't know how he could win when he'll be fighting the one he loves most. It'll be quite interesting to watch really."
Naruto wasn't really sure why he didn't like how this guy was touching the body he was presently in. And obviously neither did the other person. Who's emotions were rising closer to him, making him slightly choke from the intensity of them.
Once the door was opened, they entered without a moments thought. Raiden kicking the door shut loudly behind him with his leg.
Older Sasuke solemnly walked down the hall with his hands deep in his pants pockets. His Anbu armor gone and laying by the couch downstairs. He briefly glanced at the walls that held so many memories. Memories he didn't want to remember. That period of time that spanned over a decade but it was too short to Sasuke. He guessed that's what happens when you're actually happy. When time seems to go by so fast.
But now, when he feels like he can easily fall into darkness, does time go by slowly. These past two years feeling like a eternity passing by. If it wasn't for his children, he already knew that he wouldn't have survived. He would of stayed in the darkness that consumed him. And he shamefully admits that there were times that he wished he had. When the pain becomes too much that even the presences of his children doesn't help any.
A door slamming caught his attention, snapping his head to the right down another hall. But instead of looking for the source of the noise, his eyes immediately went to the taped door. Which brought up unwanted images of that day. The good and happy memories that occurred in that room would never over-shadow the memory of that day. Nothing could ever over-shadow the agonizing pain that erupted through his veins when he walked through the door that very last time. The pain that's still running through him.....
He firmly turned his head back forward and continued toward the twin's room. He didn't want to remember that fateful day that destroyed his life.....his entire world.....
"Lets sit him on the bed." Sasuke ordered as he moved over to the bed and readjusted the blond in his arms. Raiden nodded in agreement, "We have to get Naruto out of whatever he's in before Tou-san comes and checks on us. Though we're lucky, Tou-san always checks on me last. He always goes from the youngest up. So we have a little time. But not much. I wouldn't dandle."
Sasuke rolled his eyes at the other's rambling. Then gently placed Naruto on the bed, which was snugged in the corner of the right of the room, and pushed him up into a sitting position. While at the same time, Raiden let go of his legs and then proceeded and lightly slapping the side of Naruto's face. "Naruto! Oi Naruto, snap out of it!"
The man's hand that was caressing is cheek, slowly drifted from his face and to his chest. "I always wondered what it would be like to thrust in that tight ass of yours."
That mere statement caused the other person to panic drastically. His emotions increasing to heightened levels and blending into his, overloading his senses. He could feel that the other didn't want to be touch so intimately by this person. Because it wasn't him. The one and only that he wanted to be touch by.
The body stayed stilled, making no move to push the other away. He merely blankly stared at him as the male's hand traveled lower and his face came closer to his own. 'No, this isn't right. Make him stop.' he heard himself beg. It was becoming too much. The other person's emotions were too much. They were suffocating him. Making him feel things that weren't his. Making him see images that weren't his. They weren't his......
Naruto whimpered as he lowered his head into his hands and gripped his hair tightly. "Ahh, make it stop. Make it stop. Make it stop." he chanted as tears leaked out of the corner of his eyes. Sasuke grabbed the blond's wrists, "Dobe...?" The worry he was feeling unfortunately showing in his voice. He couldn't help it, though. He felt so helpless. He didn't know what to do to make the blond better. To stop whatever was happening.
That hand that just arrived at the waistband of his pants, was grabbed brutally in an almost bone-breaking grip. Making the descending lips stop in mid-air."If you think for one second that I'm gonna let you shove your dick up my ass, then you're more fucked up than I thought."
The other male smirked and then chuckled loudly before he leaned in close to his ear, "It sounds like the owner is still influencing you, Iida."
The blond's mutterings suddenly stopped and Naruto's eyes widened like saucers as his body began to tremble uncontrollably. The emotions suddenly taking a jump in intensity. "STOOOOOP!!!" he screamed out as he struggled against the raven's hold on his wrists.
Older Sasuke was heading toward Chidori's room to say goodnight when he heard Naruto scream out. His heart automatically jumped into his throat, unconsciously thinking that it was his wife while his feet moved on their own accord. Sprinting pass Chidori and Sakura, who quickly stepped out into the hall and were going to Raiden's room to find out what was wrong with Naruto.
He burst through the door and the first thing that he took notice of was Naruto. He had himself pushed up against the wall in the corner--on top of bed, mutterings things underneath his breath. Younger Sasuke was kneeling on the bed, trying to get closer to Naruto without upsetting him more. Raiden stood off to the side, wide eyed and not having any idea how to deal with this.
Raiden snapped his head to his door when he heard it burst open. His eyes looking at his father pleadingly when he enter the room, his sister and Sakura following after. Chidori gasped loudly and Sakura exclaimed, "Naruto!" when they saw the condition of the blond.
Sakura ran to the bedside side and asked frantically with accusation in her voice, "What'd you do to him?!"
Raiden looked wide eyed at the pink haired kunoichi with a expression that spoke, Are you mad! I didn't do anything to him! He was just about to retort with some form of profanity when his father intersected with, "What happened?" his tone flat and silently warning not to start.
He took the warning and instead of cussing out Sakura, he answered his father. "We don't really know. We were all in the hall.....uhhhh.......chatting you can say, when he just suddenly stopped moving."
"No." interrupted the younger Sasuke, "We were further down the hall. Naruto was staring at that taped door--" Older Sasuke twitched slightly at this. "--when he groaned and then he stopped moving."
"Hmmm....yeah.....he was staring at the other end of the hall. But when we went up to him, he wasn't really staring at anything. Ummm.....like a trance. His eyes are a creepy violet and he keeps saying odds things."
"Violet?" repeated older Sasuke, disregarding the other things that were said. Raiden nodded his head vigorously as his response. Which had older Sasuke slightly perplexed, he's never seen his wife's eyes violet before. He strolled up to the side of bed and crawled partly on top of the mattress. Then reached his hand out and using that same hand, he grabbed the hysterical blond's ankle. And non to gently, he dragged him across the mattress and toward him.
Younger Sasuke watched this with an impassive expression but inside he was searing. He didn't like how the other was hovering over his Naruto in such a suggestive position. And his hand that was resting on the comforter on the bed, clenched the fabric in a brutal grip when his older self grabbed the blond's chin and brought his face closer to his.
Older Sasuke felt the burning glare on himself and knew where it was coming from. A couple of years ago, he would of smirk arrogantly but now he only found it annoying. He didn't need to deal with his own possessiveness right now. Or ever.
Now that he was closer to Naruto, he could hear exactly what the blond was muttering. "Not mine, not mine. Don't want to feel this, see this. Not mine. It's too much. Too much." Over and over this or variations of this was muttered from the blond's mouth. His brows furrowed when he focused on the violet of Naruto's unfocused eyes. 'Odd....' he thought before he spoke clearly enough for the whole room to hear. "Kyuubi." Wanting to speak with the fox about this.
"Kyuubi." echoed Sakura, "Why are you calling Naruto, Kyuubi?"
He ignored her, waiting for the change that always happened when Kyuubi emerged. But when no change occurred, he began to get aggravated. He growled deep in his throat as he used his free hand to lift up Naruto's shirt. Thinking that the fox was merely ignoring him.
A scowl was now fully set on the younger Sasuke's features as his hand twitched in instinct to hit his older self. He didn't care that the other was calling Naruto a demon's name. Nope fuck that, all he was caring about at the moment was that he was touching his blond so familiarly. Though, that tattoo on his stomach did catch his attention from the matter at hand. 'What the hell....'
When older Sasuke saw the seal visible, he knew that something was seriously going on if it involve Kyuubi's abilities. 'What could be happening that he would have to get involved?' he wondered. There was only one other way that he knew of to find out. But that really was the last thing he wanted to do. He could barely even look at the boy without undoubtedly seeing what he forever lost. So, how was he suppose to enter his mind that's only a younger version of his wife's? Could he actually take it?
Well, he's going to find out. He took a deep breath as he activated his sharingan. 'I can do this. I can do this. I can do this. It's only him.' But that was the problem. And before he could talk himself out of it, he entered Naruto's mind.
Sasuke stood in thick fog. Thick enough where he couldn't even see a foot in front of him. 'Okay, I wasn't expecting this.' Where was Kyuubi's cage? Every time he came here, which has only been a few times, he always appeared in front or near Kyuubi's domain. So, where was it? Hell, where was he?
He didn't like the way this was looking. The fog itself appeared and felt like it was alive. Floating and moving around him. The coldness of it, sending chills through his body. His eyes narrowed into slits when the realization hit him. 'It's not the boy's. It's too cold to be his.'
But how was that possible? He entered into Naruto's mind. Then how could he be in someone else's? But the real question was, who's mind was he in?
He took a hesitate step forward and then another. Until he was aimlessly walking through the fog. His destination, if there was any destination, was unknown. He wasn't even sure if he could get out of here if he wanted to.
His aimless treading--finally--brought him to a section without any fog. It wasn't much but at least it was something different. Though the air here was a lot thicker than the air within the thick fog. With something else floating densely in the surroundings. 'Emotions?' he questioned himself. But he knew that they were. They were calling out to him and clamping around his heart like he was personally affected by whoever's emotions these were. It was suffocating. Making it harder for him to breath.
Tears gathered at the corner of his eyes from the intensity of the emotions that was emitting from the air. Tenderly caressing every cell of his skin, causing a familiar sensation to fill his being. A sensation that only occurred when he was near. He wanted it to stop. It was too familiar. Too familiar.....
"You shouldn't be here." echoed a voice throughout the surroundings. Making Sasuke slightly jumped from the suddenness. "Who is this?" he asked immediately. Wanting and needing to know.
"You shouldn't be here." the voice said again but this time it didn't come from the surroundings, it came from directly behind him. Sasuke's breath got caught in his throat at the sound of voice. A voice he hasn't heard in two years. "Naruto...." he breathed out, barely audible. His heart thundering in his ears at the prospect that his love was right behind him.
Two tan arms snaked around the raven's waist as a chin rested on his shoulder. Naruto's breath breathing against his ear, "You shouldn't be here." he said again, "You have to leave. Or else you'll get stuck."
Sasuke's breathing was coming out in short pants. The tears that had gathered, slowly falling down his pale cheeks. "Naruto....is it really you? It can't be, I saw y-your......" Sasuke whispered desperately as he attempted to turn around. He wanted to see him, wanted to hold him. But the other's arms remained firm, keeping the raven in place. "No. You can't stay. You have to save them."
Sasuke struggled against the hold that Naruto had on him. Naruto eventually let him go, resulting in the raven swirling around. Only to find empty air. His heart fell as he snapped his head in all directions, desperate to find his wife.
After another moment of pointless searching his body went lax, his legs giving out as he fell to his knees. "Please come back....." he begged to the surroundings.
He felt strong arms hug his chest and he made no attempt to turn around. He didn't want him to disappear again. Never again. His eyes closed in contentment and relinquished in the feeling of those arms. "H-How can you b-be here?" he asked as he lifted one of his hands and placed it on Naruto's arms. Touching the limbs to see if they were really there. "Y-You were g-gone......"
Naruto shook his head against his shoulder. "No, not gone. Only misplaced. Still misplaced......." He mentally shook himself because this isn't what needed to be said. "But my predicament doesn't matter right now. All that matters is that you get to them. Before they think their leverage isn't needed anymore. Please Sasuke, you have to save them!"
The dire tone of the other's voice caused him to ask, "Who?"
"Our sons....."
