Chapter 8
Splash
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A/N: I don't own Naruto. This is a future fic where the characters are approximately ten years older. This means it's more or less an AU, with the timeline breaking off around issue 300 of the manga.
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Prowling through the branches gritting his teeth, Naruto hopped from one tree to the next searching. Night missions were always the worst. Tracking became ten times as difficult; it was always colder and the darkness made it much easier for enemies to set up an ambush.
Well no, it really wasn't that bad. He did have the moon giving him at least some light, and since it was cold, the outlines of the trees and buildings were drawn sharply against the hills and sky.
This wasn't a mission though.
Before they could start any real work, they had to find Sasuke. On the Hokage's orders, his so-called best friend wasn't supposed to go out of shouting range from the three of them if he could help it. What a dick. That damn bastard never thought of anyone but himself.
Sasuke must have completely disregarded the fact that they were going to head out tonight. He was looking forward to the next opportunity to do violence to the Uchiha's lower body. Naruto realized the man was set in his ways, and no amount of beating was going get him to be more considerate. Still, it couldn't hurt to try.
Sometimes it seemed as if he'd spent all of his life chasing Sasuke.
Naruto finally caught the Uchiha's scent and signaled to Kakashi with the agreed upon birdcall. Sasuke hadn't gone far, but he was well into the woods, probably doing target practice. He rolled his eyes.
Kakashi appeared in a nearby tree, only to leap soundless as a shadow to Naruto's branch. "There are other people ahead that way. Not just Sasuke." he murmured.
Moments later, the faint sound of hooves crunching against the rock-strewn earth and the clink of bridles announced a party of horsemen. The light of several wire cage lanterns, which were hung on black poles, flickered up through the brushy needles of the pine he and Kakashi occupied. Most of the men who passed below were fighters, but they didn't have any markings on their faces or jackets.
No banners either. They were escorting a tarp covered wagon which seemed unremarkable except in its plainness. Were these Yamimaki's guys or a completely different group? Were they shinobi? What was in the cart?
Naruto looked back over at Kakashi, and saw behind him stood Sasuke. How kind of the bastard to join them.
He was masked and balancing on a nearby branch, his Sharingan visible like red coals in the darkness. Kakashi had a finger to his lips- or at least, where his lips were under his own mask - which stopped Naruto from launching into a verbal assault. He wanted to chew Sasuke out so freaking bad.
Every minute he'd wasted searching for him, made the mission that much longer, and reuniting with his family that much farther away. His son would have started the academy and forgotten his father's name by the time he got home.
Okay, maybe that was exaggerating, but it didn't change the fact Sasuke was a bastard.
When the three of them could no longer sense the horsemen, they all shifted to the ground.
The Uchiha looked grim. "Kakashi, there's a real threat here. I saw -"
Kakashi interrupted Sasuke. "Yeah, Kabuto. I saw him too."
Naruto looked at his two teammates in shock. "What? I didn't see-"
"It was him," said Sasuke.
"No way. He's dead!" Naruto growled, pacing a little.
That was completely impossible. Sasuke had parted the bastard's head from his body. He'd watched Sasuke limp over and crush Kabuto's glasses, and then savage his body with a kunai until Naruto had pulled him off. Kabuto had taken Itachi's death from him. There would be no forgiveness. "I saw you kill him."
Sasuke shook his head. "I know that! You're once again stating the blatantly obvious." He looked over at Kakashi, his eyes cold. "How should we pursue this?"
Naruto could tell that Sasuke had already made up his mind about what he wanted to do. It was probably a matter of immense self-control that he hadn't already gone after Kabuto - if that man even was him. Naruto still had his doubts.
Kakashi leaned up against the tree behind him. "First, we go and take care of our original business. If it really is Kabuto, and he's working with this group, he'll have a damn good reason. We'll have to see if we can discern that from the cargo, or where he heads to once they're in the city." He paused, tapping his finger against his chin thoughtfully. "Morokawa probably doesn't know who or what he is, even if they've met. When he admitted there were nin with Yamimaki, he maintained that he didn't know where they had come from or who led them - which I tend to believe."
"But how?" said Naruto, still flabbergasted.
"That's not important," Kakashi said. "Kabuto has tricked and betrayed everyone he's dealt with, why not Death? What is important is that he is here; whoever he's working for must have offered something that a man like him would be interested in."
"Just for the record - if there's an opening - he's mine," said Sasuke, his arms crossed, Sharingan flaring.
Naruto and Kakashi exchanged a glance. Why had Tsunade let him out of the village again?
"Let's go," said Kakashi, brushing off Sasuke's slip into his vengeful persona.
Naruto felt deeply uneasy. Kabuto had been one of Orochimaru's minions for a long time. What if that twisted medic-nin had been looking for Sasuke to try to release his former master? But if that was the case, why would Kabuto have tried to kill Sasuke back then at the cave when he killed Itachi? It was confusing, and the only two people who knew the answer were Sasuke and Kabuto.
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Kakashi didn't like the look in Sasuke's eyes.
Well to be honest, he really didn't like Sasuke at the moment, but that revolved around personal reasons which had nothing to do with the mission. He could deal with that later.
Right now, though, would be a bad time for the Uchiha to decide to go rogue - not that he'd get very far. Kakashi was in possession of a failsafe seal that the Hokage had made - which Sasuke didn't know about - and which would probably kill him if used.
It was a last resort in the event that the man lost himself to Orochimaru or betrayed the village. The situation hadn't moved to that level, but there was always the chance. He didn't think he'd have to use it, but the fact that it was crossing his mind was unsettling.
They caught up with the caravan easily and shadowed them into Itsumidori. Kakashi watched with care for signs that the group ahead had noticed them and were looking for a better position to make a stand against their team. Not yet.
Sasuke had point and seemed to be keeping an eye on Kabuto. The Uchiha was still touchy where Itachi was concerned, and Kabuto had come between the two by finishing the Akatsuki member off.
Letting go of things had never been one of Sasuke's strong suits. His killing intent was radiating off of him, and it wouldn't be long before the other shinobi took notice. Just a little farther.
It puzzled Kakashi that such a notorious missing-nin had come out of hiding. Kabuto had essentially given himself the chance to start over by faking his own death, so why hadn't he moved to the Lightning Country or somewhere his face wouldn't be recognized? Or maybe he had.
There was no way to know what he'd been up to for the past three years without actually asking him. Which might not be such a bad idea, but first they had to catch him - and keep Sasuke from damaging him.
They watched from the rooftops near the warehouse where the group of horsemen had stopped, its stone courtyard bright with their lanterns. Morokawa's men had been made aware of the fact that the transaction would be interrupted and why. They had orders to clear out as soon as the Leaf shinobi arrived. Otherwise they were to act as if everything was normal.
Kakashi could tell by the posture of the man who went to meet with the cart driver that he was nervous, glancing around at the shadows. Not good.
"Kabuto slipped off," said Sasuke, whose natural Sharingan were considerably more sensitive than Kakashi's borrowed one.
"Fuck," said Naruto.
"Well they probably know we're here. Might as well pounce," said Kakashi. Now to make some mildly unpleasant executive decisions.
"Sasuke, I want you to try to track Kabuto. Don't kill him and keep an eye on our backs. I'll send one of my dogs with you. Naruto and I will take care of the others."
Of his two available teammates, Sasuke was better at tracking and pursuit in the dark. Kakashi was uncomfortable sending him, but he wanted to at least get a look at the goods Morokawa had planned to exchange his manpower for, and since Sasuke had a personal stake in catching Kabuto - or whoever was wearing his face - he was more likely to succeed.
Kakashi didn't want to take any chances though, and he had to keep some sort of eye on Sasuke's actions. The only choice was to summon one of the dogs. He hadn't called on Zasshu in a while and the toothy, tawny mutt was good for light support - not as good as Pakkun at tracking, but bigger and stronger. The pug was still healing from a hip injury, anyway.
He sliced his fingers on a kunai, did the requisite seals and slammed his hands down on the rooftop. The nin-dog leapt forward, out from the summoning circle with a small puff of smoke and the sound of quickly displaced air.
"What's up?" Zasshu grinned wickedly, and despite his informality, his whipping brushy tail betrayed his eagerness to serve.
Kakashi quickly gave the nin-dog a rundown of the situation. "Zasshu, stay with Sasuke and back him up," he said. "We'll be down there in the courtyard. Don't worry about me, Naruto's all the support I'll need." He heard Naruto grunt behind him.
"Right," said the mutt, chasing after Sasuke - who was already bounding off on his own. Idiot. Well, at least the Uchiha knew how to fight Kabuto. He'd have a better chance at beating him than Kakashi would, sad as it was to acknowledge. These other jokers however...
"Let's go," said Naruto.
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Resentment bubbled up in Sasuke's chest at Kakashi and at the nin-dog who followed close at his heels through the shadows. He tried to knock it away knowing the feeling was misplaced. He knew it was his own damn fault he had to have someone always looking over his shoulder, but he was still on edge.
Between the lack of sleep and the minor ordeal he'd just gone through with Sakura, his emotional state was not all that steady. His inner cynic decided that fate had thrown that corpse-stealing sycophant Kabuto into his path, just to make his life even more difficult.
"He's heading for the fortress," said the nin-dog behind him in a husky voice.
Not Kakashi's usual summon Pakkun, Sasuke wasn't even sure what this one's name was. It's body was medium-sized and it had a thick, light-colored pelt, though it was hard to say what that color was in the moonlit darkness. Its head was long-muzzled with pointed ears and narrow eyes.
Nothing special as dogs went, though it wore a Konoha hitai-ate and a blue jacket with a scarecrow's face drawn on it. Hopefully the beast didn't get in the way.
"Yeah." If he could just get Kabuto in range, Sasuke could catch him with the Sharingan, and bind him up with snakes. The medic-nin was fast though, and Sasuke wasn't sure exactly what the man's goal was.
It probably had something to do with his experiments with the dead. For someone who didn't like to kill with his own hands, Yakushi Kabuto seemed to have no problem dealing with the end result. Sasuke would wager his left arm that the man liked cadavers better than he enjoyed the company of live people.
"Kakashi said not to kill him," the nin-dog said, pacing him as they leapt closer to the high wall surrounding their destination. As if he hadn't heard the man the first time. Was he really that worried? Probably. He had intended to finish Kabuto before he'd gotten the order.
Now where did that creep go?
There! A flicker of white hair in the ruddy lantern light along the battlements. The guards were still oblivious.
"I know," said Sasuke. "Although, I think he's making a mistake."
"Think away, Sasuke-san. You don't get to decide. We're closing," said the nin-dog. This mutt was really getting on his nerves.
They watched as Kabuto disappeared through a second-story window in the western side of the main building. Sasuke knew where it led, and decided to take a route that had a good chance of cutting him off. He was definitely heading for Morokawa first. But was he there to get information from the lord or to assassinate him?
The contingency of protecting the lord from his supposed ally's nin hadn't been made. There was no reason to believe a shinobi on Kabuto's level might arrive with what was supposed to be insignificant cargo, though there was also no reason not to. Kakashi's mistake – no – Kakashi's blunder.
The nin-dog was running a little bit ahead of him, following the scent, and they made a blur through the hallways causing the lamps to flicker. Sasuke managed to knock over at least one maid, and smash what was appeared to be an expensive vase as he rounded a corner too fast.
Ignoring the squeal and crash, he was up ten, twenty stairs and then running again, arms straight, close to his sides.
Images seemed flash quickly past Sasuke: The family suites. Morokawa's chamber. Kabuto kneeling over the prone man in the bed, kunai drawn in the dim lamplight.
"You knew the deal, Takeshi," said the medic-nin, as the man gasped and quivered beneath thick coverlets.
"Please no. Please," whimpered the lord.
Kabuto didn't stab him, he didn't slit his throat. He stopped the lord's heart with his chakra, quick and clean, before Sasuke could even throw a shuriken. Still, he had to try. Kabuto dodged, leaping away from the bed, and took a defensive stance.
"Heal him!" Sasuke yelled, and rushed him, throwing Kabuto into the far wall with a chakra-infused fist. He couldn't concentrate power quite the way Sakura did, but he didn't need to throw him through the wall.
The white-haired nin adjusted his glasses on his face as he straightened to a sitting position. "Ow. Ah, well. Sasuke-kun, I haven't seen you in a while." His calm demeanor was irritating as ever.
"You heard me, coward." Sasuke advanced on him, and he heard the nin-dog bark from behind, as if to say 'Cool it'. Oh, he'd keep his temper all right. At least until Kakashi showed up. Then this lowlife needed to die.
"Too late. I managed to degenerate the tissue in two of the main heart valves, as well as seize the muscle movement. He'll pass before I could ever heal it all," he said, and smugly stood up, brushing himself off.
He was dressed very plainly, almost like an itinerant priest in a long white robe, dark clothing beneath. His hair still fell in a white tail, but was much longer. Sasuke looked into the other man's black eyes with disgust. Kabuto didn't flinch or even try to look away from his glare.
"So what was the deal?" Sasuke said, Sharingan catching his every twitch. Kabuto's baggy clothing helped conceal his muscle movements, but there were still signs, markers for the next attack Sasuke would be able to pick out.
As he pinned the nin with his eyes, he could see reflected dimly in the window not far from the medic-nin's left shoulder, that the nin-dog had leapt on top of the bed, and was now sniffing Morokawa's body.
He shrugged, "I don't see why I should bother to talk to you about that. You can't stop anything from happening."
"You really should have stayed dead, Kabuto." Questioning this man further would be pointless. Kabuto was about as flexible as a rock when it came to whatever ideal he happened to be holding dear to his heart for the moment.
"And I really should have killed you years ago. It just goes to show what we both get for being sloppy." It would be so easy to hypnotize him and send his snakes to twine around his skinny neck and choke him.
That look in his eye... that fucking grin...
Something in Sasuke snapped. He bit his thumb and swiped the blood down his tattoo so fast the snakes were already on Kabuto before he could blink. Of course he didn't blink; he was under an eye jutsu. The medic was trapped and the snakes squeezed...
Then Sasuke felt a pair of jaws close around his neck.
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Sakura dreamed.
It was one of those strange dreams, where she knew she was asleep and didn't try to wake up. All around her hidden in a haze just on the edge of her vision were figures moving, reaching out. Her usual dreams tended to be colorful and involve mash-ups and twistings of whatever she'd been doing during the day, and they got weirder when she was stressed. She hated the ones where her teeth all feel out and she couldn't keep them in.
This one was different. One of the first reasons she knew, was that Sai was there, appearing in front of her with his enigmatic smile and his what-could-have-beens. Sai was dead, had been for three years. She missed that smile. Painfully. She watched him fade and dissolve as she slipped into a scene from recent memory, sitting on the edge of a field next to Sasuke somewhere in Konoha.
She was leaning her head on his shoulder like she did with Naruto all the time. He didn't pull away and then moved, and for a moment she thought he was going to kiss her. He did. The face she saw when she opened her eyes though, was Kakashi's, Sharingan spinning slowly, hypnotic, turning everything red. He held her close to him.
He was touching her, his hand trailing down from her face, fingertips along her neck, her breast, over her belly, under her waistband, into her-
Sakura sat up sharply in bed, eyes wide and sucking in a deep breath. Her hair was damp with sweat and her left arm wasn't responding at all since she'd slept on it funny. She blinked, reoriented herself and fell back on the pillow.
She grimaced through the pins and needles as blood returned to her arm, and the arousal faded a little from her nether regions. Why had she dreamt of Sai of all people? They hadn't even had a chance to start a relationship.
It was right about then she remembered last night, and Kakashi's wary eyes and careful words. Kakashi really wanted her, and it occurred to her how upset he must have been. He wouldn't have kissed her like that if he wasn't. She knew how fastidious he was in his relationships, as with everything in his life. The dream was probably just picking up on some subconscious fear.
She was already afraid of losing him. She had already made a dreadful gaffe.
Of course, they were still testing one another, trying out what fit best. That last kiss would have been much more fun if she hadn't been ready to pass out. At the end he'd nipped at her lower lip and then rested his forehead against hers for a moment.
It had almost been like a promise that he'd be back. As if he were leaving. He hadn't said as much, but Sakura knew it was likely. Really, in her weakened state she should stay in Itsumidori or go home and not complain. She didn't want to be left out though.
The lamp was still burning. What time was it anyway? Without a window, a sense of time was lost to her. She moved groggily leaning over the side of the bed looking for her pack, since a clock didn't seem to be part of her sparse amenities and she never wore a watch.
Actually, she was still in the robe Sasuke had helped her into. It was really loose. If she moved the wrong way, her breasts would fall out...
She felt her face go red just as she put her hand on the expensive chronometer in her medical bag. "Oh hell - Sasuke."
It was a bit late to feel embarrassed. How out of it had she been to act like that - like she were drunk? Why had she let it happen?
She knew he had probably wanted to do more than help her wash, yet his hands had been so careful he'd held her like a porcelain doll. He'd been so consciously restrained, as if he knew once he'd crossed that line, there would be no going back.
The time for denial had passed. After he'd told her all of those things - of his children, of the little pains in his current existence and the dark life he'd bought into years ago - she knew he was in love with her. Really, really. She clapped a hand over her eyes and fell back on the pillow.
Dammit, that idiot.
She would never be able to return his feelings, not now, and it really wasn't because of Kakashi. Well, maybe a little bit because of him, but she couldn't say at this point she was in love with Kakashi either. Not yet.
Certainly, Sakura wanted Kakashi, realized that she already loved him in a way and she'd thrown all the switches within herself to be open to something more. She was fairly certain Kakashi was in the same place she was - well maybe he might be a little ahead of her, but not by much.
How she felt for Sasuke now was more like closeness of a sister to sibling, similar to how she treated Naruto and Ino. Family, beloved, but not a lover.
Years ago when she'd dated others, she'd learned a great deal about love, moving out of the realm of adolescent infatuation into more adult territory. The fact that it didn't just include joy and passion and intimacy, it also carried with it fear and anger and the occasional dollop of hatred.
It was more than just wanting to be with someone, wanting to be close physically. More than just words said in a breathless moment.
Also, on a certain level, the ideal of romantic love sat below the bonds she shared with her three teammates. Sakura trusted them each with her life, believed they trusted her with theirs and nothing was more valuable than that.
She was going to try to move forward with Kakashi. He could offer some things the other two never had. Kakashi had great sensitivity, he was respectful and polite and capable of being affectionate, he'd give her space to be herself and intellectually they were on the same level.
The more pragmatic part of her mind also pointed out that if the relationship progressed that far, he was from a good family and there existed the possibility of marriage and a couple of handsome and blindingly brilliant children.
Her eyes widened and she sat up again. When had that come into the equation? Sakura's inner-self - after long silence - poked up from the back of her mind and laughed. Just now, stupid. Whoa, whoa, whoa.
That was getting way too far ahead. It had only been four or five days since she'd first kissed him. How ridiculous, certainly she didn't want to be unmarried forever, but there was no way... Although she was almost twenty-three and all of her friends had children, even Sasuke - albeit unwillingly.
Her subconscious was definitely out to get her.
She got out of bed, and immediately put it all out of her mind – the whole dream, all of these thoughts, they obviously had to do with hormones and stress, and nothing to do with reality. Her knees were a bit wobbly, but she had gotten a good bit of rest.
Dreams aside, her body was being much more co-operative. She got dressed and let her still-damp hair down and ignored her complaining stomach. Time to check on her patient and find out if she really had been left behind.
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