A/N: I do not own X-men or Naruto. Reviews Appreciated.
Chapter Ten
5:01 AM. Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, New York, March 05.
It had only been a few hours since the two teenagers had made off with Monica, and they hadn't been seen since. While most of the staff was shocked two children could be capable such, much to their surprise Xavier didn't seem to be taken aback by this news, almost as if he was expecting it. Sure, he bowed his head for a moment and shook it slowly, it was obvious he was disappointed, but it hadn't caught him by surprise. What did surprise him, however, was the news that reached him not long after: Only hours before the X-men were ready to depart, a body was discovered outside the premises. Male, average build, and at the height of 5'9.
The corpse was remarkably intact, being no such state of mutilation. All but that it was missing a certain feature: a face. Someone seemed to have taken a blade and sliced a curvature along the forehead before sliding their fingers into the pocket as one might an envelope to retrieve its contents. With that the entire face was peeled off, revealing the mass of bloody muscle and bone below it. It was still warm, Jean estimating the time of death to be only minutes before the body was found. Upon review Xavier's lips tightened into a thin line. It seemed they had a new enemy in their midst.
Needless to say, excitement buzzed through the student body. The halls of Xavier's school hadn't been so lively at such an hour since William Striker's attack on the school. Students were up and running about, chattering. Kitty, Bobby, and Rogue had already found each other and were comparing notes.
"I heard it was Sakura and her blonde friend," said Kitty. "They took the jet and left."
"Kitty, something tells me I should doubt they just hopped in the jet and left," pointed out Bobby. "They're our age." Or looked it anyways. They hadn't been there very long, and he couldn't be sure exactly what their age was.
"Sakura wasn't in our room when I woke up..." said Rogue, frowning slightly. And she had woken up as soon as she'd heard the roar of the engine blaring right outside her window. Kitty's eyes widened and her face lit up, jumping on the opportunity immediately.
"See? See? Why else wouldn't she be in the room unless she was-"
"Just because Rogue didn't see her doesn't mean she was stealing school property," said Bobby. Kitty rolled her eyes, opinionated as always.
"Then tell me this, Bobby. The team comes back from their mission, not only missing Professor Logan but their hottie friend, and hours later they disappear around the same time the jet was stolen. What does that say to you?"
"If something went wrong on the mission, we would have known by now. Someone would have told us. Professor Xavier, Doctor Gray, someone. More reliable than you guessing."
"I walk through walls, Bobby, I don't have to guess!" The two continued to bicker back and forth, but Rogue didn't hear any of it. Their conversation faded. Logan...missing? Despite her protests and a certain ability to phase through solid objects, Kitty wasn't known to always be the most reliable source. And even still, just the thought formed a lump in her through and cause her stomach to suddenly become heavy. Logan was gone a lot, but it was always on his own terms. But now he was...missing? She couldn't get the word out of her mind. Missing. Missing. Missing, missing, missing. The other two were looking worriedly at her now, frowns of concern on their brows, but she was unable to snap herself out of this daze. Logan. Missing.
Time Unknown. Location Unknown. Date Unknown.
Beep...Beep...Beep. The rhythmic sound sped slightly as Sasuke awoke. What the hell was that sound? He was lying flat on his back on a table of some sort when the disorientation wore off. His arms were stretched to the sides and bound to their fullest ability; any further would surely pull his shoulders from their cuffs. He lifted his head slightly, a throbbing sensation pulsating through his head. He'd never been unconscious, that much he was sure of. And yet the last couple of hours were...distant. Both existing and not existing in unison. He lay there for some time, eyes closed and lips parted, trying to get the wave of nausea to retreat. After a while he was able to open his eyes. The room swam around him, both literally and figuratively. He pulled on his bindings slightly, and squirmed as best be could, but any little movement of his torso only hurt.
His upper half was bare, muscles in his chest and arms well defined against the pale skin. Two small, clear cups clung to his breast, attached to thin cords and finally leading to an electrocardiogram monitoring the steady beats of his heart. He looked to the side to see the figure of an unconscious Wolverine laying suspended above a water-filled chamber. Blue lights shone in the sides of the chamber, causing the water to be reflected all throughout the room. Sasuke opened his mouth to call out to the other but before the sound could pass his lips, one of another kind interrupted the silence. That of a door opening.
Flickering gold light peaked out of the shadows before disappearing with another loud clang. A single set of footsteps approached. Sasuke's first instinct was to close his eyes and feign sleep, and he did so. Unfortunately, the vital, blood-pumping organ lodged inside his chest betrayed him. Beep-beep..beep-beep..beep-beep. Still his eyes remained closed, if not a bit forcefully. The footsteps continued closer before stopping. Silence. Waiting. Waiting for him. Knowing the charade was in vain, Sasuke's eyes opened and flickered upon the newcomer. The figure was clearly that of Tomair, but shadow drenched him, so much so that anything above his chest was completely obscure. It didn't matter, without corrective eye wear Sasuke was unable to make much out anyways no matter how much he might squint. Within moments a crimson leaked into the iris' of his eyes, washing over the entire spheres leaving only a shock of black surrounding the pupils and a thin ring around the outside. The area around him both lightened and sharpened dramatically, transforming into unbelievably high definition. His sights set once again on his supposed captor and his eyes widened. No...there was no...way...
Knowing full well he was unable to hide, the man stepped from the shadows. He wore the same outfit as Sasuke remembered Tomair wearing, but he was taller. His limbs and neck were long and slender, possessing an unnatural, sliding grace with every movement he made. The blue light glowed eerily off his sickeningly pale complexion. His face was narrow and thin, cheekbones gutting out of the sides. Thick, black locks slid over his shoulder and midway down his back, locks falling carelessly into his face, concealing nearly half of it. But the strangest thing about this person was his eyes. Outlined in thick, charcoal lines that slid sharply from the inner corners of his eyes near the bridge of his nose weren't the only thing that made them creepy, though they certainly helped. What was really disturbing, even more so than Sasuke's crimson, was the animalistic gold of the iris, colored brilliant yet dark, like the seething coals of a neglected fire. The pupils were two thin slits, cat-like in appearance. His thin lips pulled into a dark, misplaced smile and his words dripped from his lips like venom, his S's slightly pulled with an almost snake-like hiss.
"Sasuke." The one to whom this name belonged felt the air trap in his chest, everything he could have ever imagined entwined in a single moment all being confirmed at once, and yet leaving his mind brimming with questions, completely disregarded by adrenaline and..fear. He spoke. His voice was hoarse but steady, denying any trace of the emotion he felt inside entry into it.
"...Orochimaru." The man's smile folded out into a grin, sharp canines glimmering, pleased to see the young man remembered him. "How the fuck did you find me?" The pallid man's smile faltered at the rough use of language, but still he glided to the others' side.
"Well that's simple," he replied, looming above him. "You never learned to share as a child and have been begging me for attention for the last couple of months. Now here I am." Sasuke frowned slightly, not understanding what the other meant. "Oh, Sasuke," he said. "You really didn't think you could go around flashing a name like yours without me finding out, did you?" Sasuke's frown hardened in anger, eyes searing. Orochimaru leaned down, face so close to Sasuke's the tips of their noses nearly touched, and the teen could feel the odorless, moist breath against his face as he spoke.
"No..." the snake whispered before attempting to close the distance between them. Sasuke, however, had other plans and whipped his head to the side, Orochimaru's nose colliding with the side of his face. The man frowned, placing his long, elegant fingers against Sasuke's cheek, thumb wrapping under his chin and forcing him to look straight. Sasuke clenched both his eyes and jaw shut and held his breath as the others mouth descended once more, dreading the moment when their lips would touch. Dreading a moment that didn't happen. Orochimaru stopped only centimeters before contact and instead his pink tongue slide from between his lips, touching, tasting, the corner of the Uchiha's mouth. He brought his tongue back and let the grin return to his features, surveying the teenager's face, a chuckle escaping him. Sasuke opened his eyes to see Orochimaru pull back before turning and walking away from him. Walking toward Logan.
"Hey!" Sasuke tried to call, but his voice caught, words strangled lifeless in his throat. "Hey!" he yelled again, this time both much louder and much clearer. "Hey, what are you doing? Get away from him!" Orochimaru stopped and pivoted to face him, another chuckle erupting from his frame.
"I'm sorry, were you under the impression this was only about you?" there was an amused smile on his features. "You were just a bonus, my little Uchiha. The second bird. I must take care of your friend here first. But don't worry. I won't forget about you." Sasuke's eyes widened.
"What are you going to do with him?" he growled. "Damn it! Answer me you bastard! Orochimaru! God damn it!" But he had already turned and continued toward the Wolverine, no longer attentive to what he regarded as the child vying for his attentions. Sasuke struggled against his bindings, heart monitor yelping to a start before chiming rapidly. Beep-beep, beep-beep, beep-beep. Suddenly a surge of electricity surged through him, pulling a short cry from his throat, one that he didn't hear, before passing him on to a state of unconsciousness once again.
6:30 AM. Location Uncertain, New York, March 05.
It wasn't so bad, really. Flying wasn't that hard, once you got off the ground. Maybe it was just the fact that she was a prodigy talking, but by now Sakura definitely thought pilots were overrated. Naruto had finally decided it was safe to breathe again and took on a more relaxed posture in his chair.
"Gee, Sakura-chan, you're really good at flying," he said. Sakura glanced over at him, raising an amused eyebrow.
"We're speaking English, Naruto, no need for the formalities."
"Oh..." the blonde replied and fell quiet for a few moments.
"Naruto...?" Sakura asked, almost cautiously. She knew him well enough to know the uncharacteristic silences meant something.
"Huh? Oh, nothing," he said. "It's just hard to wrap your head around. One minute they're there and then..." he trailed off. Sakura's expression softened, suddenly feeling bad for her hyperactive companion.
"Oh, Naruto, we'll find them," she assured him. "I'm sure Sasuke and Mr. Logan are just fine." Naruto looked at her and blinked.
"What? No, not them," he said. "The suffixes. -Chan, -san, -kun, that kinda stuff. I don't see why we can't just use them in every language. Either that or not at all. Then I wouldn't have to do all this remembering." Sakura looked at him, eyebrows raised and lips parted in disbelief, but before she could say something the sound of static filled the air followed by,
"Tshhhhk—Monica, come in, over.–-tshhhk." Storm. It was either Storm or Jean. It was hard to tell via radio transmission. The so-called "X-men" had been attempting to make radio contact for nearly an hour now, and Sakura had been ignoring them. She rolled her eyes.
"You'd think they would have given up by now," she said.
"Yeah," Naruto replied. "The old man tried to talk to me, inside my mind, a couple of times, too."
"Yeah, me too."
"Tshhhk—Sakura, Naruto, come in, over.-tshhhhk...Tshhhk-Listen, a body was found on the school premises just after you left. The man was found and he was...he was missing his face. You have to come in for questioning. You might not be safe. Over.-tshhhk." Both Sakura and Naruto's head snapped to look at each other before their hands shot out for the mouth piece to the radio, the pinkette reaching it just a second earlier and wrenching it from it's holster, twisted cord that kept it to the board snapping to taut attention as she did so.
"Tsshhhk—This is Sakura. Come in, over.-tshhhk."
"Tsshhhk—Sakura! Thank god. Get back to the school, now. Over.-Tsshhk."
"Tsshhk—What was that about a body? You say he didn't have a face?...Over!-Tsshhhk."
"Tshhhk—Get back to the school. I'm sending you coordinates now, over.-Tshhhk."
"Tsshhk—No! Tell me about the body! When did you find him?... ...Over, damn it!-Tshhk."
"Tsshhk—Get back to the school! Over. Tsshhhk." Sakura slammed the receiver back on the board, not bothering to end the conversation with an "over and out." She immediately flipped the switch above the radio, the red light next to it disappearing, the radio no longer active. Naruto's eyes were wide and wild.
"Sakura!"
"I know!" She shouted back, turning the wheel drastically.
"I thought we were heading for the lake to look for more clues!"
"What's the use?" she said, staring ahead intently. "We know where he is."