Happy weekend, everybody.
Everything I've ever written has changed directions halfway through, with the story deciding that it's not going to go straight to where I planned but take a detour in some other direction first. I was hoping that after 9 chapters, this one would be different, but this chapter sort of blew that away. What that means for you, my faithful readers, is that the story might be a couple of chapters longer than the 13 I planned.
I have a favor to ask, if I may: A reviewer suggested a while back that I tweak the first chapter, and I thought that was a good suggestion, because the chapter could use some help. Before I do that, I'd like to know what made you want to keep reading past the first chapter (or the first few paragraphs, for that matter). I'll be eternally grateful for your feedback.
Warnings: Violence and some swearing
Reviews: Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far. Special thanks go to causeiambetta for making me realize that Ibiki could be used for good as well as evil. I think I'm going to have fun with that one.
Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters do not belong to me. They belong to the very talented Masashi Kishimoto and the series' various distributors.
Date posted: 09/15/07
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Chapter 10: Countdown
"The fever hasn't gone down at all since he was first brought in. I'm starting to get really worried," a female voice said
"Is there anything you can do?" a male voice asked.
The voices faded in and out of Sasuke's awareness, neither lingering long enough for him to identify the speaker. They were familiar and he didn't feel threatened by them. He was fairly sure the voices belonged to people from his past and wondered if he were dreaming of his old life in Konoha, as he had often done after Orochimaru took over his body. He could also be caught in one of Orochimaru's illusions. The snake always enjoyed catching Sasuke off guard and torturing him with his own memories of the people in Konoha, and what he planned to do to them the next time he attacked the village.
Since Sasuke couldn't remember what had happened to put him in the condition he was in, his first option was to retreat to avoid angering the snake further. While he sometimes liked to provoke Orochimaru, Sasuke knew that he wouldn't be able to withstand another punishment in his current state. He had almost made it to the only place in his mind that he could claim as his own when he realized that something wasn't right. Tentatively, he ventured out into the part of the mind that Orochimaru inhabited and was surprised to find that the snake was not there. With a little more confidence, Sasuke pushed his own consciousness to the front until he could feel the chills racing through his body. He paused, expecting Orochimaru to come out of his hiding place and catch him attempting to take over the body, but when the snake did not make his presence known, Sasuke decided to open his senses fully and see if he could figure out where he was.
He almost wished he hadn't. He no longer felt chilled, but feverish. His body ached and his limbs were not responding to his commands to move them. He was unable to open his eyes, but his nose picked up the unmistakable scent of antiseptic. Another thing he was able to clearly distinguish was that someone was holding his left hand. Sasuke's first instinct was to pull away, but all he could manage was to move a couple of his fingers a tiny bit. The hand holding his relaxed its grip and let go, and Sasuke realized then that he really didn't want to lose the only contact to the outside world he currently had. He managed to move his hand again, and relaxed when it was gripped in a soft, but strong grip.
"You'll be okay, Sasuke," the same female voice broke into the haze of his mind. "Just ride it out."
His precarious awareness of the surroundings left him, and Sasuke found himself trapped in his memories.
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He couldn't see, but he could hear and feel aches and pains all over his body. Straps around his ankles, thighs, wrists and upper arms alerted him to the fact that he was tied to something, so movement was out of the question. He could move his head, but it felt heavy and he was having a hard time focusing. His senses were dulled, so he couldn't tell whether he was alone in the room. His throat hurt, and nausea churned in his stomach. The nausea intensified, and Sasuke was sure that he was going to be sick. He swallowed several times in an attempt to keep the bile from rising, to no avail. He managed to turn his head to one side before whatever he'd been forced to swallow came right back up.
"Son of a bitch!"
The exclamation was followed by a blow to the stomach, which only made him even more ill and he threw up once again. When he was done heaving, someone grabbed his hair and pulled, forcing his head back. Someone else approached him from the front.
"You're playing a dangerous game, Uchiha," he said, and Sasuke could feel the man's breath on his face. "Keep this up, and we'll show you the real meaning of pain."
What game? Sasuke couldn't remember where he was or how he'd gotten there, but this certainly didn't feel like a game to him. Whoever had spoken sounded furious, but Sasuke didn't know how the man had come to be so angry with him. Panic blossomed as Sasuke's mind cleared enough and he realized that he was trapped in a situation that was out of his control and he had no clue how he'd come to be right in the middle of it, or how to get out of it in one piece.
His head was pulled back further, and someone else, not the man in front of him, grabbed his chin and forced his mouth open. Something cold was pressed against his lips and then tipped so that the liquid it contained flowed into his mouth.
"Drink it, Uchiha," the same, cruel voice said, "and don't throw it up this time."
Sasuke's first instinct was to turn away, but that option had been taken away from him. Before he could come up with any other alternatives, his mouth was forced shut and a hand covered it and his nose, forcing him to either swallow the liquid or asphyxiate.
"You may be the friend of the Hokage's little pet, but we have our orders to interrogate you, Uchiha," a different voice said. "Don't think that we'll give you any special treatment."
The situation suddenly dawned on Sasuke as the events of the previous night and the past few hours came back to him. A second blow to the stomach caught him by surprise, which forced him to swallow the contents of his mouth and then choke as some of it went down the wrong way. The liquid burned his throat and settled heavily on his stomach. He almost threw up again, but the hand that had retreated when he'd started to choke returned to his mouth, and had no choice but to keep it down.
He wasn't sure how much time passed, but his mind became fuzzy and he could no longer feel his body. Instead, images from his past rushed into Sasuke's head, vivid and painfully accurate. He was unable to keep his head up and so he let it drop to his chest. Most of the sounds around him were nothing more than an annoying buzz, but he did manage to hear one thing, which plunged him into a particular set of unwanted memories:
"Tell me about Orochimaru's visit to Kirigakure."
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"Hey, Sakura, his breathing is getting really bad," the male voices said.
Sasuke's hand was released and the bed he was lying on shifted as someone moved. Sasuke again tried to open his eyes, this time to look at the owners of the voices that he now recognized, but they refused to open. A cool hand was placed on his forehead, while another brushed the hair away from his face.
"I can see that, but I'm not sure what the cause is, Naruto," Sakura's voice filtered through the cobwebs. "Look, his breathing is going back to normal now," she added.
The cool hand brushed his cheeks, and an image of his mother's face popped into Sasuke's head.
"You'll be okay once the fever breaks, Sasuke-chan. Until then, Mom is here to take care of you."
His mother's face was as vivid and detailed as if he'd seen her yesterday, not more than a decade ago, and Sasuke felt as if he could reach out and touch her. He wanted to; he wanted to wrap his arms around her and never let go. Unfortunately, that was no longer an option. The image of his mother disappeared to be replaced by a much more familiar, and much more hated image.
&
Sasuke was standing on the main road of the Uchiha neighborhood in the pouring rain. The yellow crime scene tape was still affixed to the main gate, so it had only been a few days since the massacre of his clan. He looked down at himself and realized that he was not the age he'd been when Itachi killed the clan, but was his current age.
Footsteps alerted him to a presence behind him and Sasuke turned in time to see a seven-yea-old version of him duck underneath the tape and run inside the compound. The little boy stopped at the spot where he and Itachi had talked the night of the massacre and his small hands clenched into fists. The boy's face looked pale, haunted, and Sasuke didn't have to look closely to know that the boy was crying.
Sasuke stared at himself for a long moment, his own hands clenching into fists. He'd been so young and so weak; his brother had even said that to him. If he'd trained harder and become stronger, perhaps he could have done something to stop his brother, or at least save a few clan members from Itachi's murderous rage. Instead, all Sasuke had managed to do was run for his life while begging his brother not to kill him.
Young Sasuke suddenly took off running. Sasuke followed, knowing exactly where the boy was going. Sasuke caught up with his younger self at the dojo of his family's home. The boy was on his knees beside the chalk outline and bloodstains that marked where his parents had been murdered. He was sobbing and had wrapped his arms around himself in a weak attempt at comfort.
&
"How pathetic, Uchiha," someone said, and Sasuke was no longer watching his younger self mourn for his parents. Instead, he was back in the interrogation room, disoriented, feverish, and in pain. "Someone like you reduced to tears by the memory of mommy and daddy."
Ibiki, whom Sasuke had identified halfway through the interrogation, was standing in front of him once again. He wasn't the one who had spoken, however. Ibiki's chakra was very agitated and it prickled Sasuke's exposed skin. It struck Sasuke that the man was in his element, doing what he did best. Sasuke was not a threat to them; they'd made sure of that. Why was Ibiki agitated?
Sasuke tried to shake the image of the little boy crying and hugging himself at the site of his parent's deaths, but it refused to leave his mind. He felt tears slipping out of the corners of his eyes and was grateful for the blindfold that kept Ibiki from seeing that weakness.
"I could care less how your precious family met its untimely end," Ibiki said after a long pause, but the venom Sasuke had heard in the man's voice up to that point was not entirely there. "I'm getting tired of your misdirection, Uchiha. Tell me about Orochimaru."
"I couldn't do anything," Sasuke said before he could stop himself, his voice hoarse. "I couldn't save any of them, not even my mom and dad. Itachi killed my family and I couldn't do anything to stop him. I just ran away."
The man that had been pulling Sasuke's hair let go, and his head tipped forward. Before his chin came to rest on his chest, a backhand rocked his head to one side. Sasuke tasted blood.
"Give him another dose," Ibiki said. "I've had enough of this."
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Sasuke returned to himself to find that he was not as disoriented as he had been the last time he'd been aware of his surroundings. His mind was a little bit clearer and his body didn't feel like it was burning anymore. The memory of the interrogation, of what he'd told Morino Ibiki and whoever else had been in that room, sent shame rushing through him. There was nothing he had strived to keep to himself more than what happened that night, and now that information was in Ibiki's hands, who would no doubt tell the Hokage, who would have to tell the council. He had no doubt that the information would spread from there and the whole village would eventually know about it.
Movement beside him prompted Sasuke to open his eyes in alarm. He hadn't felt anyone around him, and it frightened him to realize that his senses were still dulled by the drugs. Sasuke wasn't sure what to expect, but a blonde head resting on the bed beside his left arm hadn't been it. Naruto had fallen asleep on the chair beside the bed and his upper body had ended up resting on the bed. Naruto was facing him, and he looked tense even in his sleep.
Naruto moved his head once again, apparently caught in a nightmare. The image reminded Sasuke of a few nights ago, when he'd woken Naruto up from a nightmare only to be pushed away by his terrified ex-teammate. Sasuke clamped down on the memory before it grew too much and decided that he didn't want to be around for round two.
He scooted away from Naruto as quietly as he could, until he was at the opposite edge of the bed. Sasuke managed to get himself to a sitting position without disturbing the other ninja, but whatever control of his body he'd managed left him when he tried to stand. As soon as he'd gotten to his feet, Sasuke's vision blurred and he swayed. He'd almost managed to regain his balance when his stomach rebelled and threatened to empty whatever was left in it. Sasuke covered his mouth with his free hand, but made the mistake of leaning forward. He lost his balance and landed on the floor with a very loud thud.
"What the hell?"
Naruto's voice came through loud and clear, even though Sasuke couldn't see the blonde get out of the chair and come to his side.
"Are you out of your mind, Sasuke?" Naruto asked. "You should be in bed."
Naruto put his hands on Sasuke's shoulders, but Sasuke pushed him away with the hand that wasn't clamped over his mouth. Unfortunately, his body wasn't responding as well as it should be and he didn't push Naruto as far away as he would have liked.
"Push all you want, bastard, but I'm not getting away from you until you're back in bed or Sakura will kill me," Naruto said.
Naruto once again put his hands on Sasuke's shoulders, and Sasuke again pushed him away. This time, however, Sasuke held up his hand to tell Naruto to wait. When the nausea receded, Sasuke dropped both hands and took a few deep breaths. When he was sure he wasn't going to be sick, Sasuke looked at Naruto with what he hoped was a stoic face. The concerned look on Naruto's face, however, told Sasuke that he hadn't quite pulled it off.
"Idiot," Sasuke said, his voice still hoarse, "I didn't want to be sick all over you."
The worry on Naruto's face made him feel uncomfortable, so Sasuke broke eye contact and resumed the task of getting back up. Naruto grabbed Sasuke's arms and helped him to his feet. Once he was upright, Sasuke pulled away but was still unable to maintain his balance on his own.
"Lay down before you hurt yourself, Sasuke," Naruto said as he gently helped Sasuke back onto the bed.
Sasuke still felt nauseated and didn't want to lie down, so he settled on sitting with his back against the headboard.
"You're still drugged," Naruto said. "From what I hear, they gave you a lot more than they should have."
"Yeah, I remember," Sasuke muttered under his breath.
It suddenly occurred to him that the last time he'd seen Naruto the blonde had been close to death. This realization prompted Sasuke to take a closer look at Naruto. He looked pale, disheveled, but very much alive.
"You're okay," Sasuke said.
Naruto raised an eyebrow at that. "Of course I'm okay, Sasuke. I'm indestructible."
The line was so stupid, so unexpected, that all Sasuke could do was gape at the blonde, until a corner of his mouth quirked up in amusement. Naruto noticed and broke out into a grin. When the grin faded, however, the seriousness in Naruto's eyes was unmistakable.
"The old lady told me that it was a close call," Naruto finally said. "That snake of yours, while creepy, saved my hide until you got there."
Sasuke shrugged, which made the ache in his arms and back more pronounced. "Those ninja came through my property first; I should have gotten to them before they got to you."
Tense silence and thoughts they'd never dare voice hovered over them like guillotines, until Naruto took the plunge and gave voice to one of them.
"Orochimaru wanted me dead, huh?" he asked.
"That shouldn't surprise you, Naruto," Sasuke replied.
Naruto frowned, the struggle between what he wanted to say and what he thought he could say was clear in his eyes.
"I thought he wasn't interested in me," Naruto finally said. "He said so himself."
Sasuke opened his mouth, an answer automatically on his lips, but then snapped it shut. What could he say, that Orochimaru became interested when he realized how strong of a bond Sasuke still had with Naruto? He didn't think Naruto would react kindly to knowing that one of the main reasons Orochimaru had wanted him dead, aside from the fact that losing him would cripple Konoha, was because Orochimaru wanted Sasuke to suffer from the loss.
"What?" Naruto asked. "You know something, what is it?"
Sasuke shook his head. "It's not important, Naruto."
"Like hell it isn't," the blonde replied. "Those three ninja came here specifically to kill me because Orochimaru put them up to it, and if you know something, you're damn well going to tell me."
"The interrogators already did a pretty good job of getting that information out of me, don't you think?" Sasuke said. "I've told them, and the Hokage, everything I know."
Naruto's anger and frustration were evident in the chakra that radiated off of his body, which to Sasuke meant that Naruto's chakra pathways had been restored. As long as the blonde was back to normal, everything was fine. Sasuke turned away from Naruto and focused on the view through the open window.
"I'm going to get Sakura," Naruto said after a few minutes of tense silence. "You should at least be nice to her, you bastard, she helped you a great deal."
Once the door had closed behind Naruto, loneliness sank in. Sasuke crossed his arms over his chest, but dropped them back to his sides when he remembered the image of his younger self at the dojo. Keeping Naruto and Sakura from getting too close was for their best interest. They had their own problems without having to deal with his. It was with that thought that Sasuke lay down and drifted off into a fitful, drug induced slumber.
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Hatake Kakashi resisted the urge to climb into the hospital room he'd been observing for some time and knock some sense into his former student as he'd resisted the urge to run after his other, more hard-headed, former student when he'd left the room in a huff. Many years had passed since Kakashi had been Naruto and Sasuke's instructor, but he still saw traces of the immature, combative boys they'd been in the young men Sasuke and Naruto had become. When Sasuke had pushed Naruto away, Kakashi had almost expected Naruto to start yelling at Sasuke as he used to do. Instead, the quiet insistence followed by the angry withdrawal was a lot more troubling to Kakashi.
In the room, Sasuke had gone back to sleep. As much as Kakashi wanted to talk to him and make sure that he was okay, he didn't want to disturb Sasuke's sleep. Kakashi could tell that it was a fitful sleep from Sasuke's tossing, turning, and occasional murmur, but he figured it was better than none.
Years ago, and under much different circumstances, Kakashi would have come up with any excuse to stay away, reasoning that Sasuke wanted to be left alone. The young man had been forced to become independent and self-sufficient at a very young age. Sasuke had mastered the act of appearing as if he was in complete control, and nothing ever bothered him, so it was easy for everyone in the village, including Kakashi, to forget what had made Sasuke into such an independent young man in the first place. Sasuke had retreated into himself to the point that killing Itachi had become his sole obsession, and there had been no one around to point out to him how damaging that was.
Sasuke's murmuring got louder, and Kakashi was able to pick up Itachi's name. Deciding that waking Sasuke up wasn't a bad idea after all, he leapt into the room and landed beside the bed. He studied the bruises and cuts on Sasuke's face and his exposed arms, and knew that more would be found underneath Sasuke's clothes. Interrogations were brutal things, and Ibiki was the best in the art of extracting information. Kakashi could only imagine what it had taken to get through Sasuke's defenses.
"I must be really beat up for you to look like someone just trashed your book collection, Kakashi," Sasuke said before Kakashi had the chance to wake him.
"You've looked better," Kakashi replied. "Those bruises are going to get nice and bright in a few days."
"Then it's a good thing I don't have any adoring fans anymore," Sasuke said. The tone was mean to be light, but Kakashi could still hear the slight undertone of bitterness in it. "I'd hate to disappoint."
"Dreaming about your brother?" Kakashi asked before Sasuke could direct the conversation elsewhere.
Caught off guard, Sasuke forgot to school his features into his usual mask of aloofness, which gave Kakashi a rare glimpse at the hurt little boy that still lived underneath what a decade of single-minded focus on revenge had turned Sasuke into.
"What makes you think that?" Sasuke asked as he pushed the covers aside and sat up.
"You were mumbling in your sleep, and Itachi's name came up. Does it happen often?"
Sasuke's jaw worked as it clenched and unclenched, but the rest of his body was neutral. He spent a great deal of time studying Kakashi, which made the elder ninja feel as if Sasuke was trying to figure out what his intentions were for bringing up Itachi. He apparently found what he was looking for, because, after a few moments of scrutiny, Sasuke looked away.
"I used to dream about him a lot more than I do now," Sasuke said.
Kakashi hadn't expected an answer, so he had to stop and think about how to keep the conversation going without causing Sasuke to clam up again. He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms in the most casual position he could think of.
"What changed to stop the dreams?" Kakashi asked.
Sasuke's next answer took longer.
"Itachi is dead."
The statement hung between them for a long while. Kakashi studied Sasuke's face, but found none of the triumph he would have expected from someone who had finally accomplished what he'd spent most of his life pursuing. It didn't take long for Kakashi to figure out why that was.
"You didn't kill him, did you?"
Sasuke looked up at Kakashi then, and he looked every bit the teenager he still was.
"My hands delivered the final blow, but I wasn't the one controlling them," Sasuke answered. "It seems Orochimaru had his own score to settle with my brother, and once he had the Sharingan, it became much easier to do it."
Sasuke's voice was empty, but his eyes told of the disappointment and anger he couldn't voice. Kakashi felt for the young man, but there was nothing he could say that would change the outcome. It was a hard lesson, but hopefully one that Sasuke would build from and start his life over.
"Is that why you didn't take off again after Naruto killed Orochimaru and brought you back?" Kakashi asked.
Sasuke shook his head. "Even if Itachi had still been alive, being Orochimaru's host made me realize a few things. Unless our paths had someday crossed, I would not have actively pursued my brother any longer."
Kakashi's eyebrows rose in surprise. It had taken enslavement by an insane snake with a superiority complex for Sasuke to learn the lesson Kakashi had been unable to teach him. It left a bad taste in Kakashi's mouth, and he wondered if three years of bloodshed could have been avoided if he'd managed to get through to Sasuke first.
Sasuke shifted on the bed, wincing as his back hit the headboard a lot harder than he'd intended.
"Are you okay?" Kakashi asked, venturing into safer territory. "Did they give you something for the pain?"
"No," Sasuke replied, visibly relieved at the change of topic, "Sakura said that there were already so many drugs in my system that she didn't want to give me anything else."
"Are you going to be okay?" Kakashi asked again.
The response didn't come right away. "The body will heal like it always does."
The unstated implication that the mind wouldn't heal as easily hung in the air, but neither of them had the courage to address it, at least not yet.
Kakashi perched on the window once again, preparing to leave. "Rest and do what the doctors tell you to. I don't want you leaving the hospital before you're ready."
Sasuke nodded, but Kakashi knew that as soon as Sasuke felt well enough to walk, he'd jump out the window and go home. They both knew it.
"Take care, Sasuke," Kakashi said and leapt out of the room.
He was late for a meeting with the Hokage that would probably take him out of the village, but now that he'd made sure that Sasuke was relatively well, and had been told things he never though Sasuke would willingly share, he felt a little better about being away for a while. Sasuke could take care of himself, and he was sure that Naruto and Sakura would be there for him, as Sasuke would be for them, even if he didn't want to admit it.
Once Kakashi made it to the Hokage's office, he was surprised to find both Hyuga Neji and Nara Shikamaru still waiting outside.
"It seems I'm not the only one running late today," Kakashi commented.
Shikamaru sighed, crossed his arms and leaned against the nearest wall. "We've been out here for forty-five minutes," he said, "but no one has come to get us. All we've heard from inside was some occasional yelling, but nothing we could make out."
"Who is in there?" Kakashi asked Neji.
"The Hokage, Shizune-san, Jiraiya-san, and Morino Ibiki," he replied without turning to face Kakashi. "I can't hear what they're saying, but I bet it has to do with the interrogations Ibiki conducted this morning."
The dread that had lived in Kakashi ever since he'd been informed about Sasuke's interrogation intensified. He knew that Sasuke had quite a few secrets that he would try desperately to protect, but he didn't believe that Sasuke was a threat to the village. He was sure that the people actually conducting the investigation, however, would not share his views. Kakashi was worried that, fear and hatred for Sasuke being what it was, the things Sasuke had revealed during the interrogation would be twisted and turned against him. If the four occupants of the room were discussing Sasuke at the moment, whatever information they'd gained must have been very troubling.
"Where is Uchiha now?" Neji asked. "Weren't they done with him first?"
"He's in the hospital," Kakashi replied, "and he's not under guard, if that's what you were wondering about."
"They must have roughed him up quite a bit then," Shikamaru muttered, but in the tense silence of the hallway, the statement was heard by the two remaining men.
The fact that they only left Sasuke with Naruto and the ANBU that had been watching Sasuke earlier is a good sign, Kakashi thought. If the interrogation had uncovered anything that would classify Sasuke as a risk, they would have assigned more guards to him until they could transfer him to a more secure facility.
Kakashi's thoughts were interrupted as the door to the Hokage's office opened. Ibiki exited first. His face was a stoic mask, but there was no mistaking the angry fluctuations of his chakra. Had Ibiki not been so preoccupied by whatever had transpired in his interrogation room or in the Hokage's office he'd have been able to mask the chakra. The interrogations specialist passed by them as if they weren't even there and made his way to the exit. Shizune followed him out of the office, but stopped briefly when she reached them.
"Please enter," she said and then hurried off after Ibiki.
Kakashi let Shikamaru and Neji precede him into the office and then pulled the door shut behind him. He didn't have to be a mind reader to see that something had gone wrong. Jiraiya paced behind the Hokage's desk, lost in thought, which he usually only did when he couldn't go off and inflict damage on something or someone that had threatened him or those important to him. He watched the man for a few moments, but Jiraiya did not acknowledge their presence.
"Gentlemen, I've called you here because I need you to do some reconnaissance," Tsunade-sama said once they'd all come to attention in front of her desk. "Last night's breach of security took us all by surprise. Fortunately, both Uzumaki and Uchiha behaved as the well-trained ninja they are and contained the threat before more people could get hurt. In light of the information we received from Uchiha regarding Orochimaru's last visit to Kirigakure, we can't afford to sit around and not take action against this threat." Tsunade-sama paused to examine each of them in turn. "Uchiha didn't know any specific details about Kirigakure's attack plans, so I need you three to do find out as much as you can."
Kakashi's eyes narrowed. "Tsunade-sama, wouldn't the ninja we captured be able to provide us with more detailed information than what we could gather?"
A look of disgust flittered across Tsunade-sama's face and Kakashi heard a distinct creaking sound from where the Hokage gripped the arms of her chair. Jiraiya stopped pacing and turned to face them, his face unreadable.
"That ninja is dead," the Hokage said.
That was the last thing Kakashi expected to hear. When he'd been briefed early that morning, the Hokage had been certain that the ninja would be able to provide a great deal of the information they'd need to prepare for the incoming attack.
"How did he die?" Shikamaru asked before Kakashi had a chance to.
It was Jiraiya who answered. "The ninja was given a little too much freedom and he managed to activate the poison in his blood. He died before we could get anything worthwhile out of him."
No wonder Ibiki had been so angry when he left the office, Kakashi thought.
"Did Uchiha reveal anything during his interrogation?" Neji asked.
Kakashi wouldn't admit it if he were asked, but he was curious about that himself. A look passed between Jiraiya and Tsunade, which, if he hadn't known Jiraiya for as long as he had, Kakashi would have dismissed as inconsequential. Instead, Kakashi saw it for what it was: a look of confirmation for something they'd both agreed to stay silent about. If the look between them wasn't enough to tip Kakashi off, the look Jiraiya gave him certainly would have done the trick. They had discovered something from Sasuke's investigation after all.
"Uchiha didn't reveal anything more than what he'd already told me, so that avenue is not worth pursuing," Tsunade answered.
Kakashi didn't buy it, but this wasn't the time or the place to pursue that further.
"I need each of you to head out of the village and scout the borders of Fire Country," Tsunade-sama said. "A successful attack on Fire Country is impossible from the sea because it would leave the troops exposed to attack for too long, so Kirigakure has probably secured several places around our border, or in unallied countries. If we're lucky, they haven't entered into Fire Country yet. We need to know where they are and how many there are. The sooner the better, so we can call for allies if we feel it's necessary. This is reconnaissance only, so avoid any and all confrontations," Tsunade explained. "I'm giving you one week. In that time, you will gather as much information as you can and return. If you're not back in that timeframe, we will assume that you've either been killed or captured. Is that clear?"
The men nodded mutely, the seriousness of the situation foremost on their minds.
"I don't need to remind you of the importance of this mission," Tsunade continued. "The sooner we can get this information, the sooner we can take action. I'd prefer to engage the enemy as far away from the gates of Konoha as possible, so stay safe and come back in one piece. Dismissed."
Kakashi led the way out of the office. As if following a silent agreement, all three men headed to the ANBU lounge. Neither spoke until they were inside and had made sure that no one else was in or around the room.
"I'll head north and cover the borders with the Land of Sound, the Land of Lightning and the areas in between until I reach the coast," Kakashi said.
He'd worked with Neji and Shikamaru before, and the unspoken agreement between them was that Kakashi took the lead during their missions together, so it came as no surprise to the younger men that Kakashi had spoken first.
"Then I'll head west and cover the borders with the Land of Rain, the Land of Grass, and the area between the Land of Fire and Land of Wind," Shikamaru said.
Neji nodded his agreement. "I'll cover the coast," he said.
"We need a way to stay in touch," Shikamaru said. "It'd be pointless to have information and be unable to relay it back to Konoha until our return. If something happens to us, the work we'll have managed to get done will be a waste."
"You read my mind," Kakashi said.
"Send one of your dogs with each of us," Neji suggested. "You can keep track of us through them."
"Good idea," Shikamaru said. "We can relay information through them to you…"
".. and I can then use my shadow clones to get that information back to the Hokage," Kakashi finished.
"What timeframe are we talking about for the passing of information?" Neji asked.
"How about every 24 hours?" Shikamaru suggested. "We might not have something to report at every check-in, but it's better to be safe than sorry."
"That will work. If Kakashi's dogs disappear, we'll know something happened to him," Neji said. "If your dogs return to you prematurely, you'll know something happened to us."
The three men nodded their agreement with the plan.
"We'll leave at midnight from the north gate," Kakashi said. "I'll see you gentlemen then."
&&&&
What a mess, Naruto thought as he entered his apartment through the broken front door.
There was dried blood all over the floor and walls of his living room. The kitchen table was in pieces, and the wall opposite that also had large stains of blood. As Naruto stepped fully into the apartment and away from the fresh air, the combined smell of dried blood, bodily fluids, and burnt wood assailed his senses and he gagged. He covered his nose and mouth with his sleeve until he the gagging subsided.
Once he was sure he wouldn't lose the little he'd eaten for lunch, he walked to the couch, which was also covered in blood. He didn't remember fighting near the couch, so that had to have been where they put him once Tsunade had gotten to the apartment. His hand moved to his shoulder, where he could feel the tip of the scar that had been left behind by the poisoned sword. The wound was now healed, but the fact that a scar had been left made how close he'd come to losing his life very clear.
Naruto abandoned the living room in favor of his bedroom. He remembered the battle with the foreign ninja, but seeing the damage they'd done to the room made that night seem almost surreal. The dresser he'd ruined with the exploding tags was a mass of charred wood on one side of the room and the wall opposite was streaked with blood. The closet was in a state of disarray, but nothing there seemed to be damaged. Unfortunately for Naruto, a good portion of his clothing had been kept in the dresser and was now burned to a crisp.
He kicked the bed clothes that littered the floor off to one side and looked under the bed, but there was nothing there. When Naruto went to move the dresser in order to look behind it, it broke apart and sent ash and dust flying in all directions. When Naruto was finished coughing and getting the dust out of his eyes and nose, he decided to kick the pieces of wood around, but he didn't find what he was looking for there either.
Naruto was positive that he'd used his sword that night. He remembered digging in his closet for it, but couldn't remember whether he had it when Sasuke had arrived or whether he'd lost it before that. The last place he could clearly remember having it was his bedroom, but it didn't appear to be here anymore.
"If you're looking for the sword, Shikamaru has it. He found it as he was inspecting the damage and said he'd keep it for you."
Naruto yelped in surprise at the voice. He hadn't felt Lee's presence at all until the young man had spoken.
"I'm glad he's got it. I was afraid I'd either lost it or it had been stolen. What were you and Shikamaru doing here that night?" Naruto asked.
"Shikamaru apparently felt your chakra and knew something was wrong, so he came," Lee replied. "I saw the Hokage carrying you into the hospital and couldn't ask her what was going on, so I came to find out."
"You're either very nosy or a good friend," Naruto teased.
Lee grinned. "I'll take the first one."
Both young men silently surveyed the remains of the room. Naruto kicked at pieces of his dresser to see if he could find anything else that had survived. A feeling of finality washed over him when he saw the charred picture of team 7 stuck underneath one of the fragments. He picked it up and cleaned it as best he could, but the photograph was ruined. The only person Naruto could make out in the picture was himself.
"There's probably a copy of that picture somewhere in the archives," Lee offered. "I'm sure the Hokage can find one for you."
"Yeah, you're right," Naruto said. He folded the photograph and put it into one of the pockets of the hospital-issue shirt he wore. Even if he could get another copy, it could never replace the one he had now.
"How are you feeling, Naruto?" Lee asked after a moment. "I didn't expect you to be out of the hospital so soon."
"I'm not supposed to be out yet, so if you see Sakura or Tsunade around here let me know," Naruto said as he glanced around the apartment, afraid that his words would conjure up either, or worse yet both, of the people he'd mentioned.
"Should you not still be resting? Sneaking out of the hospital will not help you improve your health," Lee said, sounding very much like his former teacher.
"Don't you start lecturing me, Lee," Naruto countered. "What are you doing here? This place is a complete disaster."
"I heard that the ninja Uchiha captured killed himself before Ibiki and his team could interrogate him, so I came to see if there were any clues left behind."
Naruto's jaw dropped open. "How did he manage that? The interrogation team would have searched him for any weapons."
"I don't know all of the details, but I heard that he had some kind of poison in his blood that he was able to activate," Lee explained. "By the time our people got to him he was already dead."
Naruto shook his head in disbelief. He wondered what had gone wrong. Ibiki's people had rarely failed in their pursuit of information. The aftermath of Sasuke's interrogation was a testament to how thorough they were, even when dealing with one of their own ninja.
"That's unfortunate," Naruto said. "I was hoping to have a word or two with the man myself."
"Do you know why they came after you first?" Lee asked.
Naruto's jaw clenched as Lee's innocent question reminded him of Sasuke's non-response when he'd asked a similar question.
"No, I don't," Naruto said, "and I guess I'll have to look for another way to find out."
If he knew Tsunade, then the old lady had already formulated a plan to get the information that she'd expected to get from the now dead ninja. He could probably even guess who she'd send on the reconnaissance mission. If he weren't injured, or suspended, Naruto was sure he'd be one of the ninja to go. A sudden thought struck him and he could barely manage to keep himself from grinning. Just because he wasn't on the official ninja roster didn't mean that he couldn't undertake his own reconnaissance mission.
"Sorry, Lee, but I have to go," Naruto said and made his way out of the bedroom.
He'd made it halfway to the front door when he felt strong, and very familiar, chakra coming his way. He contemplated jumping out the window to avoid the confrontation he was sure would come, but figured that if he did that, he'd only make her angrier. Instead, he readied himself for the lecture she'd no doubt take great pleasure in delivering. He didn't have to wait too long before Sakura was standing at the door, glaring at him.
"What the hell are you doing out of the hospital, Naruto?" Sakura said in that calm voice she'd adopted over that years that meant very bad things if he didn't do as she wanted. "You told me you were going back to bed when you came to tell me about Sasuke."
"I just wanted to see what left of my apartment," Naruto said, hoping that the fear of what she could, and probably would, do to him once she got him back to the hospital didn't show up in his voice. "See, there's not much here anymore."
Sakura looked around for the first time and the anger left her face, to be replaced by disbelief and sadness, until she focused on Naruto once again.
"This is no place for you to be," Sakura said. "Lee, why didn't you bring him back?" she added when she noticed the other ninja in the apartment.
Lee, who still had a soft spot for Sakura, blushed. "I was going to convince him to return to the safety of the hospital, but you beat me to it," he said. "Wasn't I just telling you that you should be in the hospital?" Lee asked Naruto.
Naruto rolled his eyes at the immediate change in Lee's demeanor. It was as if he were the 12-year-old, love-struck ninja that had just met Sakura all over again. Naruto found it amusing to watch, and wondered why Lee still got so flustered around Sakura, who had never returned his childhood affections.
"Fine, you win, Sakura," Naruto said, and turned on the charm with a bright smile. "I'll go back to the hospital and you can tie me to the bed if you want."
He was at the front door when he realized that Sakura wasn't behind him. He turned around and found Sakura still standing where he'd left her.
"Aren't you coming?" Naruto asked.
"What are you planning?" Sakura countered.
"What makes you think I'm planning anything, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, still smiling.
"You never give in this easily," she replied.
Naruto chuckled. "You're too paranoid, Sakura. I'm not planning anything, now come on and lead the way to the hospital. I need my beauty sleep."
&&&&
There was a small restaurant next to Inoue Daisuke's shop, and the old man had noticed that it was unusually crowded with ninja. The place was close enough that Daisuke was able to listen to a few conversations when he stepped out of his shop. Something big had happened the night before, and from what Daisuke had heard, it was serious enough to have the Hokage worried. The ninja weren't very clear on the details and it seemed to Daisuke that they really didn't know what was going on, just what they'd heard through the grapevine. That didn't keep them from speculating, however. Daisuke had even heard the word 'invasion' used once.
Daisuke was concerned, but not entirely because of a possible invasion. The young man that had come to help him the day before seemed to be involved in whatever had happened. Daisuke had heard Naruto's name mentioned a few times, along with 'attack' and 'hospital'. The fact that the young man hadn't shown up for work that morning had been a surprise, since Naruto didn't seem like the type who would go back on his word. Now that he'd heard the talk, Daisuke was beginning to worry that something serious had happened to the kind, young man. Naruto's friend hadn't shown up for work either, and Daisuke wondered if he had been involved as well.
He'd been so lost in thought that he'd neglected to notice that someone was standing behind him. When Daisuke turned to go back inside the shop, he ended up bumping into the stranger instead. The collision sent both men to their rears on the ground. The stranger was wearing a brown cloak that covered him from head to toe, but the fall knocked the cloth off the man's head to reveal a young man with glasses and gray hair. One of the lenses on the man's glasses was badly cracked, and Daisuke wondered how he was able to see out of it at all.
"My apologies," Daisuke said as he got to his feet. "In my old age, I should be more careful."
The young man got to his feet as well and gave Daisuke a charming smile. He wasn't wearing a head protector, so Daisuke assumed he was a trader just passing by.
"No apologies necessary, sir," the young man said. "I should watch where I'm going as well, especially since there are so many people out today."
"Are you a visitor here?" Daisuke asked. "I'm fairly new to this village as well, so I can understand how easy it is to get lost with all of the crowds."
Something dark slid across the man's visible eye, which made the hair on the back of Daisuke's neck stand on end. The smile on the man's face never wavered, however.
"I'm just passing through," the young man said, "but I could use some help getting around, if you don't mind."
"Not at all," Daisuke said, much more reserved about the young man than he'd been earlier, but not seeing a problem with helping him get around. There was just something about the young man that made Daisuke feel uneasy. "I'm Inoue Daisuke," he said and offered the stranger a bow.
The young man bowed in return. "I'm Yakushi Kabuto, nice to meet you."
&&&&
So there you have it: Itachi's fate finally revealed. Some of you probably figured this out several chapters ago, since I did leave a sizeable clue.
Some of you had Kabuto pegged a while back too, so congrats! He is way too much fun to get rid of that easily. Be assured that he's got some dastardly plans for our handsome heroes. Or maybe he's just lonely.
Don't forget to leave a review on the way out!