Chapter 10: Away from Tomorrow

"Most of us have learned to be dispassionate about evil, to look it in the face and find, as often as not, our own grinning reflections with which we do not argue, but good is another matter. Few have stared at that long enough to accept that its face too is grotesque, that in us the good is something under construction."

-Flannery O'Connor

The day the heat subsided was the first day Samui recalled feeling a true sliver of happiness since what had felt like ages. If she had been asked about the last time she had experienced such a feeling, she would have probably mentioned a cheerful encounter with her brother, one that ended with both of them laughing until they were gasping for air. But any expectation of reliving that joy had been lowered when her brother's laugh was bitterly diminished to a distant chuckle within her memories.

Samui found the cooler air refreshing when she stepped out into the streets that day. There was a tender buzz humming around her, and she felt a tiny jolt of energy surge through her body as she met up with her team.

For the last week, Samui had used her authority given to her by both the Raikage and the Mizukage to lead a small enforcement unit. Including her, there were four of them: two being from Kiri and the other also from Kumo. They were all adept fighters, but (just like her) there was an emptiness to them, as if a layer of themselves had been stripped from their frames. She had originally tried to combat that fact by keeping them busy with patrolling and enforcing the rising issues of the village, but with each passing act of depravity they witnessed, the remaining layers dwindled.

It really clawed at a person's psyche after a while, Samui realized. Every day it seemed the heinous crimes of the citizens were getting worse. Everyone's mental states were unsteady, and they were beginning to fall one after another. So around her team, Samui maintained a cool disposition and kept her intuition focused on the tasks at hand. She had locked her true thoughts away, her raw, unrelenting misgivings and frustrations, in order to instill hope in her teammates. So far, it seemed like she had been successful.

But the pleasant weather alone couldn't make her dejection go away.

When they passed a clothing store during one of their patrols, Samui could feel her despondent feelings squirm. A tattered yukata hung loosely in the store window, and a distorted image filled her mind.

She was young and wearing a similar robe and her brother was leading her by the hand through a throng of people, and vivid colors were bursting forth from loud booths and signs along the streets of their village. Atsui was grinning at her, and he said something she couldn't hear. She tried to call out to him, to ask him to repeat himself, to warn him of his demise, to tell him to not forget her. And before her eyes, his face started to change; his mouth opened and twisted in agony. It appeared as if he had been stabbed. He let go out of her hand and she tried to grab him, but he was far away now. She wanted to run after him, but she became afraid when she noticed his face didn't stop twisting. His eyes sunk into their sockets and his mouth widened grotesquely to match the piercing laughter that was ringing through her ears. She was going to scream too—scream until she drowned out his madness with her own when a warm voice called out to her.

"Hey, Samui!"

She suddenly stopped. She was standing by the window of the clothing store, staring through the glass at an elegant purple yukata. And she felt warmed—so warm from the simple greeting. She turned in the direction of the voice, ignoring the concerned expressions of her teammates, and saw both the Hokage and the Kazekage waving at her from the other side of the street.

She blinked for a moment to consider the perplexity of her situation and after eyeing her comrades bowing next to her, she subsequently bowed with them. Naruto and Gaara approached them while the blond waved to them sheepishly. Gaara remained stoic.

"Please, don't bow," beckoned Naruto. "We were just saying hi."

Gaara seemed to sense Samui's discomfort when she raised her head. "Is everything all right, Samui-san?"

"Of course, Gaara-sama," she answered. She noted the look Naruto was giving her; it made her diffident. "We were just making our rounds and I got distracted."

Gaara nodded and didn't press the issue. "The Hokage and I have been looking over the reports of all the teams in the last week. We've been quite impressed with your team's dealings."

Naruto grinned. "Gaara's been looking over them, to be honest. I've just been running around for the most part. But from what I've seen by what you've sent us, Samui, I gotta say you're doing a great job."

Samui wasn't partial to compliments but she also found them to be pleasant enough by themselves, and Naruto's words seemed to enliven her. "Thank you, Naruto-san."

Naruto's eyes sparkled, but there was a sharpness to them as well; he had seen something and was trying to discern what it was. "In fact, Samui, do you mind if you could stop by my office in an hour or so? I'd like to speak with you."

Samui settled herself. She was definitely alerted by the invitation (whether it was with elation or apprehension was not clear, even to her) but was able to keep her features level. Her moment of aberration had passed—hopefully for good. "Absolutely, Naruto-san. I'll make it my priority."

Naruto grinned again and nudged Gaara. "I'd meet with you now if this guy wasn't pestering me about silly details. My mind feels like it's bursting."

Gaara's brow furrowed in irritation, but Samui noticed the slight amused curve in his lips. "Yes, well, we'll attend to our duties regardless of the 'silly details,'" added Gaara. "Sorry to have bothered you and your team, Samui-san."

Samui said it wasn't a bother and watched them leave down the street. One of her teammates said something to her, but she didn't hear them. That look of Naruto's didn't sit well with her. He knew, she thought, he knew what she was thinking. But how did he feel about it? Was he worried or just investigating? Maybe that's why he wanted to speak with her later.

Samui finished the patrol with her team. Thankfully, there was barely any commotion that day. She was certain it wouldn't last, but she took the break with gratitude. After she said goodbye to her team, (they still seemed concerned, but concluded they weren't going to get anything from her) she walked to the Hokage Tower.

The sky was open and clear before her, the wind riding smoothly through the trees. One thing she appreciated about Konoha was the vegetation it boasted and the constant wave of leaves that flew across her vision whenever a friendly gust happened to cleave through the air. And it was those very leaves that seemed to calm her. She had heard the nationalistic dialogues of the locals about their symbols of fire and leaves, but she felt the core idea about the leaf in particular was noteworthy. She understood how frivolous it could be or perhaps even was by any account, but there was also something rather significant about its consistency. Samui felt she lacked consistency in her life, and she was drawn to the leaves of Konoha in the same way a convict may be drawn to the deities of a religion; she was craving something she did not have.

Samui reached the tower and climbed up to the Hokage's office. Naruto was standing alone next to his desk when she entered. He was studying a scroll critically, and he reminded her of the kind of men who regarded everything—even the things they didn't particularly like.

He looked up from the scroll when he saw her stroll in and smiled brightly. "Hey, Samui!" There it was again. That greeting that warmed her. "I'm so glad you could meet with me. Seriously, it's been crazy lately trying to get a hold of people. I mean, I understand why but still. I hope we won't have to worry about that once we get the new village up and running."

Samui tilted her head at that, smiling politely. "I would hope so as well, Naruto-san. It would be cool."

He grinned and leaned against his desk. "Yeah, it sure would. Well, I'm not one to beat around the bush, really. As you can see, I'm a bit swamped by everything, so I could use some help."

Her smile widened. "Of course. I can help with anything you need."

Naruto averted his gaze from her. "Uh, well, I met more as my personal assistant, if you don't mind."

Samui wanted desperately to answer him immediately, but there was a lull between her brain and mouth…comprised of purple robes and twisting faces. She couldn't help but feel caught off guard by it. "I...I'm not sure if I can, Naruto-san. I have the duties as team leader that the Raikage and the Mizukage assigned me an—"

"Yeah, but you're miserable," he said bluntly.

Samui shut her mouth, her eyes widening. She had been correct; he knew exactly what she had been thinking.

"I should have never let Mei put you in that position," he continued. He was frowning as he talked. "I wish the enforcement teams didn't exist at all, to be frank. It's hard on us shinobi when the civilians, the ones we're trying to protect, become our enemies, and I'd rather not have anyone have to deal with it. But it's necessary, I suppose." His frown seemed to deepen when he looked at her, as if seeing her struggle angered him. "Not for you, though. You don't have to keep doing it if you don't want to."

Samui wasn't sure if her throat was working, but her voice sounded clear enough when she asked: "Doing what?"

"Pretending."

Samui lowered her eyes to the floor. Was that really what she was doing? She supposed she was every time a feeling arose in her, but it wasn't far-fetched to presume everybody was dealing with that. They were all trying to maintain a fixture of composure for the sake of the future, so why was he focusing on her? Even though his words confused her, they were also uplifting.

"Why me?"

Naruto's smile delighted her. "Because I think we could both help each other. Darui says how helpful you've been back in Kumo, but he knows you like to bury yourself in your work. I get that. Sakura does the same thing. Hinata would do that with cleaning whenever something was on her mind, too. It's a lot more helpful of a quirk than what I do, I guess; I usually just mope around for a little while until I realize I gotta keep going or I'll be letting people down." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Anyways, if you become my assistant, you can keep yourself busy and I can make sure you don't get too busy. Shikamaru has his hands full with all the planning right now, so I think that it makes sense to have you around."

"And my team?"

Naruto shrugged. "Chōjūrō could probably take over. Mei keeps mentioning how he's been idle. Honestly, Samui, if you don't wanna do it, I won't push it. I just didn't like how shook up you were today. It made me feel sad, like I was seeing someone who didn't feel like they belonged somewhere. I guess it's kinda like that, isn't it? Losing someone makes home feel like it's never gonna come back."

Samui nodded slowly. That was about right. Her sense of belonging had been misplaced ever since Atsui's eyes closed for the last time. "I'm really quite flattered, Naruto-san. But I still don't see why you're asking me. There's many qualified shinobi still available." She wanted to say 'alive' but managed to divert that impulse. "And you'd probably be better off with one of them."

"Well, there's another reason I'm asking you, Samui." He was showing her his teeth now with his grin, his entire face inviting her to stop rolling around in the dark with her mangled memories. "I just like spending time with you."

And that's when a simple and true sliver of happiness welcomed Samui for the first time since the outbreak. It was such a potent yet foreign feeling, but it was brimming with the cherished past to the point of overflowing. She was being washed, purified by the sensation because she was needed. Maybe belonging somewhere stemmed from that necessity or maybe it was only closely related. Either way, she wouldn't mind giving it a try.

"OK," she agreed after the overwhelming feeling faded. She could still feel its purity cleaning her, though—still encasing her nerves in a cool covering of appreciation.

Naruto must have felt some happiness, too, because before long, he was laughing at a story about Darui she told him. She could work with this, she thought. She could feel like she wasn't just trying to distract herself from reality when she was with someone who cared for her. She could reach that goal of consistency with Naruto around, and that prospect led somewhere.

She belonged here.

Kankuro observed the lone tree stump with a curious eye. It was obvious to him it had been artificially planted, but that was only because he was looking for such a thing. If he had been casually strolling through the woods on any other day, he would have passed the stump without a second glance. But this was a special day.

Hidden by the shrubbery around him, Kankuro quietly scribbled down the stump's location on his map of the area. He was almost positive this was the point Kakashi was going to pick for their infiltration. He had discovered a few others, but this entrance was the one that would have the least number of traps according to the info given by Anko about the general layouts Orochimaru was known for.

After he was finished, a bush shuffled for a mere moment, and he was gone. Kankuro flew through the treetops as he headed north towards the rendezvous point. The sky was a pale blue that day, and it made him feel restless, as if the world was wide awake and aware of everything he was doing.

He remembered his sister commenting on the uneasiness of missions long ago—about how one's instincts could either heighten your concentration or drive one to the brink of utter insanity. He had been somehow relieved at the time to hear her say that; it meant she had felt nervous too—that underneath her calm demeanor, she had felt fear. But now that memory didn't assuage him at all. His hands began to shake as leaves and branches sailed past his vision. Her words only dug into his unhappiness and painfully pulled out the realization that he would only ever have them alone and not the one who had said them.

Kankuro was greeted by his comrades in the clearing shortly after. He nodded to Kakashi who was looking at him inquisitively.

"Did you finish it?" Kakashi asked.

Kankuro held it out to him, his hand no longer shaking. "Yes, Kakashi-san. I also had no sightings of anyone during my reconnaissance."

"Very good," said Kakashi as he took the map and scanned it calmly. "Seems the back entrance to the south is our best option, would you agree?"

Normally, Kankuro would have smirked at the confirmation of his prior theories but doing so would seem petty to him now. He simply nodded and reclined against a tree after he was dismissed.

Anko approached Kakashi after he had spent more time scrutinizing over the map. "I assume you have a plan ready? Hopefully we can actually execute it before the virus infects the rest of us maybe? That'd be real swell."

Kakashi gave her no indication he was annoyed by her tactless jab, but she positive he was irritated by it. "I still want to apprehend and interrogate an accomplice before we proceed further," he said. "I'm not taking any chances."

"We've been here too long, Kakashi, and those chakra signatures have barely moved. I'm starting to wonder if it's a trap to distract us."

"No," he stated gravely as he turned to her, "it's definitely him. I'm sure of it."

Truth be told, Anko was certain Orochimaru was there as well, but she was frightened to admit it. She abhorred the idea of certainty altogether these days; it was like the notion of determining something as objective was only another cruel joke, a brutal display of the world still being against them.

"Then what are you waiting for?" she asked aggressively. "It can't simply be capturing someone by this point. Plenty of successful missions have been carried out without doing so, and if we're too cautious we might lose our chance. I know you know that."

Kakashi turned south towards the hideout, his eyes surveying the vastness behind the trees before him. To Anko, it appeared as if he wasn't really looking at anything; he was only ruminating on events that would either never transpire or ones he could never change.

"I'm waiting for something," he admitted after the still moment was gone. "I'm not sure what, but it feels as if I can't control things anymore, like I'm just a passenger on a never-ending ride."

Anko didn't respond to that. She instead left him there alone for the remainder of that afternoon. Her own mind dwelled upon his words, for she was unable to disagree with them.

It was late in the evening when the ride Kakashi spoke of took a sudden drop. A white streak flashed into the clearing, suddenly alerting the three shinobi.

C brought his knee down—his chest heaving and sweat dripping from his brow—and bowed. "Someone just entered the hideout," he gasped.

As if on cue, Hana and the three dogs also appeared in the open space as the whole team's attitude solidified like stone.

Kakashi looked grimly at C. "How did they get past you?" There was almost no way someone could circumvent both C and Hana's surveillance.

"They didn't, Kakashi-sama," C answered. "Th-they appeared out of thin air. I sensed their chakra within the hideout, but I promise that they weren't there before."

Hana took a step forward. "The same goes for their smell. One second there was nothing, and then it was there."

"What about the other two chakra signatures, C?" asked Kakashi.

C's dark eyes were grave, alarmed. "Both are still there, but…one is fading."

Kakashi immediately turned to Kankuro. "Get your puppets out. We need to move quick." He then addressed the team as a whole. "We're heading for the back entrance. Kankuro has the front. Move."

In almost perfect synchronization, all five members flashed away from the clearing and made their way to the south side of the hideout. They all crossed the kilometer with precise haste and swiftly reached the back entrance.

Kankuro already had three of his puppets out and stood in front of the concealed trap door underneath the tree stump. Once he got the signal from Kakashi, he moved a chakra thread and a long blade split from one of the puppets. The blade quickly cut away the stump with one sweep.

Another puppet crashed open the trapdoor and was sent flying down the tunnel, the other two puppets following after it. What proceeded from there played with the team's imagination as they heard scattered explosions and hissings of smoke as the puppets unveiled the numerous traps hidden within the tunnels. One of the puppets must have been destroyed because only two remained when Kankuro brought them back.

"That should be good," Kankuro commented. "There's probably more traps inside, but I think I got most of them."

Kakashi nodded to Hana. "We need your nose then, Hana. Lead us."

Hana jumped into the tunnel with Kankuro, and his puppets were right behind her dogs. Kakashi and Anko followed with C taking the rear.

The tunnel was narrow at first, but it widened considerably as it neared the main chambers of the hideout. Hana and her ninken darted around the curves and avoided any dead ends and traps as they traversed the corridors. Quite a few times during those tense minutes of exploration, Hana and her dogs would stop, sniff the air, and suddenly turn a corner without even a moment of hesitation.

Anko felt the sinister sensation ooze out of the carved walls as the team advanced deeper into the depths. She was accustomed to the chakra lacing of Orochimaru's hideouts as the peculiar man enjoyed putting his brand everywhere he could. At one point, she had felt he had made it his personal mission to attach his surroundings with the eerie, decadent aura only he was able to produce.

At certain points within the tunnels when Hana would seek out a trap the party couldn't evade, she would signal wordlessly to Kankuro who would then send out a puppet to activate it from a safe distance. Every time a chemical toxin or a deadly gas emitted from a trap, caution would be visible upon everyone's face. The virus could be present in anything. They could already be infected for all they knew. But none of them spoke of their fears; they simply kept this pattern going until the tunnel finally opened to a bigger chamber.

The room was large and empty. There was a single wooden door on the other side of it. Hana pointed to it when they entered the chamber. "They're beyond that door. All three of them."

Kakashi could feel the bleak dread from the opposite side of the door. Orochimaru was there; he was certain of it. Anko could feel it, too. Her face had lost all color, and she was shaking with a fixed gaze towards the door.

"And there's no else?" Kakashi inquired.

"My nose would have picked up anyone else," Hana clarified.

C stood in the back and had a concentrated expression. "I don't sense anyone else, either. The fading chakra is still there, but it's dropping at an alarming rate."

Kakashi stepped forward and approached the door. A leader had to make these kinds of decisions, he told himself. He was still being cautious. No one was going to die. The truth would be known soon enough, and they could make a future. The door was the next step to hope. He just had to open it.

Later, after their sins had become so tragically apparent, he would regret ever knowing the truth, for the other side had too many problems—too many mistakes.

The wooden door opened when Kakashi pushed it inwards. The adjacent chamber was bigger, and Hana's nose had been accurate. In the middle of the large room, two men stood over the prone figure of a dying man. The dying man was reclined on a bed, and the two men stood on either side of it.

Kakashi could feel his jaw his loosen and his eyes widen in shock.

Suigetsu grinned when he saw Kakashi. "Damn, you guys are noisy," he chided.

Sasuke Uchiha didn't look up from Orochimaru's body. Even after Kakashi tried to call out to him, to make some sense of the situation, Sasuke's stoic visage did not change.

Terribly sorry for the hiatus on this story. I decided my other fic was my main priority, so I had to finish that up. Now that that's cleared up, this is the only story I'm working on for the time being. I think I'll focus on one story at a time for now. Considering how patient you've been with me, I should have probably made this chapter longer, but I thought this sufficed in the end. I have a pretty clear idea of how I want the rest of this fic to play out, so it's just smooth sailing from here. Should be fun.

-CM