Wow... another chapter! YAY!!! GO ME!!! AND THANK YOU TOAST!!! YOU MAKE ME SO HAPPY!!! You've been so paitient with me! XD I LOVE YOU!!!!! -glomp-
Ahem... any way... again... DISCLAIMER: you know the drill....
Cry Me a Sea of Stars
I have always thought the actions of men the best interpreters of their thoughts. -John Locke
The gambling known as business looks with austere disfavor upon the business known as gambling. -Ambrose Bierce
The maps slapped down on the table with a loud thwump! The table shook from the force and Sasuke quickly wiped blood from the clear coverings, smearing it even more in his attempt to find our heading. I flinched as I staggered to my feet completely, no longer leaning on a panel for support. Tsunade kept her eyes focused on us, trying to ignore the blood covering even herself. From what I could see of the visual damage, Jiraiya and Orochimaru had sustained very little injury: just a few scraps and bruises. Tsunade's entire left hand hand been ruined, her fingers all popped out of joint and plastered against her palm from the bone breaking blow she'd delivered to Pein. Naruto was covered in glass, the shards sticking out from his skin at random areas, almost his entire body covered in some way or another. Nearly all of Sasuke's face was covered in blood, his hands shaking from the trauma he was likely still adjusting to. I, myself, felt like shit. Blood ran down one of my arms and side from where I had hit the control panel. My entire jaw was in pain from my landing, but the back of my head was still pounding too hard for me to care much about such a trivial injury.
Again, Sasuke attempted to clear the blood from the maps, a grease pen in his hands as he shakily traced out the path he'd need to get at BLOOD's ship. I could only guess what was going through his mind right now. Likely, he was out to save our asses. And to do that, meant keeping those four alive. Going back to save them after saving them once just seemed highly out of character even for Sasuke. Naruto winced as he shifted, sitting tenderly down on top a nearby control board. Watching Sasuke's attempts to clear the maps, Tsunade walked over, her gait slightly unsteady.
"Sasuke...." she tried, her tone almost soft. Sasuke ignored her and continued to fumble with the grease pen and the maps, blood just coating even more of the already painted bridge. "Sasuke! That's enough!" she stated, this time more authoritative. He stopped and looked up at her through his only visible eye, blood beginning to slowly seep onto the uncovered skin. "You need to stop before you hurt yourself further. We haven't any idea how extensive your head trauma could be if there is any, which I'm not doubting in the least..."
He stared at her for a bit, as if trying to grasp who she was. The woman waited patiently, her right hand on his untouched shoulder. After a moment or so, he slowly nodded, almost as if the action hurt to do so. The blond smiled and motioned for all of us to head to the medibay. She stopped Jiraiya, the man blinking at her in silent question.
"I need you to reset my hand... just push the damn buggers back inta ther sockets..." she muttered, voice gruff as she looked down at her left hand. The white haired man blinked a few times, almost as if preparing himself, and then nodded. I was out of the room when I heard the sickening pops and crunches of bone on bone. I even heard what I thought was a small whimper of pain. Shoving that thought from my mind, I followed the others to the medibay, swallowing my dizziness. I suddenly felt overpoweringly nauseous. Once in the room, I leaned heavily against one of the beds, closing my eyes and trying to swallow the urge to vomit.
"Gaara... you feeling alright?" Sasuke croaked out through his own pain. I grunted, keeping my eyes clamped shut. My entire rib cage felt like it was on fire, the entire cavity echoing with the thrum of my erratically beating heart.
Tsunade entered soon after, her gaze sweeping over all of us. She went to work in seconds, not wasting a moment as she patched up the entire crew. I managed to hide in the back ground, waiting patiently for everyone else to be out of the medibay when my turn came. Sasuke was the only one I hadn't managed to get rid of when Tsunade ordered me to take my shirt off so she could get a better look at the cut there. Hesitantly, I reached down and started to tug the fabric off, flinching. I stopped half way up, crying out in pain as I nearly stumbled to my knees. Sasuke made a quick move and grabbed me, only worsening the pain. He dropped me, letting go in seconds. The floor rushed up from below and I found myself using my good arm to keep me on my knees.
"Gaara, what's wrong?" Sasuke asked, kneeling beside me. He was worried, that much I knew. I waved him away weakly, gritting my teeth. Tsunade moved him out of the way and maneuvered around me, gently running her hands along my ribs.
"A separated rib and at least three bruised ribs..." she muttered to herself in thought. She stood and quickly shifted through a few things, pulling out a syringe and prepping it. "This'll numb the pain long enough for me to get the proper guards in place..." she stated, walking back over and gently helping me shift to lean against Sasuke's chest. My entire back screamed in pain. She quickly injected the medication before going and digging through the many drawers. She came back with a belt about eight inches wide and padding that resembled a flak jacket. With more careful maneuvering, she slipped the belt on and secured it around my ribs. My breathing immediately changed and I could feel my rib cage expansion being restricted slightly. Second, the padding went on, the jacket like device being secured in place. I could dully sense pain but it wasn't too strong due to the morphine running through my system. Once those were in place, she stepped back and nodded for Sasuke to help me up.
"He can't overwork himself. He can still preform daily tasks but keep him off his feet as much as you can... No extreme workouts... of any kind." she stressed, looking between the two of us. "Keep an eye on him as well... rib belts don't always allow for much oxygen flow through the lungs."
-0-0-0-0-0-0-
"Here... lean back on this..." Sasuke muttered, propping up a few more pillows for me to lean on. I rolled my eyes. He was fussing.
"Sasuke, stop worrying. I'll be fine. You need to take it easy as well. We still aren't sure how much damage exactly was done to what little brain you have." I replied, hoping the joke would distract him. It was almost as if he hadn't even registered it.
"You're the one that can barely stand up straight. I'm fine. Nothing's rattling around up there and no internal bleeding. Now you need to rest." He added, helping me onto his bed, the pillows acting as cushion against the head board. I sighed. It was a loosing battle.
"Have you found our heading yet?" I finally asked, changing subjects. He paused and glanced up at me, the look he gave me wasn't comforting.
"Their first stop is Saturn..."
"How did you-"
"They were kind enough to give us the trail... and exact location. We just have to race them to it...." Sasuke muttered, making sure I was comfortable, his eyes down cast at what he was working on. I studied him for a moment before sighing.
"Why are we going after them, Sasuke?" I asked, searching for the answer I knew was hidden within that mask of his. He glanced up at me.
"Gaara you kno-"
"No, Sasuke. I don't know... not the real answer..."
He flinched and nodded, looking down once more. "They pulled this same thing on Itachi a few years before I met you..." he started, slumping. "Only they didn't use civilians... they used two hostages... two points of interest... one of the hostages didn't live... the other did." He glanced up at me, his black eyes darkened over with a hurt and fear that seemed oddly out of place with the proud Uchiha. "I was the first hostage... our cousin was the second..." he shook his head. "Itachi made a snap decision and saved me instead of his closest friend... a few days later, it was all any of the news stations could talk about."
I blinked, soaking this all in. Sasuke had been captured by these bastards before? When? Why!? And what did Itachi have to do with BLOOD!? With a heavy sigh, he straightened up and offered an over exaggerated grin, scratching the back of his neck. "Well then, I doubt you want to hear about any of that..." he replied with a light laugh. It was too happy, too carefree... too fake. I just followed him with my eyes for the time being, lost for words. "You should get some sleep, Gaara... I'll be back in a bit to check on you. I need to make sure Naruto has his bandages in place still... you know how he likes to pick..." he stated. With a small wave and a promise to "be back soon", he left, shutting the door behind him.
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
"Wow... that's gotta hurt..." Naruto stated in wide eyed awe, watching in amazement as Tsunade checked my ribs over for progress.
"Like a bitch..." I muttered dryly. The blond woman chuckled and secured the rib belt once more, and handing me the padding to slip on myself. I did so without much thought, wincing every now and then.
"There's not much improvement, but it hasn't been more than a few days so it'll take a while." She shifted slightly and met my gaze. "Don't. Clean. For. A. Week."
I blinked. "W-WHAT!?! Ow...." I winced, the force of the screech having been a little too much on my ribs. I bent forward slightly, and arm going around my lower ribs protectively. Naruto giggled. I shot him a look. He shut up. "Tsunade.. if I don't clean the ship, no one will..."
She shrugged. "Then get some one to clean it for you... we'll all share the work load..." Naruto squawked in protest.
"WHAT!?!"
"Naruto... please keep your voice down to your equivalent of a whisper. Those high octaves you reach are giving me a headache." Sasuke muttered, wincing as he entered the room in time to hear the outburst. Naruto scowled at him.
"Are you callin' me a girl!?"
"No, Naruto. I'm calling you a prepubescent girl."
"LE GASP!!!!! TAKE THAT BACK YOU LIMP NOODLE!!!!!"
"Naruto, you insignificant little worm, shut it before I make you!"
"IT! IS! ON!!!!!!!!!" Naruto stated, ripping off his shirt and tossing it across the room. The article of clothing landed on Tsunade's head and she screamed, flailing.
"IT BURNS!!!!!!!!" she was ignored as Sasuke pulled a face, looking almost sick.
"Naruto, put your shirt back on." "MAKE ME!!!!"
"That's an order!"
"NO!!!!"
"Do you want me to call you on mutiny!? Put the damned shirt back on and shut yer trap before you find yourself scrubbing the head for weeks!"
Naruto gasped. "You... YOU WOULDN'T!"
"I. Would."
Naruto stalked over to the now convulsing Tsunade, grabbing his shirt and slipping it on. "Ya'll are just jealous!" he stated before strutting from the room... his shirt on backwards and inside out. But that wasn't the funny part... the "KICK ME" sign Tsunade had some how managed to attach was the icing on the cake.
The blond woman slowly picked herself up off the floor from where she'd landed and brushed her self off. Glancing around the room, she quickly regained herself. "So... no over working yourself, get plenty of rest, no lifting heavy objects, eat healthy, drink yer milk, and find some one to take the work load of cleaning...." and with that, she left the galley. Sasuke and I both stared after her, blinking as we heard an outburst of sudden laughter.
"She's insane..." Sasuke muttered.
"And we're not?"
Sasuke sighed and shook his head. "True... what ever... we're nearly to Saturn..." He finally stated, turning to look at me. I blinked and nodded.
"What's our target destination?"
His face darkened and he slumped slightly. "The local carnival is going on...." he muttered. With those words my heart dropped into my gut. They couldn't.... "They plan on being in the dead center... on the announcer's stage...." They were...
"You mean..."
"That's not the worst of it..."
"Please tell me they're not going to-" He nodded and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Yeah... they're going to brand them..."
I flinched, ignoring the pain in my ribs. Just the thought... Branding... it was an old pirate ritual, more like a sacrificial right that almost all hostages went through if they were to die to make a point. It was a terrible, gruesome tradition all pirates knew about. The thought of it alone was enough to either exhilarate or terrify a pirate. It was an act that hadn't been seen, let alone mentioned for nearly a hundred years, back when the first pirate rebellion had started... the outcome had been the deaths of thousands of pirates.
"We have to get there before they can do anything..." I muttered, keeping my head down slightly. If they managed to succeed and use the brands... The possibilities were endless, but only one truly stuck out: all out warfare....
"We will, Gaara... even if it kills me."
-0-0-0-0-0-
Saturn...
We stepped off the ship, Orochimaru stretching and glancing towards the sky. The large rings shifted above us, like large monoliths put there by the gods... oh god, I'm getting poetic.
"Ah... feels like home..." Orochimaru stated, smirking slightly. Jiraiya clapped him on the back, the other stumbling forward a few steps.
"Not quite though, eh buddy!?" the other asked, laughing loudly. Orochimaru eyed him with distaste.
"Tsunade... you and Jiraiya are staying behind with the ship, correct?" Sasuke asked, looking to the blond woman. She nodded, glancing at me once.
"Yes.. though I wish Gaara would stay behind as well."
"I'm of more use watching Sasuke's ass..." I replied, loading the hand gun I'd be keeping at my hip. The Uchiha glanced at me but said nothing to the comment.
"I'm not worried about where you're more useful. I'm talkin' about yer ribs..." Tsunade replied, crossing her arms over her chest. Jiraiya set a hand on her shoulder.
"Tsu... if he's as tough as he looks, he'll be fine. I mean look at him... he managed to wrestle you into a chair long enough to tie you down... hell, he did it twice..."
"I wasn't ready for it." she snapped, glaring at Jiraiya now. A small squee sounded from her shoulder and she turned to face Jeffery, the slug frowning at her... at least... I think he was frowning. She blinked, looking shocked almost. "You... you agree with Jiraiya?" she asked, her voice sounding almost small. Sasuke and I exchanged looks, even Naruto looked confused. Another squee and Tsunade sighed. "Fine..." she looked back at me. "Don't. Get. Yourself. Killed. And don't you dare break anything."
She held my gaze for a bit and I finally nodded. She studied me for a bit longer before grabbing Jiraiya and turning around. "Get yer ass inside and get ta work...." she grumbled, dragging him back into the ship. Sasuke sighed and turned to the rest of us.
"Alright... let's get to work. Ro-Ro... lead the way."
He nodded and turned towards the path. We followed, the path old and worn. The lights from the carnival were visible in the near night sky. As we reached the festivities, our hearts sank. The place was crowded. I glanced at Sasuke and I could see the muscles in his throat contract as he gulped. Things were going to get ugly... even if we got there on time...
"Spread out... find them. Go." Sasuke ordered. In seconds, we scattered. Naruto slipped into the crowd, heading towards the food stands. Orochimaru went straight ahead, Sasuke slipping off with me for the time being. We were headed for he dead center of the crowd... just where BLOOD had said they'd be. The deeper we went, the thicker the crowd became. I left Sasuke's side, both of us rounding around slightly. I was jostled a few times, my ribs screaming at me, but I ignored it and continued on. Movement off to my side caught my attention and I nearly froze. Government soldiers were posted as guards. Upon further investigation, they were scattered all over the vicinity. There had to be no less than twenty five within just feet of me. Fear rocketed through me and I bit back another cry as an over eager child elbowed me in an attempt to get further into the crowd. I watched him go, freezing as I noticed the child's destination... the stage dead center of the crowd.
Some one screamed, closer to the stage, and my heart stopped beating for a second. Something was lying there, the form spread out on the floor of the platform. Snapping from my shocked daze, I hurried through the crowd, roughly shoving people out of my way. Some one grabbed at my jacket and I slipped free, continuing on. Nearly there! I shoved a couple apart, pushing through them just as Sasuke appeared on the other side of the platform, both of us clambering onto the stage. I slipped in my hurry, smacking into the edge with my chest and biting back a scream of pain. Scrambling up, I managed to inch myself the rest of the way.
There, in front of us, was Ino. Her eyes were wide, terror still marring the blue orbs. Mouth gagged with something akin to a bird's skull wedged between her teeth. Her hair was caked in blood, the red staining the blond and matting against her skin. She was no longer a pale skin tone but a blue color, her blood having released all remaining oxygen within her body. Her entirety was exposed, revealing the cause of her death.
Her entire gut had been ripped open, the cavity now completely empty save for her spine. A brand was burned into her chest, crossing over the top of her breasts and ending half way down her sternum. It was a Red Jack... The skull with two cutlasses crossed where the original bones should have been. It was painted over crudely with a violent red paint, giving it the dreaded name.
"No mercy..." I whispered, reading their message within seconds. Sasuke caught sight of blood below her and he reached out, rolling her over. For the first time in my life, I felt sick at the sight of blood. There, carved into her back, was the Uchiha family symbol, the entire top half of the fan skinless, allowing the red of the muscle to show. Around the fan were the words "Drink up me hearties, yo ho!" were carved crudely into her skin.
The message was clear enough. It was obvious Tobi was setting us up and he'd done it well enough. The Uchiha family symbol was universally known and feared. By using this and the all famous line was basically a death sentence to our crew. We were the only Uchiha pirates out there that were truly active. We sailed with the Uchiha symbol on our ship and the flag raised at all times. Itachi even stayed under the radar better than we did. As far as the public was concerned, we were the only Uchiha ship around.
"We have to get out of here..." Sasuke muttered, ignoring as people screamed in terror. The crowd had thickened around us, curious gazes now glaring back at us accusingly. This was bad. Static sounded over my com and Naruto's voice crackled from the other end.
"Sasuke! Gaara! We've got trouble!"
"Go ahead, Naru..."
"Kakashi's here and he's headed your way."
Both of us looked up and towards Naruto's position. He was right, I could see a distinct splotch of grey in the crowd moving steadily towards us. Naruto was moving closer to us as well, Orochimaru following this example and coming in from the other side. I looked away from Kakashi and scanned the crowd. Iruka and Kabuto. The entire crew was there. I scanned the area once more. The guards were beginning to move in as well. One look at Sasuke and we leaped off the platform and into the crowd. Together, we shoved our shoulders into people ahead of us, causing even more of a ruckus. It wasn't working. Sasuke stopped and grabbed me, turning me to face him. "Hit me." he ordered. I blinked.
"What!?"
"Hit me! Act like we're in a fight!"
"Why!?"
"Just do it! We need a distraction!" he hissed. I hesitated for a second before he took the extra step.
"You Chinese are all the same... an easy... fuck."
SLAP!
"YOU BASTARD!" The back of my hand was red from the force of the hit, Sasuke's cheek temporarily marked with the shape of a hand. He smirked.
"Come on! Ya'll are the same! Hand over some money and you'll open your legs for any one! I can't believe I actually slept wit' ya. I've prob'ly contracted some fucked up disease." he sneered. Anger bubbled up and I suddenly had the thought that we were back at square one.. back when I'd first met him.
-0-0-0-0-
"What the hell are you supposed to be anyway?" Sasuke asked, frowning at me from where he sat at the main control center. I glanced up at him, a Glock held in my hands, half disassembled. I blinked.
"What?"
"What are you? Korean? Japanese?
What?"
I paused and thought for a moment, recalling what Temari had told me years ago. "Partly Irish... Chinese mainly... why? Got a problem with that?" I growled, glaring at him. He blinked and met my glare, a classic Uchiha sneer in place.
"Figures... only the Chinese would go as low as to crawling on the streets."
The cover of the chamber slammed shut, the cartridge still lying, fully loaded, on the table before me. The room went silent, even Dan ceasing his humming as he washed dishes to turn and watch the two of us.
"I'm sorry... I didn't quite catch that..."
Sasuke shrugged. "Not surprised... you Chinese havealways been hard of hearing."
"You fucking Jap!"
CLANG!
"SHIT! WAS THAT A FORK!?!"
"YES! AND THERE'S PLENTY MORE WHERE THAT CAME FROM!"
CLANG!!!
"Gaara! Please! Stop attacking Sasuke with the silverware!"
CLANG!
"OW! GOD DAMN IT!!! WHAT THE HELL!?! WHAT KIND OF FORK IS THIS!?!"
"MY TWO PRONGER!!!" Dan weeped, falling to his knees.
"I'M BLEEDING!!!" "GOOD! NOW MAYBE YOU'LL BLEED ENOUGH AND FINALLY SHUT UP!!!!!"
-0-0-0-0-0-
"At least I ain't a fucking Jap!"
He twitched. "What!?!"
"The greedy monger that ya are! At least I can get by on my own instead of mooching off of others!"
"You bitch!"
"What? Resorted to name calling now? Well in that case, you're a conceited ass that wouldn't know his own dick from his elbow."
"I wouldn't be talking, Subaku..." "Why don't you put your dick where your mouth is." I snarled, taking a step closer.
"At least I have a dick." Sasuke took a step closer as well.
"Oh? Ya do, do ya? 'Cause last time I remember you couldn't ev'n get started."
"Really? 'Cause I seem to remember shovin' it up yer ass."
I blushed, snarling slightly as we both took a step closer. Our noses were nearly touching.
"From the way things is goin' you ain't stickin' it an'where..."
"I highly doubt tha'..." Sasuke replied, grabbing the front of my shirt and pulling me in for a rough kiss. A collective gasp sounded from the crowd, people crowding even closer. Somewhere in the background I could hear Naruto shouting something about his body being carved by the gods and Orochimaru replying with something along the lines of wanting to throw up. I wasn't paying much attention. At the moment, I had something much more distracting to deal with.
"Get a room!" some one shouted, pulling Sasuke and I out of our make out session. We could already see the crowd thinning slightly as embarrassed citizens went out of their ways to avoid us. We glanced around once, spotted Kakashi, made eye contact, and took off running.
This time people hurried out of our way, only trying to stop us once they heard Kakashi's shouts for us to stop. We didn't slow down. Dodging people, we added as much speed as we could.
"STOP!!! SASUKE UCHIHA! STOP IN THE NAME OF THE LAW!"
"COME ON, HAT-KAK! GET SOMETHING MORE ORIGINAL!" Sasuke shouted back, dodging yet another person. From somewhere in the crowd, an arm shot out and made a grab to stop me. I stepped to the side to dodge as best I could, only managing to have the wind knocked out of me as I slammed into another arm. My rib cage exploded into a searing pain, causing me to stumbled and land, rolling across the ground. Sasuke was grabbed at as well, he too tripping, but managing to regain his footing. He skidded to a halt and pivoted, coming back for me as I started to pick myself up. Damn that was hell. The pain was too much, my entire body was on overload. Naruto ran up to me and pulled me to my feet, handing me off to Sasuke. I yelped, only cringing as the pain grew worse by Sasuke lifting me bridal style and slipping further into the crowd.
"God damn it! Put me down, Sasuke!"
"You can barely stand on your feet, Gaara!" he stated, skidding as he avoided some one. I groaned and slumped.
"Put me down before you tire out and get us both cau-AWA!"
Naruto collided with us, sending the three of us rolling to the ground and down a nearby hill into a patch of brambles. I know I heard something crack. To put it simply, I couldn't breathe, period. My ribs hurt too much and if I moved, I was almost afraid of a possible broken rib puncturing a lung. Groaning, I now feared going back to the ship. If I didn't kill myself before I made it back... Tsunade would gladly finish the job... and do so with a smile...
Sasuke slowly rolled over and sat up, rubbing the back of his head with a moan of pain. The cut above his brow had reopened, the blood seeping out just as steadily as it had after his fight with Hidan. He glanced around and groaned even louder, flopping back down onto the ground.
"Kuso..." he muttered, dragging out the o in a near groan. "Naruto, you dobe!"
"Owie! Owie! Owie!" Naruto whined, nursing his right hand, a large cut having formed. Blood dripped from his palm, staining his clothing. Both were bruised and completely covered in scratches. I probably looked just as bad, if not worse. Tsunade was going to kill us... if we didn't do so first... which... at the moment... suicide was looking much better.
"WHERE THE HELL DID THEY GO!?" Kakashi shouted from somewhere above us.
"How should we know!?" Kabuto snapped back.
"SHUT THE HELL UP AND FIND THEM! OR IT'S YOUR ASS THAT'LL BE IN THE GALLOWS!!!"
Sasuke glanced around and sat up. "Come on... we need to get back to the ship....."
-0-0-0-0-
Three hours later...
"YOU'RE DEAD MEN!!!!!!"
