Meow! Chapter Fourteen

Houdini In The Making

Of all the times Sasuke Uchiha had ever hated himself, this would probably be the first and foremost on his list.

He winced quietly when another deep inhale jarred his aching shoulders. These criminal-nins, however many mistakes they seemed to make, had been intelligent enough to make sure there was no way their captive would escape.

All he had been doing was standing at the altar with Naruto, waiting nervously for his future wife to appear. The next thing he knew, he couldn't move a muscle. It was probably a genjutsu, he thought, that they used to keep anyone from catching on. Before they had snatched him right out of the shrine, he saw a replica of himself take his place in mere nanoseconds. Then everything had gone dark from the blindfold, and he had woken up who knows how much later with a throbbing headache and what seemed to be dislocated arms.

The blindfold had stayed on, but from the sounds and feel of the floor and single wall behind him, it seemed to be stone surrounding him. When he had first moved, sending jolts of pain shooting through his body, he had heard and felt the crinkle of paper. They had even gone the extra mile, apart from bandaging his hands so he couldn't use jutsu and tying his feet together, they had even pasted chakra-prevention seals all over him just in case. And that gag in his mouth was tasting staler by the minute.

His thoughts wandered for a moment to Sakura…what would she be doing? There was no glimmer of light shining through the blindfold, as he was probably being kept in a darkened room. That said, he had no idea how much time had passed since his abduction. What if the wedding was already over? What if she had married the S-ranked missing-nin disguised as him? What if she had…already been killed?

Had the motion not been likely to bring on another wave of aching torture, he would've shaken his head. Sakura wouldn't let herself be murdered so easily. She was smart, she might have even figured out it was a fake by now.

But then again…she completely let her guard down when she was with him. If the illusion was masked enough, she might not even detect it. Nor would anybody else in the shrine, after all she had the best skills at genjutsu.

He forced himself to swallow the lump in his throat, wishing against his common sense that they'd allow him the luxury of scratching his irritated ears, still pinned in place under his bandanna. He hoped against all hope that the disguise hadn't included ears and a tail like his, because then Sakura could've caught it in a minute. But then again, these guys hadn't gotten into the bingo book by littering and robbing helpless old ladies.

What about Naruto? What if the dobe had noticed something? Would he go against his judgment and interrupt the wedding of his supposed best friends, or ignore it and let the ceremony go on? It could go either way; almost nobody was as unpredictable as the dobe.

And what were these goons planning on doing with him, anyways? Or doing to him? They had all the information about the Sharingan they wanted from Itachi…

Who will soon die a horrible and painful death…

Though Sakura had said no, it probably had something to do with the curse…What could they possibly want with that? The super-senses were a definite bonus, but clans like the Inuzuka had the same powers. What made him so special?

The train of thought was cut short by an imagined picture of Sakura. He felt a sting of sadness, as he hadn't even seen her in her wedding dress. But he knew she was probably beautiful, she was always beautiful. The whole wedding had been about her, after all. Sakura smiling, Sakura holding hands with that fake, Sakura saying "I do" and…kissing the fake…

Sakura lying, bleeding on the floor as everyone else around her was massacred without mercy, her tears falling as her last words begged her beloved Sasuke to come and rescue her…

NO.

There was no way, absolutely no way that would happen. He would bust out of here, kill off as many of these kidnapping freaks as possible before saving his lovely Sakura from the fake him, and that would be that.

It all sounds to sickeningly easy when told like that.

Then again…considering the state he was in, someone might actually have to come and rescue him first. It couldn't be Sakura or Naruto…Kakashi, maybe? Could their old teacher possibly sense something was wrong, and act on old battle instincts? His Sharingan could see through the illusion easily enough. What about Neji, or his cousin that liked the dobe? Either one of them could see the trickery in a second. If only they all knew how much he needed them right now…

His ears, restrained as they were, pricked up at a small, scuffling kind of noise from somewhere up overhead. The ceiling, probably. The noise continued, but after a few seconds he deduced the noise of small, padded feet and fur rustling. Probably a rat. But if he could hear it, then that meant above the ceiling there was a hollow space. Somehow bypassing the seals and broken arms and ropes and chains, he might even be able to get up there somehow and escape through whatever the space was. Maybe it was an air vent. In that case, it'd have to lead outside sooner or later.

Something made a rusty metal-on-metal sound over head, and-

CLANG.

He almost jumped out of his skin (figuratively, of course) when something hard, heavy and metal hit the ground only a few inches from where he was sitting. A second later there was the whooshing sound of wind rushing past thick hair, and something hard clicking on the stone floor as a soft thwump signified something landing.

"Aren't you glad I so hate to leave you alone, kitten?"

He could've cried.

"Cat?!" he tried shouting, though the gag made it impossible.

"Don't worry, kitten. I'm just a lost little animal that fell through the grate to them. Let's get you out of here."

He felt something warm, wet, and piercingly sharp attack the thick bandages binding his fingers together. Only wincing when the tiny fangs and claws scratched the skin, soon enough his hands were freed as those very same claws shredded the paper seals.

Minutes later, he had managed to pop his shoulders back into place without too much difficulty remembering the instructions Sakura had given him some time ago. The chakra seals being gone meant it was a simple task to burn through the ropes with small puffs of fire after tearing off the blindfold and gag.

"What would you do without me, kitten?" wondered the old cat aloud with a joking tone. Sasuke merely shook his head, unable to express his thanks.

"We have to get out of here," he murmured to himself, squinting as his eyes adjusted to the gloom around him. It was indeed a stone prison, but high up ahead was the space in the ceiling where the vent grate had previously been.

"Don't think you can just climb up, kitten," advised the cat. "Way up there are some more magic papers. They make the walls impossible to get up using chakra."

Sasuke glared at the ceiling where sure enough, little strips of brownish paper could be seen. His Sharingan told him they were leeching charms, meant to suck out the chakra anyone released to try scaling the walls.

"But…" he mumbled, suddenly realizing something, "We don't need chakra…"

"Smart kitten," praised the cat and without another word, it extended its claws and began climbing while using the cracks in the stone for footholds.

It really wasn't so hard once Sasuke got the hang of it. His own fingernail-claws appeared at will, and for once he was almost glad of the stupid curse.

After spending a few seconds ripping apart the papers plastered onto the ceiling, it was a simple matter to climb up into what was indeed a smallish air vent.

"It's too cramped," Sasuke muttered to himself, unable to move forward at anything but a crawl. "I can barely move."

The cat, of course, had no problems trotting ahead at all, its tail held high in the air.

"It gets even narrower down ahead," the feline's voice echoed emptily off of the metal walls of the vent. "There's a space that leads down into a hallway. It'll be a risk, but it's the only path we can take."

He nodded in response, and minutes later followed the little ball of dark-gray fur out of another opened grate. A short drop downwards, and he found the deserted hallway they were now situated in sort of reminded him of the Sound capital base…both had endless corridors and possibly booby traps around every corner.

"Guess I don't need to tell you to be careful," observed the cat as the Uchiha's eyes glowed softly red. "The way out isn't far from here. Don't let me walk into anything."

Sasuke nodded, and followed the little animal as it trotted briskly off with an amazing sense of direction. After a couple of minutes or so, the air became less heavy, and easier to breathe. They were getting closer to the surface.

Both froze in an instant. Somewhere, slow footsteps and a dark, musky scent could be sensed. Someone wasn't too far away from where they were.

"Kitten," whispered the cat as the two flattened against the wall, the steps and scent looming closer. "It's trouble. Be ready for a surprise attack, then we have to run."

Sasuke nodded silently, already tensed to run as he smoothly produced a hidden kunai knife. Yes, the great shinobi Sauske Uchiha even carried weapons to his own wedding. Maybe being overly cautious of any crashers had been a good thing after all.

All other sounds seemed to fade away but for the slow, too slow footsteps and his heart, feeling as if about to explode from beating so quickly…

As if in slow motion, a shadow fell before the edge of the wall, easily recognizable as someone wearing the cloak of the Akatsuki. Sasuke barely even comprehended what he was doing until a few seconds afterward.

Gripping the knife in one hand, he scooped up the cat and shot out from behind the wall. He felt the blade bury itself in something soft after striking out with lightning-speed, and the next thing he knew he was running and carrying an unhappy fuzzball.

Had there been any sort of alarm sounding, it would've gotten the adrenaline pumping. The deathly silence, however, brought on a full-scale suppressed panic.

"Where's the way out?!" he hissed to the cat, eyes flicking constantly left and right.

"Straight ahead," was the ordering answer. "That wall…"

The hall they were in led to a dead end.

It's not really there…

Without even slowing, he raced right through the illusion of stone and brick.

"Ow!"

The sudden sunlight after however many hours of darkness was nothing but searing pain, especially to the Uchiha's acute eyesight. The cat jumped unceremoniously onto the ground, shaking its fur as it stretched its paws out in front of it.

"Disgusting," it muttered. "How you humans can live down there like moles is beyond me. Nothing but dust and mildew."

He sent the cat a look that said Jokes later, I have to get back there as soon as possible.

"All right, kitten. Off we go."

Surprisingly, the prison, or whatever it was, had been placed fairly close to the village, only about half an hour's journey back through the forests. It was clear that the Akatsuki had only made the barest attempts to hide their trail leading back to the village. Sure enough, the huge, white fortress wall that surrounded the Leaf village rose up, a concealed hole dug into it showing signs of recent use.

They're sloppy, he thought to himself. That's unusual…

"Kitten, up there."

The old cat hadn't needed to mention the smell that hung, thick and heavy in the afternoon air. It smelled like…something burning.

Oh, no…

"Sakura!" he whispered to himself, before taking off at a run, the cat following with equal haste.

No, no, please god no…

In a matter of minutes, the two of them reached the old shrine where the wedding had been held. Sasuke could only stare at the deserted ceremony area with a mixture of shock and horror.

Blackened scorch marks were everywhere. No bodies or body parts were visible, but here and there lay a splatter of old, brownish blood.

And in the very center of the cleared space, amongst the shattered ruins of a stone altar, sat a crumpled bouquet of white flowers with two wedding rings tied to the ribbon, glinting softly in the brightened sunlight.

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