-1REMORSE IS FOR THE DEAD
CHAPTER 14: Dance with the Devil
Very few times have I let my temper get the best of me. Those few times led to many deaths. I am not one to get angry and lose my temper as I was taught by my mom. She would tell me, 'your temper is the one thing you don't get rid of by losing it'. For the most part, its been an easy task….until recently.
The drive back to Sasuke's hide out was a quiet one. Sasuke was in deep thought. He was trying to figure out how to finish the rest of the Akatsuki off without getting killed in the process. It would be a difficult task indeed. So far, he'd been lucky, but luck only lasted for so long.
Gaara hadn't said a word the entire drive. He just stared ahead out the window, no expression on his face. Gaara was truly meant for this work, Sasuke thought he was, but time has showed that he's not. He's good at it, but his conscience is getting the best of him, and he didn't like feeling guilty for killing people. He wondered how Gaara could be the way he is. What could've happened to him to make him the way he is, Sasuke thought. Temari and Kankuro turned out alright.
"You aren't much better." That voice in his head said.
Sasuke sighed, the voice had a point. After all he's killed his fair share of people. It was then that Gaara decided to speak up.
"You going to the funeral tomorrow?" Gaara asked.
Sasuke raised an eyebrow in confusion, "What funeral? For who?"
"For your first employer. The man who hired you to do your first kill, Gato." Said.
Sasuke seemed somewhat surprised by the news, but was silent for a moment, " Gato's dead? How did he die?"
"He was run over by a truck three times." Gaara said.
Sasuke made a noise of disgust then said, "How unprofessional. What moron pulled that off?"
"Not sure. So, you going to his funeral?" Gaara asked once more.
"Why would I want to? Just because he hired me for my first hit doesn't mean he holds some special place in my heart."
Gaara shrugged, "Just thought you'd be interested since you brought up your first kill earlier." Gaara said in his deadpan voice.
There was an awkward silence between the two when Sasuke's cell phone began to ring. He took it out of his pocket and looked at the number. His eyes widened slightly when he saw the number.
"Hello?" Sasuke answered.
"Thank God! I've been trying to reach you for hours!" Came Naruto's panicked voice.
"I've been in a area where there isn't any reception. What's the problem?"
"The Akatsuki is the problem! One of them snuck into my apartment and beat the shit out of me! There's probably gonna be blood in my piss!" Naruto shouted.
"Which one was it?" Sasuke asked, anger present in his voice.
"I don't know! He was huge, and had tattoos on his neck that looked like gills. He was strong as fuck too! He said I had to contact you and get you to come here or they will kill me and Sakura and anyone else I know. I don't know what to do!" Naruto explained, his voice sounded like he was about to cry.
"Calm down, Naruto. Let me think for a moment."
"What's going on?" Gaara asked.
"Nothing, I…..wait, where is Gatos funeral being held at?" Sasuke asked Gaara.
"St. Peters Cathedral, why?"
"Naruto, do you know where St. Peters Cathedral is?" Sasuke asked.
There was a small silence then, "Yeah, I know where it is. What does that have to do with anything?"
"Meet me there tomorrow at eleven in the morning. We'll talk then." Sasuke said.
"Are you sure? Will that be safe?" Naruto asked.
"It'll be fine. Just be there, see you then." Sasuke said then hung up before Naruto got a chance to say good bye.
"Looks like you're going to the funeral after all." Gaara said, a slight hint of amusement could be heard in Gaara's voice.
"You're coming too, I've got a plan." Sasuke said.
To say Naruto was a nervous wreck would be the understatement of the century. Naruto was beyond a nervous wreck. As he walked to his car to he kept looking around to make sure no one was following him. If one were to see him, one would think of him as a nervous Chihuahua. Once on the road he kept looking in his rear view mirror to make sure no one was following him to St. Peters.
"Why do I always have shitty luck!" He shouted to himself as he hit the steering wheel.
Losing his temper was one thing Naruto was good at doing. All the stress he had over the events that have happened to him recently were bubbling up and anger was the emotion that decided to show. He was angry that he was beat up by skinheads, he was angry that had witnessed Sasuke murder someone, he was angry that a large man snuck in his apartment and beat the shit out of him, he was angry at the whole situation he was in. What he was truly angry at was the fact that he had no control over anything.
As he pulled up to the Cathedral he couldn't help but notice all the cars parked outside the massive Cathedral. He parked his car and began to walk inside. He paused a moment and noticed everyone was dressed in black and there was coffin at the front of the church. That's when it dawned on him.
"Shit! This is a funeral service!" He shouted in his mind. He also realized that he was wearing jeans and a orange shirt with a orange jacket. He was thankful that all the people that were attending the service were sitting at the front of the church filling only the first and second rows. They hadn't noticed Naruto. There was one man that was dressed in a black suit sitting twenty rows away from everyone else, his hair was spiked in a odd fashion, and Naruto knew who it was. He carefully made his way to sit next to Sasuke. Sasuke glanced over at Naruto, who looked pissed.
"You're a dick." Naruto bluntly said.
"Oh? How so?" Sasuke asked.
"You have us meet at a fucking funeral? You could have told me there was going to be a funeral service. Look how I'm dressed!" Naruto whispered loudly.
"It's fine, and don't swear, we're in church." Sasuke whispered back.
"Who's funeral is this anyway?" Naruto asked.
"The guy who hired me for my first hit." Sasuke said.
A sad look crossed Naruto's face for a moment then Sasuke said, "He was run over by a truck………..three times." He said.
Naruto looked nauseous after that bit of information, "I don't need know this."
Sasuke smirked after that comment. The priest said something that wasn't to audible and the people in the front rows stood up. Sasuke and Naruto stood up, not knowing what was going on. Then everyone sat back down.
"We have to talk, my life and my friends lives are at stake. What do we do?" Naruto whispered.
"Don't worry about it. I have things planned out." Sasuke said in a reassuring tone.
"Things? What things? What do you have planned?" Naruto asked.
"You were followed here, Naruto." Sasuke said.
Naruto's eyes widened in shock, "W-what? By who!" Naruto's whisper raised slightly. The people in the front rows all stood up once more as did Sasuke and Naruto then they all sat back down once again.
"Kisame, Tobi and some hired thugs followed you here. Probably here to kill me." Sasuke explained nonchalantly.
"How do you know this? I didn't see anyone follow me! And how do they know you're here?" Naruto whispered loudly.
"I have someone outside helping me. He watched them pull up as you were walking in. They probably don't know for sure that I'm in here. Most likely they were watching you to see if you would lead them to me." Sasuke said, "We're probably going to have to engage them once I walk out."
"Engage?! What do you mean engage?! In front of a church?!"
"Keep your voice down." Sasuke ordered.
"There are innocent people here, you can't just have a gunfight at a funeral!" Naruto went back to whispering loudly.
"Naruto, almost everyone of those people up there are armed." Sasuke said as he motioned to the people at the front of the church.
Naruto gave Sasuke a confused look, "How do you know that?"
"Because they are all part of mob. I bet their wives are armed too." Sasuke explained.
"So, you gonna have them shoot at the Akatsuki?" Naruto replied in a sarcastic tone.
"No, the Akatsuki wouldn't dare open fire at a made man's funeral. The Akatsuki know that these people are armed, and if they opened fire, the Akatsuki would be asking for a war, which they can't afford right now, because I'm loose." Sasuke enlightened Naruto.
Naruto saw the logic, but it wasn't full proof, "What if they do fire on you?"
"I'm prepared for that too. So is my friend who's on top of the church right now watching their every move through an assault rifle scope."
Naruto gulped, he really didn't want a gun battle happening while he was around. He started to feel sick again, then he realized something, "You asshole, you knew they were watching me. That's why you had me come here, god damnit." Naruto muttered.
"Naruto, no blasphemy in church, what's wrong with you?" Sasuke said sternly.
Naruto covered his mouth in embarrassment. He looked up at the crucifix at the front of the church and whispered a 'sorry' to it. He then looked at Sasuke and said, "Since when do you care about church stuff? You kill people for a living."
"I used to kill people for a living, Naruto. People change. Well, I will change once I kill all the Akatsuki." He added.
Naruto rolled his eyes.
"Whose funeral?" Kisame asked.
"Gato's, he got run over by a truck three times." Tobi explained.
"Jesus, shitty way to go." Kisame said.
Tobi nodded in agreement.
"Do you really want us to open fire on the target if he comes out?" One of the hired men asked as he loaded his firearm.
"Yes, we aren't gonna give him a chance to do anything. I don't care who is killed in the process as long as he is dead." Kisame explained.
"This is going to be interesting." Tobi said.
As the funeral ended, the people attending the funeral began to walk out following the people carrying the coffin. Sasuke felt his phone vibrate and he quickly answered it.
"Hello?" Sasuke answered.
"They're in two black mini-vans across the street. Probably about ten guys total." Gaara's voice said.
"Understood, I'm going to walk out now. Prepare to fire if they make any moves." Sasuke said, then hung up, "You stay here." He said to Naruto.
"Don't die on me." Naruto said, his voice filled with worry.
"I'll be fine. If you hear gunfire, get low to the ground."
Naruto just nodded and watched as Sasuke blended with group of people walking outside. He was praying he wouldn't hear any gun shots, but with his luck, he was afraid something bad was going to happen.
Sasuke slowly made his was outside. He spotted the two vans across the street and kept an eye on them as he made his way to the parking lot. When he saw the side doors open on the mini-vans and men armed with assault rifles coming out of them, he quickly reached inside his suit jacket and pulled out his forty-five. Before he could fire a shot, automatic gunfire was heard from Gaara's M4 on top of the church. Sasuke watched as bullets tore through two of the men killing them. The people attending the funeral began to scream and shout as they ran for cover.
Sasuke unloaded an entire clip into one of the vans before quickly reloading. The men in the van that weren't killed from the gunshots quickly exited and began to open fire on Sasuke and the crowd of people. Gunshots and screams filled the area, making the neighborhood sound like a war zone. Gaara's assault rifle tore through the vehicles that the Akatsuki thugs were hiding behind. Kisame quickly got out of the second van and started firing at Gaara whom he noticed was hiding at the roof of the church.
Sasuke quickly hid behind a car for cover. He then noticed that some of the mob men who attended the funeral started shooting back at the Akatsuki men. Sasuke quickly stood up and shot at a group of men who were hiding behind a Ford pickup truck, then hid behind another car for cover. Gaara and Kisame kept on exchanging gunfire, while Sasuke exchanged gunfire with the hired Akatsuki help. Sasuke could hear the bullets zinging by and tearing through the car he was hiding behind. He began to wish he had a grenade.
It was at this moment that a stray bullet tore through Sasuke's left leg, spraying his blood on the asphalt. The pain was enough to make him shout out in agony. He held the wound for a moment and at that moment a feeling he hadn't had in a long time began to emerge. It was a mixture of fear and pure rage. They had wounded him and it hurt. He watched as the blood began to ooze out of his wound. A sudden urge to kill every living thing around him began emerge. His mind had one goal, and that goal was to kill who caused him this pain. His adrenaline began to kick in at full force. He stood up, ignoring the pain in his leg and the fact that he was still being shot at. He began to run towards the men shooting at him. The pain in his leg seemed gone for a moment, his body felt light, and his mind was filled with a killer intent.
The Akatsuki thugs never knew what hit them. Within seconds Sasuke was amongst them and killing them one by one. They began to scatter away from him, but their running was futile. Sasuke approached two men who began to run away from him, he shot one in the back and the other in the neck. The one shot in the back was on the ground writhing in pain, while the one shot in the neck was dead as Sasuke approached them. The one that was still alive noticed Sasuke getting closer and began to beg for mercy, but it fell upon deaf ears as Sasuke shot him in the face killing him. He saw another man fleeing the scene. Sasuke aimed carefully and fireed a round that tore its way through the mans gut. The man screamed and fell to the floor holding his wound. Sasuke made his way to the fallen man.
"W-wait! I'm sorry!" The man begged.
Sasuke ignored the mans pleas and fired three rounds into his head. Sasuke looked around and noticed that Kisame was gone. The gunfire had finally ceased. His adrenaline high was wearing off. It was then that the pain in his leg began to return in full force. He looked down and noticed his whole pant leg was soaked in his blood. He gave a sigh of annoyance.
"This is going to be a problem." He muttered to himself.
Not letting his wound get the best of him, he limped his way to the mini-vans the Akatsuki were using. One looked like Swiss-cheese due to the bullet holes that covered it. He opened the van door and saw two men, dead in their seat, and riddled with bullet wounds. He left that van and headed over to the next one. This van wasn't as damaged. He opened the passenger door and there laid Tobi, holding a bullet wound he took in his abdomen and still breathing in his seat. Sasuke grabbed the masked man and violently dragged him out the vehicle. Tobi shouted in pain.
"You realize this is your final moment alive, Tobi?" Sasuke asked in a ragged breath.
The masked man nodded slowly, "Just get it over with."
Sasuke pulled out his forty-five and aimed it at the masked mans head.
"Sorry things ended up this way." Sasuke rasped out, his pain and blood loss began taking its toll.
"Me too." Tobi said.
And with that being said, Sasuke fired his gun. Blood sprayed onto the pavement and Tobi's body was still. Sasuke holstered his gun and he looked to the sky. He suddenly felt very light headed. He almost forgot the pain in his leg. He collapsed to the ground and continued to stare at the blue sky.
"God, I'm tired." He muttered to himself.
He could hear his name being called, but it was faint, like someone was calling him from far away. His eyes were getting heavy, and all he wanted to do was sleep. Darkness slowly took over his vision and unconsciousness took over the hitman.
Author note: AHHHH!! Sorry! I know, I know, I take for fuckin' ever to update. I blame college and my work. I hope you guys like this chapter. I had so much trouble writing the action scenes. I'm horrible at it, so sorry if the writing on that part sucks. I can picture the whole shoot out in my head but its hard to translate that into writing. I don't have a beta reader, so if there are some spelling or grammar mistakes, I apologize for that too. I read over this thing numerous times, but I still miss things. And as always please review! Thanks to all who take the time to read this fic! Last but not least, the story is going to be coming to an end within the next three or four chapters. I wanted to know if guys want a "good" ending or the "bad" ending. I am debating on which to do. Tell me what you want!