Fighting along the side of a youkai was one of those once-in-a-lifetime experiences that probably came around, oh, maybe every other century. Can't say I considered it an honor. I did suppose I could thank my lucky stars he/she/whatever was my travel companion. No way could I have taken on these assholes alone. Considering I usually struck out when it came to such decisions, I had to say this was turning out to be a vast improvement.
Not by much though.
Shuriken whistled by my ears like high caliber mosquitoes. One or two even managed to draw blood. My left cheek got grazed when I dodged too closely and again over my right eyebrow when I whipped around too late to defend. The blood was running into my eye, which meant having to stop every few seconds to messily wipe it off. Gruesome crimson marks streaked across my face and chin. Thankfully my ankle wasn't the hindrance I feared it would be. It was just gimping along the ground. Despite the handicap all of my moves involving my feet I was able to execute with surprising ease. Logically I knew for a fact it was because of the adrenaline coursing through my blood and later it was going to hurt like a son of a bitch. But later was later.
There weren't as many Atokata after me as I'd originally thought. No more showed up after the initial clash and as the sortie continued, the number of enemies dwindled drastically. No wonder why there. Sakana's massive fire attacks gave a whole new meaning to the word obliteration. This neck of the woods would never look the same way again. Of course I didn't have time to gawk at the scenery, I kind of had to save my own hide.
With workman like precision, I feinted off the blows of the Atokata member I was currently entangled with. Punch, kick, duck, kick again, guard, counter. It was like a choreographed dance, my movements calmly paced with his. So predictable, I thought disappointingly. Definitely not of the same stuff the other troupe that attacked me was, that was for damn sure. Patiently I let him back me down a lower trail, splashing through a tiny stream. Gaining an idea when I heard the impact of my foot with water, I swept down, scooped up a handful and tossed the droplets in the air. Making the two hand seals required, I whispered the name of the water jutsu.
The man's eyes widened when the suspended water droplets lengthened and at a high velocity of speed struck him from head to foot wherever they landed. He lost his balance, teetered and I helped him along by kicking him squarely in the ribs. Thud. He stared up into the treetops, the surface of his body steaming. I tasted blood from the cut on my cheek at the corner of my mouth and spit absently.
The attack was a jutsu that involves forcing water to move at a high rate of speed over a short distance. It's so fast, the air friction causes it to superheat and burn whatever it collides with. I'd copied it three weeks ago off a scroll I'd found in a bookstore in the backroom when the shopkeeper wasn't looking. Deeming the jutsu a solo project, I spent nights out on the training grounds with a bucket of water perfecting it. One log took so much abuse someone actually replaced it a week after I started! There had even been a note addressed to me on it!
These are expensive. As a courtesy to others, please vary targets. -- HK
The Atokata man wasn't dead… he still twitched and squirmed on the ground anxiously. I grinned wickedly. Good. I wasn't done with him yet. Standing with one foot planted on either side of his body, I grabbed his front collar and lifted him halfway off the ground, letting his wide eyes meet the dark red swirling tomoe of mine.
"What do you want with me?" I spoke softly, evenly, my voice carefully laced with murderous intent. "This is a little much to capture one little girl, don't you think?"
"I-It's not us!" he stammered. "We… we were hired!"
I narrowed my eyes. "Hired? Bullshit. You guys don't work for anyone but yourselves."
"It's true!" He stiffened in absolute fear, suffering inside the genjutsu I was folding over his mind to get him to cooperate. Sweat ran down his face as he bit his bottom lip, making it bleed, shutting his eyes against the images assaulting his frontal lobe. "I'm not lying!" he mewled pathetically when I twisted the fabric around his throat. It was fortunate for me he had such weak will, otherwise I wouldn't have this much control.
"Then who hired you?"
"A m-man, a m-missing nin. He used to be one of our members, it's-it's why we agreed to the job!"
"What's his name?" I twisted his collar a little more, making him 'ack!'
"K-Kenryoku."
I stared at him for a long time, absorbing this skeptically. "The leader of Chinmoku. He's a former Atokata." Huh. "That makes sense." It made a lot of sense, actually. Must have had a lot of pull when he was with them. The famously selfish group didn't dish out deeds for just anyone. But what would the leader of Chinmoku want with me? I'd never even seen him before nor crossed paths directly with him.
"What does he want with me?" I demanded with renewed vigor.
"L-Leverage."
"Against whom?"
"Uchiha Sasuke."
Wha… I almost dropped him then. My heart leapt into my throat and lodged in sideways. A so very slight tremble went through me. "Why?" I managed to get out. The word strangled in my throat. Determined to crack more out, I added a bit more chakra to the genjutsu.
His eyes bulged and he shrieked. "I don't know! Please!" he whimpered grabbing the sides of his head as if in great pain. "Oh God, st…! I've told you everything I know!"
I sighed, easing off. He was probably right. Oh well. Nothing lost and nothing gained. Disgusted I punched him over the head and the man was out like a light. Releasing him, his body thumped when it settled on the ground once more. I glared at him before gradually lifting my gaze. Shit. No time to ponder this new information now, several pajama retards were coming in for an intercept. Damn where the hell was Sakana? I swear that stupid kitsune had traded brains for breasts when he had transformed.
I could really use some help here!
Well, no point in waiting around. A quick eye check told me this was a bad spot for a battle. I needed open ground. I grabbed a tree limb and swung into the upper canopy, using the treetops to accelerate my getaway. The ground level here was even so I didn't have to worry about treacherous sheer drops.
Ouch. Every impact on my ankle threatened to unbalance me. Crap. I clenched my teeth together and simply bit it. I had to. Perhaps it wouldn't matter anyway since I sensed an opening. Just another twenty or so yards ahead, looks like. I can make it. I let my momentum carry me. Almost there, it's getting brighter… Oh God, you've got to be kidding me! I groaned in dismay.
The open ground I had been anticipating wasn't what I thought it was. It was an opening all right however it was by no term of the definition 'ground.'
Can we talk lake? A very large, very wide, very watery lake.
Tempted to curse wild bloody oaths fit to melt off a nun's ears, I elected to focus sending my chakra to my feet. Toward the middle I dared look back and when I did, my heart slipped right into my stomach and continued on down to my feet. Aw shit. The five I counted chasing after me were beelining across that water as if it still were the very earth itself.
"Well, that's just fucking peachy." Eyeing each enemy in turn, I let a rare smile stretch across my lips. Considering the blood on my face and my ragged appearance, it served to disturb them a bit. They took not so perceptible steps back. Even with the discouragement I inspired in them, they formed a circular fashion around me, essentially cutting off all escape routes. I was trapped like a water rat.
Dilemma. Options. My eyes dropped briefly to my reflection on the gently rippling water. A flash of that training day at the lake back in Konoha went through my head. I looked up again, feeling the panic bleed out to soak up a surge of hopeful confidence. I positioned my hands for the seal. Wait. I gave pause. If I performed this jutsu while I still standing out over open water I would get trapped in it too. Dammit. My hands clenched into fists. My plans never work!
They rushed at me in that moment. Keeping in constant motion was the only way to avoid some of the more deadly strikes. Holes and tears appeared in my dress. Nicks to the bare skin on my arms and legs were numerous and bled, stinging at times when water would splash on me during more vigorous attacks. I don't think I'd ever fought as many ninja that fast on my own in my whole life. They might be mediocre ninja but for what they lacked in talent, they made up for in so many other ways.
So it eventually happened. One of them got past my guard and grasped me by the throat. It was easy to see how. This Atokata member was huge. He was easily six, hell, seven foot four with a wider girth than Akimichi Chouji - and the Academy teacher was a pretty big guy! His fingers went all the way around my slender throat, his fingertips easily meeting on the other side. My feet cleared the water, kicking involuntarily as I felt my weight sag down, clawing at the nin's tight grip. My head felt compressed, as if pressure were being exerted on either side of my ears. Don't pass out, don't pass out…don't… pass…out…My vision filled with sparkles and began to gray at the edges. Desperately I tried to kick him but his arm was holding me away from his body so I struck nothing but air.
Meanwhile the large man chortled at his pretty prize, his seamy eyes brimming over with perverted delight as he watched me struggle to breathe. That scared me even more than the prospect of my own death. Dread engulfed me and for a terrifying moment, I felt like I was paralyzed.
Calm, Katana, calm. I told myself. Go to your happy place. Thinkthinkthink…First part of the jutsu… its original form… before you combined it with Chidori. Think about that. What did I do, what did I do!
"Fuck!" I gasped my knuckles white from the effort of trying to hold my entire body weight up. Letting go for one suffocating moment, I quickly made the single hand seal for it. Twisting around swiftly, going on my last reserve of stamina, I hooked one leg over the nin's arm. Curling one arm around it, I stretched out with my free arm toward his chest. Just one touch, please. One.
Closer. Closer. One fingertip. Two. Three. Palm. Flat. Spread fingers. NOW. The effect was immediate and horrifying.
The Atokata member gasped, gray eyes going wide as he felt a jolt of pain shoot through his heart and exit through his back in an arch of electricity. He was dead before he released me and hit the water with a resounding splash. I had just enough wit to kick off the entrance point where my hand had been and propelled myself into the air. I knew what happened with this jutsu and I was determined not to be a victim of my own devices.
A chorus of agonized yells rose up below me as I ascended. Controlling the leap, I forced my body to flip, somersault and point itself to land on shore. I almost made it - my feet hit a shallow end up to my ankles. It was enough. Unbelievable pain shot up my calves and I shrieked, having just enough control over my nervous system to stumble and stagger to shore before collapsing onto my side, breaking the contact between my body and the water. Clutching at my heart, I lay on my side with my back to the lake. Painfully I forced myself to turn over and look out. Against my palm, my heartbeat was fast and erratic.
All five men, including the one I'd used as the conduit, were floating in the water. Dead from electrocution. Water made one hell of a conductor… and I'd almost paid for the successful victory blow with my life. Again.
Rolling over onto my stomach, I pushed up with my arms and started to stand up.
A hand grabbed me by the hair and a kunai pressed against my throat. My eyes widened -- why hadn't I sensed his chakra! I completely froze. When he forced my neck to bend back I got a good look at my captor. He grinned cruelly and I got an up close observation of his features. Leather faced in a roughneck sort of way, he looked like a man who had called earth, tree and rock home for a long time. Scars trailed down from his eyes like tears, accented by a red triangle tattoo mark on his chin. Every exposed inch of skin bore scars of various lengths and sizes. He wore a bandanna and his clothes were the hallmark red and brown colors associated with members of the mercenary group, Chinmoku.
He spoke when he was sure I was meeting his gaze. "Impressive move out there, sweetheart. You're definitely a chip off the old block. But this is over." He exhaled and looked up at the other similarly garbed members of his pack now standing around us. "Look long at this example, men: If you want something done, you should always do it yourself."
"Huh. The Atokata must be losing its touch," muttered one of them distastefully. "I thought they were supposed to be good."
"I'll say. Beaten by a Genin," another chimed in. "They're better off stealing wallets and shoes. 'Bout all they're good for if you ask me."
The one holding me by the hair shrugged. "I overestimated them. But they were good enough to herd her toward us so it's not the loss it could have been." He finished the rest of his sentence looking at me again, the grin spreading back in place. I attempted to shy away and he rewarded that by twisting my hair around his fist further, causing me to yelp.
"Your name, girl."
I closed my mouth and glared at him. He already knew my name. Fuck like I was going to confirm for him. I didn't make a sound when he shoved my head to the ground roughly. Tears jolted into my eyes.
"I'm not above using torture to get you to cooperate." His voice was cold. "I'd hate to destroy that fragile little mind of yours. Your Sharingan at this level is no match for my genjutsu. Your name. Now."
I bit my lips together and glared at him. I did not speak.
He sighed, as if it were a great tragedy. "They never listen." Grabbing my head in both hands he looked me right in the eye. That's the last thing I comprehended before -- there was blood everywhere, everyone was dead, butchered, hacked, begging for mercy and… and… stopstopstop! I was screaming a minute later at the top of my lungs. He released me and I fell against the ground, horror and tears streaked across my face. The man straightened up slowly, watching me stare straight ahead at nothing.
"If formality is the issue," he began quietly, "then so be it. My name is Kenryoku. These men are my subordinates. You're a prisoner of Chinmoku and, until the foreseeable future, a prisoner you will remain." Pause. "Now tell me your name."
"Uchiha…" I faintly whispered from afar. "Uchiha Katana."
"Katana." He grinned, showing very white and very sharp teeth. "A pleasure to meet you." The smile vanished immediately and he pointed from me to his men. "Tie her hands and feet and then drug her. I don't want to take any chances."
So weakened and drained was I by the mental assault, I couldn't do more than curse and snarl deadly retributions while they bound me up. Then finally they forced a pill into my mouth, made me swallow and gagged me. My arms and legs grew numb and my whole body went limp. But my brain stayed very much awake.
"Heh," one of them gave me a grin that chilled me to the very core when he saw my wide-eyed terror. "There's all kinds of fun we could have with you so be a good girl and behave yourself."
Kenryoku struck the lech in the stomach and glared down at him as he writhed at his feet. "The girl is off limits. I catch any one of you touching her I'll kill you. Bait is no good when it's been spoiled."
Reynard! Where are you? REYNARD! I screamed inside my head. Tasukete!
I got a reply. It was very faint, very far away.
:I'm trying…I killed most of them…: The kitsune sounded enraged, helpless. :But… these humans… one of them knew a youkai sealing jutsu and was able to bind me. It won't hold me forever though… I won't be able to free myself for a few days.:
A few… days? I shut my eyes, oblivious to what was going on around me as they prepared to cart me off. Hot, itchy tears slipped down my cheeks. It was absolutely the worst news I had ever heard in my entire life.
:I am so sorry.: Genuine remorse laced that one. :I am so so sorry…:
Shut up.
:Katana…:
No. Don't say anymore. You did what you could. I can't expect everyone to protect me all of the time. That's not fair, not to me and not to you. I'll figure something out. These guys aren't smarter than me. I'll find a way.
The mental roar of a demon fox was a sensation one should never forget. His feelings were in intense shades of dark blood and moonless night. The vicious anguish echoed another in my mind with a conviction of its own. Hadn't the paralysis been a full body occupant, I would have given in to the grief it wrought upon me. In my mind I focused on the face of Ichigo. He needed to hear the thing he wanted me to say. And I wanted to say it. Those goofy grins of his just made my day even though I wouldn't be caught dead ever admitting that out loud.
I will not give up. Because really, what was the point of living if you couldn't be with the ones you loved? What was the point of protecting someone if you couldn't at least try to do it? What the hell was the point of living at all if you couldn't find at least one good reason in the world to live for?
I lived for my team. I lived for my home. I lived to see my father again… I lived to make him smile. I had four damn good reasons for living. No. I would not die here.
Minoru Takami reached his destination to make it for the appointed rendezvous within minutes. Afterwards he thanked his escort with profuse gratitude, hailing their reputation as Konoha ninja far surpassing what he'd heard and so on and so forth. The praise rang hollow for Ichigo whose mind remained elsewhere and out of reach. Takashi merely nodded, accepting the endorsement with stoic aplomb. Neither boy said one word since they arrived in the small village and were strangely silent and compliant. When it came time to leave the morning of the next day (as per the contract), Takami personally saw them off at the exit. He would be escorted home by this village's resident ninja when his task was completed.
"I hope you find that young woman," he told Kakashi, looking at the forlorn figures of the boys loitering around the exit, waiting for their sensei. "She seemed like a good person. I'd hate to think of what might have befallen her. You will let me know if you find her?"
Kakashi was touched. "Aa." He too looked after the boys. Takashi was leaning against the village gate, kind of staring at the ground. Ichigo paced restlessly, casting impatient looks Kakashi's way, the expression on his face strained and angry. It was taking all of the boy's self-control to keep him there. Any more delay and he would take off without them.
"Good luck with the talks."
"Yes. Thank you"
They exchanged brief bows and parted ways.
When Kakashi approached the brooding boys, he could feel their determination as something tangible. It had been a long time since he'd seen such vehement expressions. Ichigo looked just like his mother when he set his face like that, he mused absently.
"I sent the ninja dogs off this morning while you both were still asleep." He explained at length. They nodded; they knew about the dogs. "If they find anything, Pakkun will inform us. At this rate they'll be able to cover a lot of ground in a short period of time. I also sent a courier off to the Hokage to inform her of our delay. It'll give us more time at any rate."
"Where will we be searching?" Takashi queried suddenly. He had not spoken since last night. "Obviously she's not in the river. Due to the nature of the landscape, even a corpse would have difficulty going out to a larger body of water." Ichigo winced when he said that.
"True." Kakashi agreed thoughtfully. The Hayabusa kid was familiar with his territory. "The streams between where she fell and the nearest lake are too shallow for us to have missed anything. So we can eliminate that possibility."
"Then where can we look?" Ichigo burst out frantically, gesturing wildly with his arms. Not waiting for a reply, he kicked at the ground and started moving ahead at a fast clip. "Argh! I'm not standing around here anymore!"
Rather than call him back, Kakashi and Takashi silently followed suit. Idle conjecture never made for a successful mission -- and Kakashi suspected Ichigo had sensed what he was too kind to imply directly. There was a better-than-good chance Katana was dead. It did no good to settle on it yet. Again there were those burnt Atokata corpses to consider. The severity of the burns indicated it was a high level fire jutsu that had caused their deaths, yes, but he couldn't be certain if Katana was the one responsible. Perhaps an intervening party had intercepted? Sigh. Better to wait for word from Pakkun. If there were clearer answers to be sought, the little pug dog would find them.
"It's my fault." Kakashi glanced at the redhead. "I let her slip. I should have held on tighter…" The boy trailed off, a dark cloud cast in his troubled eyes. "If she's dead it's because of me."
It was starting already and he was actually relieved he was so forthcoming in voicing his torment. He decided to shut it down before it spread through the boy like a disease. "Katana is a kunoichi," he replied, his lazy delivery augmented by the no-nonsense undertone. "She accepts that the life of a ninja carries the high risk of death - even her own. She was raised that way. She wouldn't want you blaming yourself."
"But I…"
"Enough."
Obviously unwilling Takashi struggled before hardening his expression, locking up everything once again. It was probably best to let him alone for the time being. As for Ichigo… He watched the boy leading them, unable to discern his expression simply because all he could see was the back of his head. It was hard to tell. He was closest to the girl yet of the three of them, he was showing the least anguish. Had to credit those Uzumaki genes, they just didn't allow despair to have a fighting chance. Still he should have anticipated what happened later on that night. Should have stayed awake to stop them when Ichigo got up to relieve himself to make sure he came back. He should have sensed Takashi leave only minutes later. But instead six hours after they stopped for camp, just shy of the gray dawn of the morning, Kakashi woke to find both Ichigo and Takashi missing.
Tsunade was alone in her office when she received Kakashi's courier. If she thought the shadow team's message had been an earthquake, this message was the aftershock. In a way it was worse: no matter how you looked at it, ninja or not, a missing child was always a great source of distress and anxiety. That the Atokata were involved made the situation more ominous - and though she hated to think it - close to hopeless. In the five years Konoha had known of the Atokata's existence, not one missing person with that name connected to their disappearance had ever been found alive, if they were found at all. When a body was found, it was always a ghastly, tragic discovery. Atokata were fond of leaving call cards on their victim's bodies and it was always the same momento: a piece of paper with the kanji "Zan'nen da!" pinned to their clothes. It was a cruel mockery.
Laying the message scroll aside, she allowed her hands to rest on her face, her fingertips gently massaging her temple, her elbows keeping her head up. Twilight had deepened the shadows, shadows that danced and jumped with the presence of a single lit candle to the right of the woman's elbow. A martini glass with an olive sat to the upper left.
"It's happening again," she whispered, peering through a cage of fingers at the figure lounging on the sofa across the small room. "The circumstances are different but…Tch." A sigh slipped out. "It's a curse, like my bad luck."
"Oh don't say that." The figure sat up, allowing the minute light to make his weathered features visible. His eyes still held that merry twinkle. "For what it's worth, I think things have turned out differently. Better than I expected."
"Oh?" Tsunade lowered her hands, a thin amusement appearing on her upper lip. "Since when are you so optimistic, old man?"
Jiraiya chuckled, rubbing his neck. "I'm not, really. Optimistic that is. Heh." He sat up straighter. "I've watched these kids. As for the missing Uchiha girl..." Pause. "As you know, Sasuke took great pains to keep the girl in the shadows. It was fortunate for him she possessed the disposition suited for such a limited life. Had she rebelled, things would have been troublesome for them. More so than they already were." He exhaled. "Besides I'm not the kind of person who breaks up families." His expression became serious. "There's something else. I know he's the one who led Naruto and the others out of here."
Guilty as charged. Tsunade lowered her eyes. There was no point in denying it. She had been wondering when he'd bring it up.
"Can I ask you something?" he began after a brief silence.
"…Mm."
"If he were to return again, for good, what would you do? He would be your last loose end from that time."
Tired, Tsunade fluttered her eyes shut. "I will do my duty as Hokage of this village. Regardless of the kind of person he is now, he must answer for his crimes. I will show no quarter." She paused. "But…" A grin quirked her formerly grim set mouth and she opened her eyes. "Now is not the time for what-ifs. Time is no ally and I have a lot to do." Her wrist flicked. It was her form of dismissal.
Heartened, Jiraiya just laughed. "I'll let you know if I find anything," he said by way of farewell before teleporting out of the Hokage's office.
The sun began to touch the tip of the western horizon of the former Anzen stronghold. Its rich rays of violent red-gold splashed across the landscape like paint. The three ninjas' battle had long since degenerated from an outright onslaught of epic proportions to a slash-and-dash duck-and-run fiasco. Sweat and blood made their uniforms cling uncomfortably to their heated skin. Each man's impeccable aim began to falter. A shuriken either hit wide of the mark or struck an unintended target. Most times they simply hid out, catching their wind, sometimes compressing a wound to stop bleeding. Even Naruto's Kyuubi reserves were taking more time after the last to heal the smallest of injuries. Sasuke used his favorite forms of stealth against Orochimaru… all that seemed to have a disturbing lack of affect on the Sannin. At least the desired one: to kill him. He had to content himself with several expressions of shock and dismay when the Uchiha popped another surprise on him. He needed to find an opening soon. Sasuke was dangerously low on chakra. If he kept going at this rate, he wouldn't be able to stand for much longer. One quick look at Naruto confirmed he was nearing his limit as well, though from the steel in his smoldering blue eyes, he knew the baka would be the last one to admit it.
If we don't find somewhere to hide and rest, we won't last another second.
He waited until he was completely out of Orochimaru's sight. Then he retreated into the dense undergrowth. He found what he was looking for after a quick eye-search: one of the hollow trees. Halfway entering it, he silently gestured to Naruto to come inside too. The blonde nodded and followed Sasuke, closing the door firmly behind him. Without a word, Sasuke retreated to the furthest side of the space away from the door and sat down against the 'wall'. He smirked when Naruto attempted to straighten up and hit his head. He mouthed "Ow!" winced and then plopped beside him, rubbing at the sore spot. Their arms barely touched in the circular space.
Sasuke involuntarily flinched when Naruto leaned close to him, presumably to whisper something. He saw the dark haired man twitch and stared at him. It was dark inside the tree so they could barely make out each other. "You okay?" he spoke in the softest voice he'd ever heard the noisy ninja use.
He grunted affirmation. "You?"
"Fine."
They fell into a long silence after that, waiting for the chakra of their mutual enemy to move away from the immediate area. Heavy contemplation hung heavy in the air between them, creating an inevitable atmosphere of unease. Now that they had a moment, the "thing" hanging above their heads was quickly turning into an eight-hundred-pound gorilla. Sasuke hated it.
A slow trickle of blood slipped down his face, the warm wetness crawling across his pale skin. His companion saw and dug into one of the pockets on his Jounin uniform, casually holding out a small length of cloth to him. "You're bleeding."
"So are you."
Frown. "Not the point. You don't want it in your eyes." He emphasized your.
"I'm fine."
"Sasuke."
"What are you, my daughter?" The tired retort didn't have the desired effect. Sasuke just wasn't up for a bantering session right now. So he just took the offering and wiped it off. Naruto smirked when it was tossed back in his lap ungratefully and gave a tolerant sigh, stuffing it back into a pocket. Once a bastard always a bastard.
"What are we going to do?" Naruto began after a long bout of silence had passed. His eyes were closed and he let his head connect gently with the inside wall.
"We hide." Sasuke didn't understand the connoted tone, or at least he pretended not to. "And we recover."
Elbow nudge. "Heh, done deal." More quietly he continued. "After this."
"I'm not thinking that far ahead."
Naruto looked frustrated. "Sasuke!" he insisted. He was not going to let the other guy use his usual evasive tactics.
Knowing he couldn't keep dodging, Sasuke looked away. You can't run forever. This isn't going to kill you. Though if it wasn't going to hurt a whole hell of a lot.At length, very carefully, he spoke. "I made that choice. I'd make it again."
No. The Jounin clearly did not like that. It hurt to see the anger that flashed in Naruto's face just then but he had to say it. He took a deep breath. "If I hadn't… I would… I wouldn't…" Fuck. He was no good at this.
But for some reason Naruto was smiling now, a thousand untranslatable emotions reflecting in his eyes, seen even in the darkness. "Don't strain yourself, teme."
Sasuke misunderstood. He narrowed his eyes. "Dammit, Naruto…!" He was trying and he… and he…
Naruto kept that infuriating grin on his face. "I didn't die, Sasuke."
He stared at Naruto, confused. "… Why… didn't you…" God, that it was hard to say but all this time… he needed to know.
Mentally bracing himself, Naruto sat up and used a minute amount of chakra to bring it to the surface. "You're not the only one with weird marks on his skin." He pulled apart his vest and pulled up his shirt. Sasuke squinted at it and then he looked back up at Naruto's face.
The shirt went back down. "Orochimaru never told you, did he."
He shook his head. "Orochimaru isn't the kind of person that volunteers information if it doesn't benefit him in some way." Slight furrow of his forehead. "He knew?"
"Hai. All the adults at the time did… because they were the only ones who could have known." Naruto chewed over his thoughts for a while. "Remember back then how everyone used to treat me like I was nothing? Well, heh, there was a reason for it. It wasn't a good reason but…" Naruto appeared to brace himself again, debating. Years ago he would have been so afraid to tell someone - anyone - about his unwelcome tenant. Ironic that the last person to find out would be the one person he had wanted to tell the most.
So without further reservation, he plunged ahead. From the day he was born up until the first time he felt the Kyuubi as something else inside him. The strange cat-red eyes, the monstrous chakra, the unexplained speedy recovery from impossible injuries, and the frightening power he'd fought against and barely survived at the Valley of the End. It all made a strange kind of sense. He felt like an idiot.
"Naruto," he began after a while when his friend was finished talking. "You could have told me."
"Yeah." The fox vessel appeared suitably contrite. "I'd thought about it. I know it would have… it would have helped you understand. I wanted to but I was afraid you'd… heh, but it happened anyway so not telling you didn't do me any good." Sigh. "Guess we both fucked up, huh."
Sasuke hung his head somewhat, faintly amused. "I don't think so." He wasn't looking at him but he could see that Naruto was absolutely beaming. The stupidest things always did make that dobe happy, he thought. "But… if I hadn't…"
Another smile appeared faintly on his face. Naruto shook his head. "I would never ask you to unwish that, Sasuke." He punched the other man lightly in the shoulder. "Still even if you didn't want to come home you could have written, idiot."
"Hn… I couldn't afford stamps."
"Bullshit."
"Yeah." Naruto's eyes widened when Sasuke acceded. "No more excuses."
Abruptly the blonde started to get up. He gave his friend a look, telling him everything he needed to know. Naruto was finished with discussing the past. You don't need my forgiveness. It's us, Sasuke, you and me. If we have to talk about it, we never really were friends. He heard this as clearly as if the man had spoken it aloud.
Sasuke closed his eyes for a moment before rising as well.
They left the hollow tree.
Catching up to the snake Sannin was remarkably easy. Orochimaru had doubled back and reassessed his territory, rightly assuming he'd missed them. He got a rather rude wake up call when Sasuke exploded the tree limb he was perched upon right out from under him. There had been no warning whatsoever.
There shouldn't have been, Sasuke snorted in light derision. He'd placed exploding tags strategically throughout the canopy, leaving to chance that Orochimaru would land on one of them. When he came upon one, Sasuke made the appropriate hand seal, blowing the limb and most of the surrounding foliage into little green floating bits of debris. He was disgruntled to see Orochimaru land unharmed upon the ground. The white-faced phantom tilted his head back and looked straight up at Sasuke who was dangling rather ungraciously by his hands. He smiled his creepy smile and made that annoying chuckling noise in the back of his throat. Even with sweat and dirt clinging to his nearly threadbare clothes, the bastard still managed to look composed and confident. It was enough to make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.
He checked on Naruto from the corner of his peripheral vision. He caught Sasuke's eye and smiled calmly. Making sure his friend was watching he pulled a kunai out his pocket and held it out, dangling from his fingers teasingly.
What is he doing?
He let it go.
And then Sasuke made a mistake. He blinked. After he did that his whole body just froze. He was gone. Naruto had disappeared.
The kunai continued to fall then - Orochimaru frowned when he saw Naruto grin at him from his disadvantageous position.
Then in the next blink, he was no longer there - the kunai disappeared - then… Before he could react, he felt the edge of a blade cut into his neck, a body behind him right flush against his back, and the feel of his own blood draining down his chest in a warm liquid flow.
"Shunshin no jutsu…?" he hissed breathily.
Naruto grinned wickedly. No replacement technique, huh? "Don't worry," he spoke low into the dying man's ear. "I'll apologize to Jiraiya for you. He wanted to kill you himself, you know." Sorry I stole your thunder, Ero-Sannin.
Orochimaru's dreams of immortality, his kinjutsu against death - the very thing he feared - had been a constant touchstone for him. It was the gift that kept on giving; though it had been at the expense of so many young faces, he had felt the sacrifices were justified. He still did even now. Every single measure he had taken, every experiment, every move he had made had been meticulously calculated and well-planned out. His ambition to destroy Konoha - that black stain on his consciousness - was close to being realized. So when he felt that cold-hot sensation of the kunai slide deep into his throat, purging the gleam from his yellow eyes, his first thought was of disbelief at the…at the ease of this, the utter stupidity of it all. This was not how things were supposed to go. Death had been beaten. Even should it chance to stare him in the eye, it would not be in the form of this blue eyed Kyuubi brat who had never been anything other than an eternal fool trapped within a laughable dream. This kid with the sunshine hair and the idiot smile kill him? Like this? Ridiculous.
He was close to being right. Although he would never know because it was at that point Chidori connected with its target. Orochimaru's neural centers went dead, lost in an explosion of heated chakra and a rain of blood. Surprised and pleased in the throes of his death, his last flicker of thought was sheer happiness. Things had gone the right way after all. Pity that he could not live to enjoy it. He grasped Sasuke's arm and with the last of his strength, pulled it forward in one fluid move. At least he could do this.
The last thing Orochimaru heard before he died was the sound of his spine cracking.
Sasuke's world was made of blacks and whites with areas of gray and red. Itachi had been in the black part of that world, his family and friends in the white and Orochimaru in the gray. The red was the Sharingan, dyeing the colors to match the ultimate shade of one. He had a good grasp of these shades. They allowed him to discern between his choices, making them easier, limiting the scope of his options. Do or not do, kill or be killed. For a man often filled with rage, frustration and regret, they provided a welcome reprieve. Life was simpler in colors.
When Naruto gasped and choked over the now-dead missing nin's shoulder the dullness in his crazy blue eyes purged out the chosen tints of Sasuke's world. Blood ran from the man's lips and down his chin. With his arm sticking through the chest of his former master, Sasuke wondered why there was so much blood… and why the hell was Naruto coughing, he had controlled his descent, it shouldn't have pierced…
Then he remembered what Orochimaru had done just before he died.
Oh no…
Sheer reflex and horror made Sasuke withdraw his hand swiftly from the bloody cavity, the action followed by a sickening sucking noise. Freed from its medium, Orochimaru's body fell forward, first to its knees before it toppled lifelessly sideways. Death was the only enemy the snake had thought he had defeated. Little had he known to him it had lurked quietly hidden, waiting for its chance to strike; mortality had had its revenge.
Naruto stood for a moment longer before the strength in his legs gave and he collapsed. Sasuke caught him across his blood-gloved arm. Blood was everywhere now. The gruesome puddles and rivers created a crimson lake around the two ninja. Most of it poured freely from Naruto's chest and the corners of his mouth. His eyes gazed up half-lidded at his friend; the sky of his eyes faded and gray.
Realizing fully now what had happened, what was happening and his sheer powerlessness against it, Sasuke lost his equilibrium in the world. This was not the way things were supposed to go! Why am I always hurting you… why…? I don't understand… He didn't care, didn't even realize he had lost control so completely. He ignored how Naruto watched him from his pain-hazed distance, ignored him until the blonde reached up and gently clasped the hand of the other attempting to stem the blood flow.
"Sasuke," he managed. "Quit bawling, teme, you're makin' me feel weird. Fuck… grow up already." He smiled, the effort weary but not strained, and made a 'heh' noise, adding a teasing, high-pitched nasal, "Sasuke-chan…"
His words had the desired effect. The dark haired shinobi choked, arduously unable to abide by pride when he was so obviously open and exposed. Naruto closed his eyes and concentrated on drawing air into his lungs. Kyuubi was doing its job… he felt the demon's chakra slipping around inside him, hurrying to close the deep wound. He heard Sasuke call his name and opened his eyes again. He hated that look in those now-onyx eyes. Something… an emotion Naruto thought he'd never see. Sasuke attempted to hide it, namely by adding further pressure to the wound. Naruto helped himself breathe more easily by sitting up in Sasuke's arms. It was during this Sasuke tensed suddenly. He sucked in air, grew rigid, trembling wildly, grasping onto his injured comrade. It wasn't like what happened before… this was… from the way he was shaking, contorting… oh shit. Painfully Naruto braced the ground with one hand, - getupgetupgetup! He watched with growing alarm as the Cursed Seal spread over his friend's flesh. Then it retreated into itself with impossibly fluid speed. His face froze in fear, paling, losing light… his eyes dulled… he tried to speak, desperately… "Naru…"
Suddenly Sasuke fell on Naruto's chest. He became very, very still. For a moment, he was terrified. It was the worst few seconds of his entire life.
Weakly he whispered his friend's name and shook him. Struggling valiantly - dammit Kyuubi was taking its sweet ass time today! - he sat all the way up, breathing laboriously. He turned his friend over. He made an animal whimper of despair. Sasuke's pulse was thready and his breathing was shallow and slow. "No…" he murmured, burying his face into Sasuke's neck. "Not when I just got you back. Not like this. Please." He opened his eyes again and stared, puzzled. Wait… I'm seeing things. He lifted his head and pulled down the collar of Sasuke's shirt, making sure he wasn't mistaken. In disbelief he palpated the region around his friend's neck, smoothing over the pale skin, assuring himself of the sight, that it was real.
The Cursed Seal was gone.
Naruto suddenly felt tired, more tired than he'd ever felt in his life. Gently laying Sasuke out, he pulled himself beside his friend's form, staring into the treetops where sunlight chanced to sliver through and fall in slivered shadows across their bodies. He smiled again, dreamily. Kind of like how the masked boy and that no-brow died. Heh. Ironic. So what. Maybe this really was it. Somehow the finding of one person and regaining his friendship made becoming Hokage pale in comparison.
You were always worth it, Sasuke.
Then he heard the sweetest voice. He had hoped and prayed and wished and he never thought… Heh, well, maybe he shouldn't be so cynical. So when he felt her arrival he reached for her slim hand when she was close enough and grasped it.
"Sakura-chan…"
Sakura wasn't the type of person who let anything keep her back. Naruto's tenaciousness was infectious and over the years she had become saturated with his zest, adding it to her own, creating a determined mixture that kept her to her course. Neji had been the one who undid her.
"You've done enough. We'll be fine here," he told her as the day began to draw to a close. "They need you. You'll never forgive yourself if you don't go to them now."
Alone she plunged through the trees, stopping here and there, stretching her senses out as far as she could. Along the way she saw the evidence of a long, continuous battle. Exploding tags, weapons embedded in trees, blood spatters and trails, bodies of ally and foe, craters in the earth, broken trees. Stopping once, she saw a familiar spiral carved into a tree trunk. Naruto had been here. She discovered going further, the tell-tale debris Rasengan left behind. Her heart sped up.
Hand resting on a tree, Sakura looked around. "Naruto?" she called, raising her voice. She held her breath for a minute, listening, watching. Inhaling, filling her lungs with air, she belted out: "NARUTO!"
"They're not here."
Sakura blinked in surprise. Looking around for the source, she spotted the voice's owner on the forest floor, leaning up against a tree. He smirked when their gazes collided. Recognizing him, she peered distrustfully down at him. "Where are they, then?" she demanded, clenching her fists together.
He shrugged.
Not willing to settle with the Sound dog's evasiveness, Sakura jumped to the ground and in one swift movement twisted his shirt in her fist and slammed him against the tree. "Where is Naruto?" she growled, her emerald eyes like cut rock. Their faces were so close, her hot breath ghosted on his face. "Tell me!"
He watched her carefully for a moment longer. "No need to be so harsh. Quarter mile in the direction behind you," he said suddenly. When she eyed him warily, he added. "I have no reason to lie to you, Sakura-san."
She let him go and stood back, fists raised just in case. But the other med nin shrugged again and took off, leaving one very puzzled kunoichi behind. What the heck was that about? She wondered, even as she spun around and headed in the direction he indicated. Oh well, she would ponder the thousands of implications of that later.
At first when she arrived on the scene, she was stricken by the amount of blood covering the area. There were three bodies lying on the ground, one of them a bit further away from the others. It was the first one she knelt to check. Ugh. She didn't need to touch him to make the official confirmation: the man was obviously dead. A huge gaping hole in his chest cavity was the most glaring evidence. The wide yellow eyes, the pale white skin and the clothes told her his identity. And he was real. He was really dead.
A small sound escaping her, Sakura dragged a hand across her damp forehead, slowly letting her lungs deflate. She let herself wallow in the relief, allowed the weight of his former existence drain from her soul. The release within was so intense she almost began to sob. It's over, it's over, it's finally, finally over.
A bright spot of yellow drew her eye. Instantly she was up again, on the move, reaching for the hand reaching back for her. His smile shone through his bloodied appearance, discounting the injuries. Almost as if everything were happy and whole again, as if he had just woken from a lazy nap out in the sun. Of course this was Naruto, she thought. No situation was bad enough to stop him from smiling. "Sakura-chan," he murmured.
"Don't talk, baka," she scolded, immediately moving to straddle him. He attempted to leer at her. Secretly relieved - if he felt like doing that then he wasn't truly bad off - she smiled and lightly slapped his face before she positioned her hands, gathering chakra into them. "You can get fresh with me later." She winked at his mock-crestfallen expression, watching the chakra swirl beneath her palms, concentrating.
"Sakura…"
Yes, yes, she knew but she had to do this first. Naruto had to be out of danger before she could think about anything else. That Kyuubi demon was something else, she thought. There wasn't much else she could do except accelerate what was already in progress. The healing completed she lifted her hands and got off him. She moved on to check his companion, ignoring how Naruto scrambled to sit up even though she'd just chided him a second ago not to move.
Sasuke-kun… Her hand automatically went to his neck to check his pulse, then to his hands (it was in her field experience when a person was dying, their hands went cold first). She put her ear to his chest and listened. Sighing through her mouth, she sat up and put a hand out to hover over the length of his body, chakra laced around her hand to wrist. As she did this quietly, she let her eyes take in his features. Heh. He had never given up that spiky hairstyle she was amused to note though it was longer than she remembered it. His elegant face retained its boyishness, making him look younger than he was. But there was nothing boyish about the rest of him… she blushed faintly. He was definitely all grown up - and as forever suspected - no secret fantasies did justice to the real thing. Enlivened by a momentary curiosity, she pulled down the fabric around his collarbone.
It was enough answer for her. If Orochimaru's body was the ellipses, this was the punctuation mark.
It made her want to shout at the heavens and laugh like the young girl she no longer was. Instead she let her hand fall to rest on her leg. She breathed in once and exhaled slowly. "I think he'll make it," she reported softly. "His body is just in shock, probably from the Cursed Seal leaving it so suddenly." She glanced at him. "I assume this happened after Orochimaru's death?"
Naruto absently rubbed at his healed chest, never removing his gaze from his unconscious comrade. "Not right away…Yeah." He drew the back of his hand across his mouth to wipe away the residual blood. Heavily he leaned against Sakura's side. Only in front of her was he willing to look deadbeat and tired out. "Where'd you come from?" he said, their heads close. "You come out here by yourself?"
"No. Hokage-sama sent out another team to assist when the shadow team reported how bad things had gotten here. But by the time we got here, there wasn't much left to do. The enemy has mostly retreated and now with Orochimaru dead… I think we can expect that it's over with." Feeling weak, she turned her face into his shoulder. "I was so scared when I heard," she added in a soft whisper.
"Sakura-chan, you don't…"
"I do, okay? I can't help it."
Naruto smiled. Pause. "What's up with the head rag? You tryin' to be a pirate or something?"
For the light jest, she elbowed him hard, not minding his bruises.
He watched her reach out and gently move aside the hair around Sasuke's eyes, smoothing it back away from his face. Gradually she allowed her fingertips to glide over his cheek. Her thumb lingered over his chin, lightly stroking back and forth. When he finally looked at her face, he was surprised by what he saw. Sakura was smiling with that small, gentle smile he remembered she had only aimed at Sasuke during their Genin days. He realized he missed seeing it on her… even for all that it implied.
"Will he wake?" he ventured quietly, not sure why he was speaking so softly.
Taking her hand away, Sakura shook her head. "I want to say yes but for this… we'll have to wait and see."
Wait and see. Kami knew how used he was to that! Just because he had to, Naruto leaned over his friend and shouted two inches from his face: "ANO SA!" Sasuke did not respond. Deflated Naruto sat back on his heels and exhaled.
"That was… unnecessary."
Smartass grin. "I know."
She smacked the back of his head. He grinned again and Sakura laughed.
They needed to get back to the others. Exchanging glances and nods, they each took an arm, hoisted and balanced their unconscious comrade between them. After getting used to the extra weight, they took off into the trees.
"He sure is heavy, isn't he?" Sakura gently remarked, a light teasing smile stretching her lips.
"Ne, he is. But no one's heavier than you." Devilish wink. "And I'm not going to accept that 'but I was pregnant!' excuse this time." A frosty glare shot his way made his grin grow even wider. "Don't think that's going to work on me anymore, Sakura-chan. I'm immune."
"Immune huh?" An evil smirk on a pink-haired framed face was a scary sight indeed. "Wait till we get back. You'll be be feeling it everywhere until you die. In fact you may be dead before sundown." Mock glance around. "Oh look, it is sundown! How nice for me."
"Meh. Bring it on."
"NA-RU-TO!" she growled, doubly shocked at his unusual bravado. She'd heard of battle making men amorous but she'd never quite expected it to make Naruto, of all people, into a cocky idiot. Okay, a cockier idiot but… Sakura smiled. She was willing to let it slide this time. This was one man who had definitely earned his bragging rights.