"Foolish Hearts"
'Chapter Twenty-nine'
Sasuke slowly started to feel the prick of consciousness.
He groaned shifting but he found he could barely move. His dark eyes snapped open, taking in the dimly lit room, the fear and uncertainty in his eyes evident.
His wrists and ankles were bound; he was laying on something soft…a bed maybe? He wasn't sure. He tilted his head this way and that but he found he couldn't make out much in the dark space around him.
There was only a single candle in the far corner of the room.
The Uchiha noticed he was wearing a white linen robe and his own exposed chest/arms/and legs had weird black kanji written on them.
He frowned; his heart beat wildly in his chest as his confused childish mind tried it's best to figure out the situation.
Naruto…
Where was Naruto?
Orochimaru slowly walked out of the corner of the bedroom. His predatory smirk on his lips, "Good evening, Sasuke-kun." He purred. He moved closer to the bed, so he could sit on its edge, his golden eyes gazing down at Sasuke's confused orbs. Reaching out, he moved his pale fingers through the child's dark hair, before they rested on his cheek. "I've missed you."
Sasuke's wide dark eyes looked to Orochimaru -- flinching from the feel of his hand on his cheek, trying to move himself away.
His mind hurt…
His body felt cold…
He clenched his eyes shut tight, not understanding the coming pressure in the back of his mind.
Naruto!
Sasuke tried to move; but the bindings were tight, he couldn't gain any leverage.
…he was at the mercy of Orochimaru.
Orochimaru chuckled gently and slowly trailed his hand down Sasuke's cheek. His nails carefully trailed down the man's jaw, before he moved them over Sasuke's neck. "You look so scared." He smirked, "Are you scared of me, Sasuke-kun?" He leaned over the man, lips brushing against Sasuke's ear.
Sasuke's dark eyes snapped open at the feeling of lips on his ear; the sound of his sinister voice filling his conscious.
It felt like his mind was breaking…
Being shattered to pieces.
Sasuke's wide eyes fell on Orochimaru's profile, his breathing uneven as he tried uselessly to tug against his bindings. "Don't touch me!" Sasuke yelled in a futile attempt to get the man to go away -- unsure why his body felt so strange, why his head started hurting so bad.
He wanted it all to stop!
Go away!
Orochimaru chuckled and slowly trailed his lips down to Sasuke's neck, "Ooo, my poor child." He purred out, his tongue flicking out to brush against Sasuke's skin. "There's nothing to be afraid of." He reassured as his hand continued to move further down Sasuke's body, dancing over the kanji writing. "We used to do this all the time…" He purred as his fingers hovered over Sasuke's obi belt. "...don't you remember?"
Gods..
No…
His mind burned; it was screaming.
Everything fell on him in that moment; everything rushing back in a torrent of memories, emotions -- everything flooding his mind and causing him to scream.
Sasuke's breathing was uneven, his body tense as those cold horrible fingers trailed over him.
It was hard to comprehend.
Hard to piece together the then and the now.
Sasuke didn't understand reality from dreams or nightmares -- he just didn't have the stable mind at the moment; his bright red eyes focusing solely on the bastard that was touching him.
"Get the fuck away from me!" The Uchiha snarled, his muscles tight under his pale flesh, his expression dangerous despite the horrible position he was in.
Konoha…
Naruto…
Was that real?
Orochimaru leaned away from Sasuke and gazed down at the suddenly ruby eyes. He stared at him almost curiously for a moment before he started to tilt his head, a smirk on his lips. "What's this..?" Orochimaru moved his hands away from Sasuke's waist, resting it on Sasuke's chest. "Do you remember something..?"
Sasuke wasn't sure…
Had he forgotten?
Sasuke could vaguely recall Naruto -- just like still pictures in his mind.
The gates…
Blood, pain, anger.
Love, sadness, regret.
It was weird.
His mind was being pulled in so many directions Sasuke didn't know where to begin. The Uchiha still wasn't even sure if that had been real; had he been dreaming?
He remembered the council…
Shikamaru…
But the words were jumbled, some were missing, other times the pictures just didn't have sound at all.
Despite his flood of newfound memories the Uchiha was still as confused as ever. Sasuke was glaring intently at Orochimaru's amused gold eyes.
...he knew this place, this room, that man.
It was a horrible real-nightmare.
Sasuke kept his snarling frown, his red eyes betraying nothing as he wordlessly challenged the snake-bastard to try something more.
Orochimaru could see the recognition in those dark eyes and he chuckled. "Seems like you remember enough." He rested his hand on the other side of Sasuke's head leaning over him. "Or do you still need some reminding..?" He purred his lips moving back down to Sasuke's neck, his tongue flicking over the two small pin-pricks left from the snake.
Shit!
Shit! Shit! Shit!
Sasuke's body was taut under the man, trying his best not to jerk away, not to show weakness despite his budding fear.
God…
That tongue on his neck sent an unpleasant shiver down his spine. He kept his glare on Orochimaru but the sweat started to form on his palms; he didn't want what was coming next.
--
Naruto sighed heavily as he pushed the door to his house open.
It was so quiet.
Slipping his shoes off, the fox rubbed the back of his neck, was the Uchiha up yet?
He looked to the clock, it was almost noon...
Huh…
He padded down the hall towards the bedrooms and caught sight of Sasuke's door open…so he was up.
Blinking, the fox felt his brows furrow, before he started towards his own room, but his door was still closed.
"Sasuke?" He called out when he found no lump under the blankets. Pushing the sliding window open Naruto stared out into the garden, was he climbing trees again--
Kyuubi?
Naruto, his mind focused on the fallen stuffed animal in the circle of flowers, climbed out of the window and started towards the garden.
"Sasuke!"
Was this the child's idea of a joke!
Jogging to the flowers, Naruto noticed they were destroyed in some spots, as if someone had walked right through them, but Sasuke would never do that.
Kneeling down he slowly picked up the Kyuubi; Sasuke never went anywhere without it.
"Sasuke!" Standing he looked around the garden wildly, his heart starting to race as dread ran through him, "Damn it! Answer me!"
Help, he needed help!
He ran from the circle pushing the gate door open and sprinted out into the street, he needed to get Shikamaru!
Shikamaru looked up as the door to his office was flung open. His brow furrowed at the wild look in Naruto's eyes and the dirty stuffed toy clenched in his fist.
"…Naruto?" Shikamaru drawled, not entirely understanding the situation but he knew it required some sort of urgency.
…was something wrong with Sasuke?
"He's gone!" He breathed heavily as he moved further into the room. "They took him Shika!" Naruto moved towards his friend, so lost and unsure of what to do.
Shikamaru was out of his seat in a moment, at Naruto's aid, his hands on the blonde's shoulders as he tried to stabilize the Hokage-sama. "Who took him?"
The council?
Shikamaru brown eyes searched Naruto's pained blue orbs, trying to get a grasp on what happened before he called in the Anbu to start a thorough search.
"The council -- Asaia!" He shook his head. "They said something -- and I went home and he was gone!" He moved the Kyuubi up so Shikamaru could see the doll. "He doesn't go anywhere without it!" He all but yelled.
Shikamaru frowned slightly, "…okay, okay."
Kyuubi doll?
Council?
Asaia?
This was difficult because Shikamaru was out of the loop.
"Call the Anbu, we'll start a combing of the area." Shikamaru said in a serious tone, "Asaia might have just taken him out for some reason, or maybe they've decided on something else entirely and just didn't want to tell you." Shikamaru ran a hand through his hair, trying to catch his thoughts, "This just keeps getting better…"
Naruto nodded, "You get local teams set up. You, me, Shino, Kiba and Neji are going straight from my place, see if we can't see or pick up a scent there." He held the kyuubi close to him, as if him trying to hide it would bring Sasuke out from somewhere to take it back.
Please, please let him be okay…
Sasuke...
Naruto let out a long sigh and rubbed his forehead.
"...Bring them to the backyard." He instructed before he started out of Shikamaru's office and towards his own.
Closing the door he moved over to the small closet, and reluctantly set the Kyuubi on his desk before he opened the door and pulled out the Anbu uniform and the new mask -- a fox. Sighing, he set it down next to the plushie doll and easily started to dress. He'd wait for them at the circle.
--
It only took about ten minutes to gather the group Naruto had instructed for. The whole team clad in custom Anbu uniforms, masks already in place.
"This is a search and rescue." Shikamaru said in his custom drawl though the situation was dire. "Asaia-san is missing, and it's suspected he's taken Sasuke."
Kiba nodded, glancing to Neji who remained motionless on the other side of the shadow-user. All eyes turned to Naruto's back, the fox staring off into the forest and he had yet to say a word.
"Got it?" Shikamaru said in a commanding tone, the duo next to him nodded.
Naruto had a simple black backpack on his back. Simple bandages and some water and anti venom was there, he knew Asaia had Sasuke, and he couldn't imagine what would happen, he didn't want to…
He looked back over to Kiba, Neji and Shino.
"Kiba, see if you can't find a scent. Neji see if you can see them within a seventy mile radius. Shino," He paused looking at his last friend, "Do your bug thing."
--
They had been searching for hours.
Kiba had caught a scent closer to Naruto's home, but the further out they went it seemed to just vanish.
…they had no more leads.
Nothing.
Neji, Shino, and Kiba were stationed in the trees on the edge of Naruto's property; trying to catch anything they could just in case they missed something.
Naruto was at the edge of the river, Shikamaru at his back.
The lazy ninja had his hands in his pockets, mask skewed on his head and his concerned brown eyes on the blonde.
"We'll find him…" He offered, but he didn't know how long that would be. Shikamaru had no idea where Sasuke could even be, or what was even happening to the blonde's lover at this moment. He let out a quiet sigh, looking to the uncaring stream as it bubbled and gurgled before them.
Naruto's eyes were gazing up river, he couldn't figure out why he kept looking that way. "We have no leads." Naruto murmured looking over to his shoulder to his friend. "They haven't found anything?" He asked quietly, he had a small urge to reach for the Kyuubi doll.
"Not yet." Shikamaru said reluctantly, "It's just...like they vanished."
This wasn't entirely impossible.
Some jutsu could easily mask people; make them almost invisible or transport them from areas entirely.
Shikamaru wished he had something more to say to the Hokage-sama.
The sun was getting low in the sky, the dark oranges and yellows splashed across the expanse of landscape before them.
Naruto let out slow sigh and nodded once more. "Call the local search off..." He murmured before he started walking forward. "Watch the office." Naruto added over his shoulder, "I'm going north."
Shikamaru looked to Naruto as the kitsune started walking North. The brunette wanted to say something; but he refrained.
"Be careful." With that the ninja leapt from the ground into the trees, intent to disband the search party and head back to the office.
--
A/N:
Finally updated! Sorry it took forever; please leave a review and the next chapter should be up a lot sooner. Thanks for all the support so far in this story.
