Hey there everyone, and welcome to the next chapter of Darkness Rejected. Y'know this might not be my most popular story just by numbers, but it's definitely one that I still enjoy writing a great deal. When last we left off, we saw a brief glimpse of the Akatsuki's initial meeting as well as an update on where Team Seven is at mission wise. I know the Land of Greens might not seem like the most exciting of locales, but I figured this would be a nice pre-game mission to get the guys fully back on the same page. They need it after all they've gone through lately.
Chapter 3: It's A Start
If there was one thing that could be said for the Land of Greens, it's that it was truly a beautiful place. The rolling hills and vast forests that dotted the landscape along with the massive farms that were run in between the larger towns made for a setting straight of a painting, though it was hard to enjoy it when you were constantly feeling the need to glance over your shoulder. After the convoy they were escorting had eaten their meal and gotten packed back up, they continued along the preassigned path that they'd presented in their report to Lady Tsunade. Something seemed off though. In their request, the merchant leader had made it clear that their people were most often attacked between the towns of Kuroyuri and Higanbana. The stretch of road between these two spots was long and winding, and few patrols of any sort of authorities meant that it was an ideal time frame to launch an attack. It made the most sense from a tactical perspective. So where were they? By Sasuke's estimation, though Sakura had the map, and he wasn't keen to bother her for it right now so it's not like he could check, they must be nearly a third of the way done with the route and they hadn't detected any issues.
It wasn't that he necessarily WANTED some sort of fight to break out. The last few days had been hectic to put it kindly, and he wasn't going to complain about a quiet mission if this was actually going to go this smooth. But if he'd learned anything from his time with squad seven, it was that their luck hardly ever held that strong for very long. And Sasuke just couldn't shake this feeling that they should've seen some sort of resistance by this point.
It couldn't be simply because the merchants now had shinobi with them, could it? Why would that make a difference? Sure, if they were affiliated with a great village that would be a good explanation. Nobody wanted to risk an incident between the hidden villages If it could be helped. According to the clients, however, the bandits were led by rogue ninjas. So that was out. They had no reason to be staying their hand because of political reasons. And a pack of genin shouldn't have been a worry either, even with Kakashi there. Jounin were an issue to be sure, but a single ninja even close to Kakashi's level could've kept him occupied and he, Naruto and Sakura would have to make do on their own. So, either they got incredibly lucky, and the bandits weren't around, which considering their luck over their time together didn't seem all that likely…or their enemy were tailing them even now, waiting for an opportune moment to strike out at them.
Sasuke stepped his pace up and came to walk beside Naruto, who glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. "What's up, Sasuke?"
"I think we might be walking into a trap." Naruto's eyes widened a bit as Sasuke laid out his reasons why he believed it, and Naruto bit his bottom lip for a moment as he considered it himself. "Look, all I know is something isn't right."
And Sasuke was more correct than he even realized. In reality, they'd been trailed by a small group of shinobi hunters that were working for the bandit clan pretty much from their outset. These rogues, aided by their chakra suppression, and led by Ravi Katsumoto, a former jounin of the Hidden Grass were the ones who zeroed in on targets and, depending on the amount of expected resistance, either carried out attacks or fell back temporarily to gather the appropriate forces to do so. This was a rarity, however. They'd been operating with relative impunity for weeks, and only one time had there been a case where they'd needed more force brought to bear than what Ravi's unit could bring down on someone. A group of samurai from the Land of Iron. And even then, with their greater numbers, it hadn't been too great of an issue, their only losses being a couple newbie's that were easily replaced. Right around the time Sasuke was starting to grow uneasy, they'd taken up their spots along their favorite ambush sight. A small stretch of trees on one side, a sloped hill on the other, hemming them in on both sides. "Looks like our intel was off, boss. The merchants went and hired some shinobi guards after all," said Toria, their head scout. "Honestly, what a pain. I was hoping for an easy day for once," he sighed dramatically.
"Oh, spare me. You are so lazy," said his partner, Yomi. "It still won't be too much of a challenge. Three of them are brats, and the tall one doesn't seem like anything special."
"Never underestimate your opponent. Any shinobi can be dangerous, and it appears one of those 'brats' is of the Uchiha clan, going from the symbol on the back of his shirt," Ravi said in his deep, gravelly voice, purple eyes flicking from side to side like a predator at rest, preparing to strike. "I can see why they sprang for the extra muscle, though. This convoy is a lot bigger than some of their other ones we've encountered. Just means that there's more to steal though, he said. "Yomi. Take out the Uchiha boy first," he said. Yomi smirked, pulled three kunai from his pouch, and took aim.
"With pleasure, sir."
Unaware of any of this, Naruto finished listening to Sasuke's reasoning and finally nodded. "Yeah. I think your probably right," he said softly. "Well…let's see what Kakashi-Sensei wants to do. Maybe we should stop the convoy and- "Naruto never got an opportunity to finish whatever his thought was. As he stepped across Sasuke on the path, he also stepped directly in the line of fire without even realizing it. In a heartbeat, the phantom threat that Sasuke believed to be there roared into life from the trees to their left. Three kunai lodged themselves into Naruto's back, sending him face-first into the dirt with a cry of pain. Time seemed to slow for a moment as Sasuke's sharingan flared to life. He moved in front of his wounded friend and knocked away the next barrage of kunai that came for him. Kakashi had moved into action as well, his headband raised, single sharingan eye also igniting.
"Naruto!" Sakura cried, running to him, and kneeling to his side, her hand trembling a bit as she tried to tend to him. Naruto let out a small groan as she moved him slightly and she froze. She wanted to get the kunai out, but they were wedged into his back rather deep, and if they had plugged a vital blood vessel, removing them might very well be the worst thing she could do without access to some serious medical gear. Sakura cursed the timing of this in her mind. In the brief interlude with Sasuke returning and when they'd been allowed on missions again, she had approached the Hokage to learn some medical ninjutsu, but they had only had one session before this mission was granted to them, so all she had was limited to the few medical materials she'd managed to squeeze in. If only she'd had more time to-she shook her head. She couldn't get distracted. Focus, she scolded herself. "You're going to be okay, Naruto, just stay with me, alright?" she said softly. Naruto tried to grumble a reply, but it was weak.
Taking their stances, Kakashi and Sasuke both could see the same thing. Six chakra signatures of enemy ninja, arranged in a circular formation. The one in the back of the crowd had a particularly heavy radiating nature to his chakra, and Kakashi gathered he was likely the leader. Sasuke's teeth grit a little seeing this. As a ninja, ambush may be an acceptable tactic, even an expected one, but being on the receiving end of one never felt good. And as much as he hated to admit it, Naruto being the first down put them in a rough spot.
"Sasuke," Kakashi said. Sasuke turned and he saw Kakashi appeared to be smiling, just a bit. "Take a breath. Their waiting for our counterattack before they try anything else. We only get one, so let's not waste it," he said. Sasuke did as he was told, and his eyes flashed as his focus was sharply recentered. Fine. They wanted to hide in the trees? Well, he just needed to flush them into the open. Upon seeing Sasuke form the tiger seal, he knew what was coming, and Kakashi made one of his own. One fireball was good, two was all the better. As Sakura, with the help of some of the merchants, moved Naruto to one of the carts and out of direct harms way, the twin fireballs from Kakashi and Sasuke swept through the trees, and their opponents leapt out into the open. Kakashi wasted no time. Before they'd even landed, he had his Chidori screaming into existence and one of their number were cut down before anyone knew what was happening. Kakashi wasn't messing around right now. He might outwardly show it much, but he was furious that one of his students had been harmed by the ambush. As Ravi took in the sight of his deceased comrade, his frown deepened.
"Two Uchiha…this is even more of an issue than I anticipated. It doesn't help matters that you botched the attack on the smaller one, Yomi," he growled.
"Not my fault that loudmouth brat in the orange stepped in front of the attack. I was dead on the money! Just…happened to hit the wrong person on accident." Sasuke's eyes widened a bit, glancing over his shoulder at Naruto who was still out of it, Sakura calling for any kind of medical supplies they might have had. So…those knives had been meant for him, and Naruto had been hurt as collateral damage. Knowing it wasn't a conscious sacrifice didn't help the guilt. He'd promised to be a better teammate and make it up to his friends, and yet once again, him being who he was had caused pain to them. His eyes narrowed in, and a growl rumbled in his throat as his eyes locked onto the ninja before them. They were going to live to regret this. "Oh dear, I think we may have angered the little boy," Yomi mocked. "Is this the first time one of your comrades has been hurt because of your own lack of awareness? Get used to it kid," he said. Sasuke had to take another deep breath to try and center himself again, the curse on his neck burning a bit as it fought against the seal to release itself. He beat it back, however. He'd not resort to that power again if he could help it. A quick exchanged glance with Kakashi, who nodded, and they attacked.
The one that Kakashi had killed almost instantly must not have been that well trained. Because Sasuke could tell after a few traded blows with the man named Yomi that the gap was considerable. The man was big, physically, and his taijutsu might've given Lee's a run for his money. Still, his size could be turned into a liability and once Sasuke got a handle on his style by reading his movements, his faster speed allowed him to force him backwards and on the defensive. After a hard kick to the jaw, Yomi spat out a glob of blood from his broken tooth and growled. "Little punk! Fire Style: Flame Wheel!" a rapidly spinning burst of flame hurtled towards Sasuke and though he managed to mostly dodge it, he felt his shoulder singed by the backdraft. Kakashi looked up, his kunai clashing with his own opponent. 'Come on Sasuke…you can do it!' he thought, breaking the clash and knocking the man away with the back of his fist. Ravi finally stepped in then, his short sword nearly clipping Kakashi in the head, but just missing by a hair. Sasuke landed, holding his burnt shoulder with a wince before facing Yomi again. "You got some guts, kid. Too bad I'm gonna have to rip them out of ya!" Sasuke's teeth grit and he formed three rapid hand signs.
"Come try it!" he challenged. Yomi bolted towards him.
"With pleasure! Fire Style: Pyro Fist!" Yomi's fist became cloaked with a bluish white flame and Sasuke couldn't help but smirk. Gotcha. Sasuke's hand sparked with his Chidori, and he rushed to meet the charge. Yomi was a fierce, swift man. Against almost any other opponent Sasuke's age, that fire fist would've easily wiped out whoever it was angled at. Too bad Sasuke wasn't like most people his age. Through the sharingan, what would've appeared a blur of motion was playing out in slow motion. When the dust cleared, only the faint chirping of the Chidori could be heard. Yomi, eyes wide, stared down at the hand that had gone through his chest before coughing up a not inconsiderable amount of blood. "N-No way…" he choked out. "B-Beaten by such a…such a little…punk..." he drifted off. As Sasuke's hand withdrew, he fell flat to the ground. A little way away, Kakashi had dealt with another of the unnamed grunts and now he was locked in a two on one with Ravi and Toria. Upon seeing Yomi fall, their battle halted however, Toria's eyes widened in horror then narrowed in rage, his jaw clenching.
"You little BASTARD!" he snarled. He went to make a move towards Sasuke but was restrained by Ravi who leapt back with him. Of the six he'd started with, he only had Toria and one other to work with. These were clearly stronger than your average rookie shinobi squads. "Let me go, Ravi! These bastards killed Yomi, we can't just-"
"We can and will retreat for now. The boss will want to hear about this at any rate." Kakashi's ears perked at this, his eyes meeting Ravi's as the man looked at him. "Enjoy today. For the next time you won't be nearly as fortunate," he said. The three stragglers vanished, as well as the bodies of their comrades. Smart…to not leave behind any sort of evidence. Kakashi pulled his headband down and walked over to Sasuke. He nodded towards his shoulder, but Sasuke brushed it off. Superficial injury for the most part. Naruto was their chief concern right now. They walked over to the back of the cart that Sakura had pulled him to, and their worry deepened. They'd removed the kunai and used what bandages they had available to staunch the bleeding, but Naruto had passed out fully by now, and his skin was starting to pale.
"How is he, Sakura?" Kakashi asked. Sakura, her features twisted into a worried grimace shook her head.
"Not good. I think those kunai might have had some sort of toxin on them. He's starting to develop a fever, and well…you see the way his skin is changing," she said softly. She reached up and lightly brushed some of the hair away from Naruto's sweat-soaked forehead, sighing softly. "You reckless moron…you just live to give me a heart attack, I swear," she whispered, though there was almost no bite to her words at all. Sasuke could tell she was worried sick. Naruto hadn't been out of the hospital very long, and now this.
"Can we counteract the poison?" Sasuke asked.
"If we knew what kind it was. We don't have any way of finding that out here on the road, though. We need to get to Higanbana and see if their medics can figure it out," she said. Kakashi nodded, heading to the leader of the convoy to get them moving again, and to double time it. As they got underway again, Sasuke settled into a sitting position, not wanting to be too far away in case Sakura needed some sort of assistance. "You really don't have to be back here, you know. I can watch him, and I'm sure Kakashi-Sensei would appreciate the second pair of eyes," she said. Sasuke shook his head.
"I'm staying." Sakura sighed in frustration, but didn't argue further, her attention returning to Naruto. They sat in silence like this for a bit before Sasuke spoke again. "He'll be fine, you know. He's way too stubborn to let this be the thing that takes him out," he said. He saw Sakura's lips twitch into a very slight smile despite herself. "He'd probably say something like 'The future Hokage doesn't die from a few lousy kunai' or something like that. Maybe the words would be slightly different, but Hokage would be in there for sure. He's got a one-track mind at the best of times. Sakura laughed softly at that, little flashes of the countless number of times they'd both heard Naruto boast about that goal of his. Sasuke chuckled along with her, and, for a moment, things felt…okay for the first time since he came back. "Sakura…listen. I know things have been…odd lately," he began
"You don't need to say it. I've been being unfair to you. I know you regret what you did and…I'm sorry, for how I've been," she said. Sasuke's eyes widened a bit before he shook his head.
"Please don't apologize to me, Sakura. You had every right to hate me for what I did…or at the very least I would've expected you to hate me. I think some silent treatment and you not wanting to be around me for too long is the better of those two options. It's more lenient than I probably deserved," he said with a sigh. Sakura looked up, meeting his eyes for a moment before turning back to Naruto, replacing the cool cloth on his forehead. "But I think we both agree that we can't keep going like this if we intend to keep this team together," he said. Sakura nodded.
"I know, okay? It's just…I don't know, Sasuke. For so long, it was like you could never do anything wrong in my eyes. I wanted nothing more than for you to…acknowledge me and want me in the same way that I wanted you, and I went out of my way to try and show off as much as I possibly could to try and get that to happen. Then when things…changed right before you left, it just felt like an important part of who I was…slipping away I suppose. I was desperate to keep you around, without really registering why you felt like you couldn't. I think I realized something after that night…this whole 'thing' I thought we might be able to have? I was just…deluding myself. I don't think you ever could really return that sort of feeling towards me…could you?" Their eyes met and he shook his head slowly.
"I care about you, Sakura. I do. But…as a friend and a comrade. Nothing more." Sakura's smile shifted to a sadder one, but she nodded.
"And I accept that...or I will, eventually. Then… with everything that happened between you and Naruto in that valley…I didn't know where to even begin." She said, sighing heavily. "It was easier to be angry. It's a simple emotion. A lot less complex than the rest of what I could've felt" Sasuke nodded. That was something he knew a lot about. He considered her words for a few minutes before looking up, drumming his fingers against his leg.
"You don't need me to acknowledge you, Sakura. I think this path your committed to, to become a medical ninja is something that you can take pride in. You have a clear idea of what you want and how you're going to go about getting it…and so does Naruto. Really, I was the one lost on that for a long time. I always wanted to avenge my clan and defeat my brother, but I never knew how to achieve that goal, and when we all started getting closer as a team, I was afraid. Afraid that if my loyalty to you ever caused you to become targets and I wasn't strong enough to stop it…I'd never forgive myself. Then, when my brother did what he did, instead of reaching out for you two, I pushed you away, or at least tried to. I can blame the curse mark all I want, but a lot of it was on my shoulders. I thought my care for you was what stifled my power. But I was wrong. Too clouded by jealousy to see that Naruto got so strong so fast because of that bond. I want to grow that bond again, not just for me, but to show I'm genuine in saying I want to be here. Focusing only on revenge, where I'd have to throw you all away...it's not a road I ever want to go down. I see nothing but darkness ahead if I do. So…come what will, I'm going to be here for you guys. Like I should've been all along," he said. When he looked up again, he saw tears shimmering in Sakura's eyes, yet she was still smiling.
"Good…that's all I needed to hear," she said softly, wiping the tears away. Sasuke smiled back.
"So…think we've cleared the air?" he asked softly.
"Well…it's definitely a start. You better just put your money where your mouth is, Sasuke, because I'm going to hold you to all that." Sasuke chuckled at that and held his fist out slowly like he usually would for Naruto. Sakura's eyes widened a bit, but she smiled a bit more and bumped her fist against his.
"You wouldn't be Sakura if you didn't hold me to it…so it's a deal."
Chapter 3 is finally finished. Holy ever-loving hell, this took me way too long, and I apologize from the bottom of my heart. So! I think y'all might like a little something I have in mind for the new third story in my rotation. It's not ready to be written yet, but if you like what-if fics, you'll love it I'm sure. So…if you guys could leave a review, It'd mean a lot to me, and I'll be back at you before you know it with more Darkness Rejected.
Till next time,
-Elise
