Title: The Broken Jail Bird (Chapter 2)
Author: Mako
Email: Shastafuji AT mindspring . com
Talk to me if you want it anywhere
Pairing: KakaIru, SasuNaru
Genre: Crazy AU XD Romance...strangeness oO;
WARNINGS: Yaoi. Yeehaw. Don't know what yaoi is, then I suggest you leave :3 Also, beware for a bit of OOC-ness n.n;; please forgive n.n;
Comments: Oh this'll be interesting :P
Dedicated to: my bud Carolyn, who got me into Naruto and KakaIru in the first place XD and Lohe, who also got me into Naruto =3 Hope ya all like n.n;
Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me but to Masashi Kishimoto, the wonder that he is XD And though Naruto doesn't belong to me, the happenings in this fic do belong to me :P meaning the plot and Hazelwood are mine, so back off XD
Special thanks goes to Pastles, who helped me edit this fic :3
Remember that this is an AU. These are the same people you know and love, but they are set in a different world, with different twists on their abilities and characteristics =3 Let's say it's set in something like the wilderness of Western America, kind of mixed together with a bit of the Scottish Highlands or something oO;; Imagination. That's what you all need. There's also not really a time setting for it n.n;;;; yes, there are striped jail uniforms, and snipers, in the same story. Deal with it :P
' ' = thoughts, " " = speech (obviously)
And now.... On with the fic. Please do enjoy. (Here's hoping that the first chapter wasn't just beginner's luck…xD)
Chapter finished: 8/1/04, posted on 8/7/04
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"And whisper broken symphonies
As I feel my heart exploding gently in me..."
- "Everglow", by FAKE?
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The sunlight was warm upon his pale, chilled skin, the air soft. All around him, the birds sang quite loudly, making the air seem thick with noise. The sweet smell of flowers filled his nose, as well as a hint of something lightly charred. Sasuke groaned, and rolled to his side. The burnt smell was still there, strangely mixed together with the pleasant smell of jasmine and honeysuckle. A sharp pain shot up his shoulder as he turned onto his side, jolting the raven-haired boy into the land of wakefulness.
"Hello!"
Sasuke's heart nearly jumped out of his mouth at the loud, happy sounding voice. Such did it make him jump up in bed, back braced (very much like Kakashi was earlier) against the headboard of the old bed he was resting in.
Every nerve in his body was on fire, ready to strike, as he looked for the intruder on his peaceful slumber. Quickly noting that he was in a dusty, sun-filled old wooden room, Sasuke found the source of his wakeful-bane. And it was grinning in quite an intimidating way.
"So Sleeping Beauty's woken up!" the loud, happy voice resounded through the room, vexing the already irritated ebony haired boy. He shot an ice-filled glare straight at the other boy, still on edge in the unknown surroundings. One could never be too ready for an attack in a foreign place.
"Who the hell are you?" he growled out, feeling his wounded shoulder carefully, eyes not leaving the other. The figure in front of him looked about his age, with bright, sun kissed blond hair and a pair of most vividly blue blinkers Sasuke had ever rested his eyes upon. On each side of the boy's face were three whisker-like scars, and from the smile Sasuke noticed the two longer-than-usual canines. Sasuke realized that the smell of something burnt and the slight smell of flowers was coming from this boy. This boy, Sasuke deducted, was the total polar opposite of him. Great.
"Idiot, I'm the wondrous Naruto. You're Sasuke, right?" the blonde's grin grew, trying to be nice and friendly with the stranger into his house. Really, he didn't care about the quiet pretty boy that was resting in /his/ bed, but if he didn't at least /try/ to be nice to the stranger, Iruka-sensei would get pissed at him.
"...yeah. Where am I?" Sasuke frowned, glancing warily around the room, before fixing Naruto with a chilled glare. He recognized the happily oblivious face before him from the criminal records back at home. The thought struck him that he could possibly bring this miscretin back with him, back home to where the boy would be thrown back into jail, "Never mind. I don't want to know."
Naruto quirked an eyebrow at Sasuke's change of mind, then shrugged. "Whatever. How'd you get shot?"
Sasuke looked down at his shoulder as if just remembering that it was wounded. The neatly done bandages were slowly melding together with the open wound, and Sasuke knew that that would hurt when it was taken off. He wasn't looking forward to it.
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Not many things could shock Kakashi, not since his best childhood friend had started wearing blindingly green, skin-tight bodysuits. That friend had turned into a world-class, though distinctly /weird/, thief with him. But when the young man sitting peacefully in front of him, with an expression that gave the impersonation that he didn't have a care in the world except finding out the exact amount of sugar to put into cookies to give out as gifts to the little kids down the street, said he was a /wanted/ man, Kakashi wasn't just shocked, he was also rather confused.
"What's the matter?" Iruka asked, noticing Kakashi's surprise, as he leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees, his chin resting in his hands.
"'Wanted'? You?" Kakashi sputtered, staring at Iruka. Somehow, that seemed wrong.
Iruka huffed, "What, don't look 'bad ass' enough for you?" Kakashi quirked an eyebrow, "You really want to know?"
The thief nodded, feeling a small scratch on his shoulder gently with his fingers.
"If you keep touching that, it's going to get infected," Iruka's voice was low, cold, and Kakashi quickly put his hand down. Iruka smiled again, "Well, there's a huge village outside of Hazelwood, across one very turbulent river, called Ditura."
"'Ditura'? Never heard of that place..." Kakashi was even more confused. He'd been around the world and prided himself in knowing of all the different cities and countries. 'Ditura' had never popped up.
Iruka smiled again, "You probably haven't heard of it. It's normally just called Fox Glove."
Ah yes, Fox Glove. Kakashi remembered quite well the first time he had ever wandered/robbed that city and how strange of a name he had thought it. He had never heard of it being called a town, though, "Why do you call it 'Ditura'?"
"That's the name I was taught to call it. That's where Naruto came from. You've heard of a place called Peyote (1), right?" Kakashi nodded, curiosity piqued.
Iruka cast a glance from Kakashi, to the bed he was resting on, then back to his hands, and very quietly asked "Would you mind if I sat next to you on the bed? It's much comfier than this chair..."
Kakashi blinked and moved over, careful to keep his dirty bits covered up with the blankets. Iruka's smile grew, making Kakashi feel like he had just answered a question right and was getting his reward. The silver haired thief soon found the smiling man sitting next to him, back up against the headboard and about a foot between them on the not-so-small bed. Iruka grinned, sitting happily on top of the sheets, before his smile fell and he continued his story.
"I came from a very small, peaceful village called Murtlewood -ever heard of it?" Kakashi nodded. Murtlewood was known for its beauty and peacefulness. It was a joyful town, full of happy, fun loving people and quite a few very nice bars. That town had filled up Kakashi's stomach when he had stumbled upon it one very cold winter night.
"In Murtlewood, I was one of the two teachers there. Simple job, wasn't paid much, but I had a place to sleep at night, food to eat, and friends as well as the responsibility of taking care of the young ones. My childhood is a blurry mess... becoming a teacher was the best thing that ever happened to me, or so I can remember."
Kakashi nodded again, realizing that this was probably why the peaceful man next to him seemed to have schizophrenia at times. 'He must have been a very strict teacher when he lived there...'
"One day, a stranger came from the north to our tiny village. He was a strange fellow, dressed in black from head to toe, and with him came a slave. He said that he'd found the boy in an alleyway, rooting through garbage cans like a common stray. Shortly after they arrived, people started disappearing. The leader of little Murtlewood had the two taken into custody, where we found that they were from Ditu-" a loud crash interrupted Iruka, making the two of them jump, "What was that?"
"Sounded like it came from next door," Kakashi said, rather peeved that the story-time had been interrupted, "Sasuke must have woken up."
"Here, put these on," Iruka ordered, handing Kakashi a pair of pants that he had sneakily been hiding under the bed. Kakashi stared at them, glancing up at the tricky teacher, before doing as told and following the hobbling Iruka.
Outside of his room was a short hallway leading to a small living room/dining room/kitchen get-together, the other way leading to two other rooms, one of which was their destination. He did not know what the other room was, but Kakashi could take a guess that it might be a bathroom. If they had a bathroom… He also figured that they were on the ground floor, as there weren't any stairways to be spotted within the house. Hand on the old wall to keep his balance, Kakashi was led into a room very much like the one he'd woken up in, except that the sheets and blankets had been messed, and the boy who was supposed to be asleep in the bed was missing.
"Naruto, what happened?" Kakashi realized that the blonde fiend from earlier was there as well, hands braced on the windowsill, looking ready to leap through. Iruka sent Naruto a look that easily said: "I know you could have kept him here if you really wanted to. Bad puppy."
Upon hearing Iruka's voice, Naruto turned, looking frantic, "That bastard jumped ship! Flew the coop! He's gone!"
Kakashi leaned against the doorjamb, Iruka on the other side of the doorway, "That idiot Sasuke. He probably thought he could get back home and lead the police down on this little hole. Probably thought he would be accepted back, or something."
"The police?" Iruka parroted, eyes wide.
"But the bastard is hurt! How can he get anywhere?" Naruto asked, turning back to the window and looking out through the darkening forest.
"He's crafty enough, and stubborn enough, to find a way back to the institute," Kakashi sighed, pushing himself off the wall and towards the window where Naruto was standing, "Do you know which way he went?"
Naruto stared quizzically up at the older man, disbelieving that he could do anything to find the raven-haired boy, before pointing down a small trail to the left. Kakashi nodded, before quickly jumping through the window and landing in the soft grass on the other side.
Iruka and Naruto gasped, "You idiot, get back in here! You're hurt and in no shape to be chasing a shadow through a very shadow-y forest!"
Kakashi grinned, "Don't you worry. I'm good at finding shadows. I'll find him and bring him back before he brings the hounds down around your ears. That's what you're worried about, right?"
Iruka nodded slowly, still looking troubled.
"I'll be back soon. Plus, didn't you say that it was going to rain soon? If we wait any longer, the tracks will be washed away," Kakashi teased. Iruka's cheeks dusted with embarrassment, and he all but glowered at the silver-haired thief. Naruto looked up at the clouds, then down at the smiling man, "You better hurry up then! The rain clouds are coming already!"
"Uh huh. Whatever you say," Kakashi snickered, before turning down the path and leaving the two behind. Truth be told, it felt good to be on his feet again, especially when he was tracking someone. He hadn't had to follow someone in such a very long time... He picked up speed, enjoying the feeling of the wind in his hair and on his masked face and was happy to find that his wounded leg wasn't too much of a trouble to him, surprisingly enough. He was also quite pleased to find that the Uchiha was still bad at covering his tracks.
Sasuke hadn't been too hard to find, as the path had led Kakashi straight to the pool and willows, near the entrance to the river. Kakashi about laughed when he found the shadow boy trying to tie a few old pieces of wood together with the whip-like branches of the surrounding willow trees. When Sasuke looked up the river, trying to figure out which way was home, Kakashi did laugh, effectively startling the Uchiha.
Sasuke turned, and glared, standing knee deep in the calm pool of water. Kakashi glared right back, before walking closer. Sasuke was half dressed, his chest bare and his shorts soaked from the river water. The dressing on his shoulder would need changing soon, unless wanted an infection and the possible loss of use of his arm.
"What do you think you're going to do, Uchiha? Paddle up stream? In your shape?" Kakashi started, sitting down on a large boulder, "In case you can't tell, your home is upstream, and quite a long ways upstream at that. It would take you days, maybe even weeks in your condition, to paddle a little raft up the river back home. And then what? What would you do once you got home? If you ever /did/ get back home?"
"Get the guards down here. Do you know who that little blonde boy is?" Sasuke said, challengingly, as he crossed his arms over his bare chest.
Kakashi shook his head, not really caring. Sasuke continued, "Uzumaki! The Uzumaki, the one who killed every single person in that little hell hole Banyan for no reason what so ever! When he was questioned, he said that he didn't remember a thing."
"He got out, didn't he? From the Institute. Just like me," Kakashi grinned, eye cold but rather amused at the turn of events, "What did you do, torture that information out of him?"
"I didn't have anything to do with him," Sasuke snorted, "My father and brother were the ones who caught him sneaking around Peyote, and brought him in for questioning. Supposedly he looked about the age of five or so, but he escaped before they could start with the interview. Still don't know -"
"-how, do ya?" Kakashi interrupted, visible eye dark, "Probably the same way I did. It's easy to make a shadow of yourself in a place full of shadows."
Sasuke glared at Kakashi, his eyes full of well-kept rage, "I'm going home, and when I return, I won't be alone. I'll get everyone down here to flush out two wanted criminals, and I'm sure that the law wants that 'Iruka-sensei' for some illegal happening as well. Then things will go right back to the way they were before."
"Did you forget who shot you, brat?" Kakashi was getting tired of this. His leg had also started to bleed again.
Sasuke remained silent.
"Your wonderful guards were the ones who opened fire on you when they should have been aiming for me. Remember that?" Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Kakashi. The thief continued, "I don't know what the hell is going on with your cheerful little family, and I don't really care, but you should know that if you go back, you will most likely be killed on the spot. Who knows, maybe they'll tell you that your father-dearest sent them to kill you before they empty their guns on you? Or maybe it was your brother?"
Sasuke's gaze fell to the water, where fish were surely dying at the power of his glare.
"So go on. Go home if you really want to. Now that I think of it, I'm not afraid to send you back anymore," Kakashi moved as if to be inspecting his nails, "You'll be dead before you can even tell them that we're down here."
Sasuke moved to push his crudely made raft out into the current, when he faltered. There, sitting on the helm of the craft, were three large, pitch black crows, all staring their beady black eyes at him. Each bird was at least the height of Sasuke's knees, their beaks as long as his index finger, if not longer. The largest one, a tall rook, pecked idly at the branches keeping the wood together, while the other two cackled loudly. The pinion feathers on the tall rook's wings, while mostly black, also had a few random feathers of white throughout the darkness (2).
A soft coughing came from behind them, startling Kakashi as well as Sasuke. Both turned, finding a darkly clad man standing there between the trees, a ways away from Kakashi. His dark brown hair fell limply around his ears, and he had a hand up against his mouth, coughing. Kakashi noted the sunken in eyes and the pale, drawn complexion of the other. He guessed that this was the guy who lived with the crows that Iruka had mentioned earlier, since supposedly no one else lived in the valley.
The other blinked back at them, then looked at where Sasuke was standing half naked in the river, to the three crows, "If you stand there any longer, you're going to get sick."
"Who the hell are you?"
He coughed again, "Hayate," the dark one said, quietly, "And I don't care what you say, silver-head; I do not want this boy to go back to wherever he came from, even if there's the possibility he will be killed on the spot. He is a threat to my freedom here, as well as everyone else who lives in this valley."
The three crows, on hearing their master's voice, ruffled their wings and moved to set themselves on the raven-haired boy in front of them, "Iruka and Naruto are my friends. I can't let you take them away from me."
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To be continued.
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Aheheh. Well, there's the second chapter. Lordy lordy. Now to work on the third chapter :P thank you all for commenting on the first chapter =3 I shall try hard to make this fic work...haven't written anything in a very long time XD;;;
(1) Peyote = hallucinogenic desert plant that can kill you if you take too much of it. Native Americans used it for religious and spiritual practices, until the Imperialistic European Catholics banned it. Now sold on the streets as a recreational drug, though supposedly it is very hard to find /actual/, pure Peyote. A few different types of drugs can pass as Peyote.
(2) I know, I know, crows and ravens are black black black. Pitch black and all that good so such. :P Well, even if you don't believe me, there are a few partially white crows out there. There's one in the murder that lives in my back yard. Mother thinks that it might be from either inbreeding or from scars… but we really don't know o.O;;…. So yes. White Crows do exist XD I'm also sure you really care XD
sorry for makin' Sasuke rather... OOC, I guess o.o;; bleh bleh bleh. Also, about Hayate. Hell, I like the guy. And just so ya know, it's hellish to write someone who isn't really... in the series that much XD;;; forgive me if he is too very OOC ;
also, forgive me if you dislike all of the town names n.n;; they are all types of plants, as you hopefully picked up. Ditura being another name for Fox Glove, Banyan being a giant type of tree, Murtlewood being a sort of tree as well, and Peyote being yet another type of plant. Ditura and Peyote are poisonous, though, while the other two aren't xD and hell, Hazelwood doesn't really exists, so it's kinda hard for it to be deadly XD yeah, this is me being a crazy plant-dork that i sometimes can be XDXD forgive n.n;
C/C please
-Mako
Author: Mako
Email: Shastafuji AT mindspring . com
Talk to me if you want it anywhere
Pairing: KakaIru, SasuNaru
Genre: Crazy AU XD Romance...strangeness oO;
WARNINGS: Yaoi. Yeehaw. Don't know what yaoi is, then I suggest you leave :3 Also, beware for a bit of OOC-ness n.n;; please forgive n.n;
Comments: Oh this'll be interesting :P
Dedicated to: my bud Carolyn, who got me into Naruto and KakaIru in the first place XD and Lohe, who also got me into Naruto =3 Hope ya all like n.n;
Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me but to Masashi Kishimoto, the wonder that he is XD And though Naruto doesn't belong to me, the happenings in this fic do belong to me :P meaning the plot and Hazelwood are mine, so back off XD
Special thanks goes to Pastles, who helped me edit this fic :3
Remember that this is an AU. These are the same people you know and love, but they are set in a different world, with different twists on their abilities and characteristics =3 Let's say it's set in something like the wilderness of Western America, kind of mixed together with a bit of the Scottish Highlands or something oO;; Imagination. That's what you all need. There's also not really a time setting for it n.n;;;; yes, there are striped jail uniforms, and snipers, in the same story. Deal with it :P
' ' = thoughts, " " = speech (obviously)
And now.... On with the fic. Please do enjoy. (Here's hoping that the first chapter wasn't just beginner's luck…xD)
Chapter finished: 8/1/04, posted on 8/7/04
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"And whisper broken symphonies
As I feel my heart exploding gently in me..."
- "Everglow", by FAKE?
----------------------
The sunlight was warm upon his pale, chilled skin, the air soft. All around him, the birds sang quite loudly, making the air seem thick with noise. The sweet smell of flowers filled his nose, as well as a hint of something lightly charred. Sasuke groaned, and rolled to his side. The burnt smell was still there, strangely mixed together with the pleasant smell of jasmine and honeysuckle. A sharp pain shot up his shoulder as he turned onto his side, jolting the raven-haired boy into the land of wakefulness.
"Hello!"
Sasuke's heart nearly jumped out of his mouth at the loud, happy sounding voice. Such did it make him jump up in bed, back braced (very much like Kakashi was earlier) against the headboard of the old bed he was resting in.
Every nerve in his body was on fire, ready to strike, as he looked for the intruder on his peaceful slumber. Quickly noting that he was in a dusty, sun-filled old wooden room, Sasuke found the source of his wakeful-bane. And it was grinning in quite an intimidating way.
"So Sleeping Beauty's woken up!" the loud, happy voice resounded through the room, vexing the already irritated ebony haired boy. He shot an ice-filled glare straight at the other boy, still on edge in the unknown surroundings. One could never be too ready for an attack in a foreign place.
"Who the hell are you?" he growled out, feeling his wounded shoulder carefully, eyes not leaving the other. The figure in front of him looked about his age, with bright, sun kissed blond hair and a pair of most vividly blue blinkers Sasuke had ever rested his eyes upon. On each side of the boy's face were three whisker-like scars, and from the smile Sasuke noticed the two longer-than-usual canines. Sasuke realized that the smell of something burnt and the slight smell of flowers was coming from this boy. This boy, Sasuke deducted, was the total polar opposite of him. Great.
"Idiot, I'm the wondrous Naruto. You're Sasuke, right?" the blonde's grin grew, trying to be nice and friendly with the stranger into his house. Really, he didn't care about the quiet pretty boy that was resting in /his/ bed, but if he didn't at least /try/ to be nice to the stranger, Iruka-sensei would get pissed at him.
"...yeah. Where am I?" Sasuke frowned, glancing warily around the room, before fixing Naruto with a chilled glare. He recognized the happily oblivious face before him from the criminal records back at home. The thought struck him that he could possibly bring this miscretin back with him, back home to where the boy would be thrown back into jail, "Never mind. I don't want to know."
Naruto quirked an eyebrow at Sasuke's change of mind, then shrugged. "Whatever. How'd you get shot?"
Sasuke looked down at his shoulder as if just remembering that it was wounded. The neatly done bandages were slowly melding together with the open wound, and Sasuke knew that that would hurt when it was taken off. He wasn't looking forward to it.
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Not many things could shock Kakashi, not since his best childhood friend had started wearing blindingly green, skin-tight bodysuits. That friend had turned into a world-class, though distinctly /weird/, thief with him. But when the young man sitting peacefully in front of him, with an expression that gave the impersonation that he didn't have a care in the world except finding out the exact amount of sugar to put into cookies to give out as gifts to the little kids down the street, said he was a /wanted/ man, Kakashi wasn't just shocked, he was also rather confused.
"What's the matter?" Iruka asked, noticing Kakashi's surprise, as he leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees, his chin resting in his hands.
"'Wanted'? You?" Kakashi sputtered, staring at Iruka. Somehow, that seemed wrong.
Iruka huffed, "What, don't look 'bad ass' enough for you?" Kakashi quirked an eyebrow, "You really want to know?"
The thief nodded, feeling a small scratch on his shoulder gently with his fingers.
"If you keep touching that, it's going to get infected," Iruka's voice was low, cold, and Kakashi quickly put his hand down. Iruka smiled again, "Well, there's a huge village outside of Hazelwood, across one very turbulent river, called Ditura."
"'Ditura'? Never heard of that place..." Kakashi was even more confused. He'd been around the world and prided himself in knowing of all the different cities and countries. 'Ditura' had never popped up.
Iruka smiled again, "You probably haven't heard of it. It's normally just called Fox Glove."
Ah yes, Fox Glove. Kakashi remembered quite well the first time he had ever wandered/robbed that city and how strange of a name he had thought it. He had never heard of it being called a town, though, "Why do you call it 'Ditura'?"
"That's the name I was taught to call it. That's where Naruto came from. You've heard of a place called Peyote (1), right?" Kakashi nodded, curiosity piqued.
Iruka cast a glance from Kakashi, to the bed he was resting on, then back to his hands, and very quietly asked "Would you mind if I sat next to you on the bed? It's much comfier than this chair..."
Kakashi blinked and moved over, careful to keep his dirty bits covered up with the blankets. Iruka's smile grew, making Kakashi feel like he had just answered a question right and was getting his reward. The silver haired thief soon found the smiling man sitting next to him, back up against the headboard and about a foot between them on the not-so-small bed. Iruka grinned, sitting happily on top of the sheets, before his smile fell and he continued his story.
"I came from a very small, peaceful village called Murtlewood -ever heard of it?" Kakashi nodded. Murtlewood was known for its beauty and peacefulness. It was a joyful town, full of happy, fun loving people and quite a few very nice bars. That town had filled up Kakashi's stomach when he had stumbled upon it one very cold winter night.
"In Murtlewood, I was one of the two teachers there. Simple job, wasn't paid much, but I had a place to sleep at night, food to eat, and friends as well as the responsibility of taking care of the young ones. My childhood is a blurry mess... becoming a teacher was the best thing that ever happened to me, or so I can remember."
Kakashi nodded again, realizing that this was probably why the peaceful man next to him seemed to have schizophrenia at times. 'He must have been a very strict teacher when he lived there...'
"One day, a stranger came from the north to our tiny village. He was a strange fellow, dressed in black from head to toe, and with him came a slave. He said that he'd found the boy in an alleyway, rooting through garbage cans like a common stray. Shortly after they arrived, people started disappearing. The leader of little Murtlewood had the two taken into custody, where we found that they were from Ditu-" a loud crash interrupted Iruka, making the two of them jump, "What was that?"
"Sounded like it came from next door," Kakashi said, rather peeved that the story-time had been interrupted, "Sasuke must have woken up."
"Here, put these on," Iruka ordered, handing Kakashi a pair of pants that he had sneakily been hiding under the bed. Kakashi stared at them, glancing up at the tricky teacher, before doing as told and following the hobbling Iruka.
Outside of his room was a short hallway leading to a small living room/dining room/kitchen get-together, the other way leading to two other rooms, one of which was their destination. He did not know what the other room was, but Kakashi could take a guess that it might be a bathroom. If they had a bathroom… He also figured that they were on the ground floor, as there weren't any stairways to be spotted within the house. Hand on the old wall to keep his balance, Kakashi was led into a room very much like the one he'd woken up in, except that the sheets and blankets had been messed, and the boy who was supposed to be asleep in the bed was missing.
"Naruto, what happened?" Kakashi realized that the blonde fiend from earlier was there as well, hands braced on the windowsill, looking ready to leap through. Iruka sent Naruto a look that easily said: "I know you could have kept him here if you really wanted to. Bad puppy."
Upon hearing Iruka's voice, Naruto turned, looking frantic, "That bastard jumped ship! Flew the coop! He's gone!"
Kakashi leaned against the doorjamb, Iruka on the other side of the doorway, "That idiot Sasuke. He probably thought he could get back home and lead the police down on this little hole. Probably thought he would be accepted back, or something."
"The police?" Iruka parroted, eyes wide.
"But the bastard is hurt! How can he get anywhere?" Naruto asked, turning back to the window and looking out through the darkening forest.
"He's crafty enough, and stubborn enough, to find a way back to the institute," Kakashi sighed, pushing himself off the wall and towards the window where Naruto was standing, "Do you know which way he went?"
Naruto stared quizzically up at the older man, disbelieving that he could do anything to find the raven-haired boy, before pointing down a small trail to the left. Kakashi nodded, before quickly jumping through the window and landing in the soft grass on the other side.
Iruka and Naruto gasped, "You idiot, get back in here! You're hurt and in no shape to be chasing a shadow through a very shadow-y forest!"
Kakashi grinned, "Don't you worry. I'm good at finding shadows. I'll find him and bring him back before he brings the hounds down around your ears. That's what you're worried about, right?"
Iruka nodded slowly, still looking troubled.
"I'll be back soon. Plus, didn't you say that it was going to rain soon? If we wait any longer, the tracks will be washed away," Kakashi teased. Iruka's cheeks dusted with embarrassment, and he all but glowered at the silver-haired thief. Naruto looked up at the clouds, then down at the smiling man, "You better hurry up then! The rain clouds are coming already!"
"Uh huh. Whatever you say," Kakashi snickered, before turning down the path and leaving the two behind. Truth be told, it felt good to be on his feet again, especially when he was tracking someone. He hadn't had to follow someone in such a very long time... He picked up speed, enjoying the feeling of the wind in his hair and on his masked face and was happy to find that his wounded leg wasn't too much of a trouble to him, surprisingly enough. He was also quite pleased to find that the Uchiha was still bad at covering his tracks.
Sasuke hadn't been too hard to find, as the path had led Kakashi straight to the pool and willows, near the entrance to the river. Kakashi about laughed when he found the shadow boy trying to tie a few old pieces of wood together with the whip-like branches of the surrounding willow trees. When Sasuke looked up the river, trying to figure out which way was home, Kakashi did laugh, effectively startling the Uchiha.
Sasuke turned, and glared, standing knee deep in the calm pool of water. Kakashi glared right back, before walking closer. Sasuke was half dressed, his chest bare and his shorts soaked from the river water. The dressing on his shoulder would need changing soon, unless wanted an infection and the possible loss of use of his arm.
"What do you think you're going to do, Uchiha? Paddle up stream? In your shape?" Kakashi started, sitting down on a large boulder, "In case you can't tell, your home is upstream, and quite a long ways upstream at that. It would take you days, maybe even weeks in your condition, to paddle a little raft up the river back home. And then what? What would you do once you got home? If you ever /did/ get back home?"
"Get the guards down here. Do you know who that little blonde boy is?" Sasuke said, challengingly, as he crossed his arms over his bare chest.
Kakashi shook his head, not really caring. Sasuke continued, "Uzumaki! The Uzumaki, the one who killed every single person in that little hell hole Banyan for no reason what so ever! When he was questioned, he said that he didn't remember a thing."
"He got out, didn't he? From the Institute. Just like me," Kakashi grinned, eye cold but rather amused at the turn of events, "What did you do, torture that information out of him?"
"I didn't have anything to do with him," Sasuke snorted, "My father and brother were the ones who caught him sneaking around Peyote, and brought him in for questioning. Supposedly he looked about the age of five or so, but he escaped before they could start with the interview. Still don't know -"
"-how, do ya?" Kakashi interrupted, visible eye dark, "Probably the same way I did. It's easy to make a shadow of yourself in a place full of shadows."
Sasuke glared at Kakashi, his eyes full of well-kept rage, "I'm going home, and when I return, I won't be alone. I'll get everyone down here to flush out two wanted criminals, and I'm sure that the law wants that 'Iruka-sensei' for some illegal happening as well. Then things will go right back to the way they were before."
"Did you forget who shot you, brat?" Kakashi was getting tired of this. His leg had also started to bleed again.
Sasuke remained silent.
"Your wonderful guards were the ones who opened fire on you when they should have been aiming for me. Remember that?" Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Kakashi. The thief continued, "I don't know what the hell is going on with your cheerful little family, and I don't really care, but you should know that if you go back, you will most likely be killed on the spot. Who knows, maybe they'll tell you that your father-dearest sent them to kill you before they empty their guns on you? Or maybe it was your brother?"
Sasuke's gaze fell to the water, where fish were surely dying at the power of his glare.
"So go on. Go home if you really want to. Now that I think of it, I'm not afraid to send you back anymore," Kakashi moved as if to be inspecting his nails, "You'll be dead before you can even tell them that we're down here."
Sasuke moved to push his crudely made raft out into the current, when he faltered. There, sitting on the helm of the craft, were three large, pitch black crows, all staring their beady black eyes at him. Each bird was at least the height of Sasuke's knees, their beaks as long as his index finger, if not longer. The largest one, a tall rook, pecked idly at the branches keeping the wood together, while the other two cackled loudly. The pinion feathers on the tall rook's wings, while mostly black, also had a few random feathers of white throughout the darkness (2).
A soft coughing came from behind them, startling Kakashi as well as Sasuke. Both turned, finding a darkly clad man standing there between the trees, a ways away from Kakashi. His dark brown hair fell limply around his ears, and he had a hand up against his mouth, coughing. Kakashi noted the sunken in eyes and the pale, drawn complexion of the other. He guessed that this was the guy who lived with the crows that Iruka had mentioned earlier, since supposedly no one else lived in the valley.
The other blinked back at them, then looked at where Sasuke was standing half naked in the river, to the three crows, "If you stand there any longer, you're going to get sick."
"Who the hell are you?"
He coughed again, "Hayate," the dark one said, quietly, "And I don't care what you say, silver-head; I do not want this boy to go back to wherever he came from, even if there's the possibility he will be killed on the spot. He is a threat to my freedom here, as well as everyone else who lives in this valley."
The three crows, on hearing their master's voice, ruffled their wings and moved to set themselves on the raven-haired boy in front of them, "Iruka and Naruto are my friends. I can't let you take them away from me."
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To be continued.
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Aheheh. Well, there's the second chapter. Lordy lordy. Now to work on the third chapter :P thank you all for commenting on the first chapter =3 I shall try hard to make this fic work...haven't written anything in a very long time XD;;;
(1) Peyote = hallucinogenic desert plant that can kill you if you take too much of it. Native Americans used it for religious and spiritual practices, until the Imperialistic European Catholics banned it. Now sold on the streets as a recreational drug, though supposedly it is very hard to find /actual/, pure Peyote. A few different types of drugs can pass as Peyote.
(2) I know, I know, crows and ravens are black black black. Pitch black and all that good so such. :P Well, even if you don't believe me, there are a few partially white crows out there. There's one in the murder that lives in my back yard. Mother thinks that it might be from either inbreeding or from scars… but we really don't know o.O;;…. So yes. White Crows do exist XD I'm also sure you really care XD
sorry for makin' Sasuke rather... OOC, I guess o.o;; bleh bleh bleh. Also, about Hayate. Hell, I like the guy. And just so ya know, it's hellish to write someone who isn't really... in the series that much XD;;; forgive me if he is too very OOC ;
also, forgive me if you dislike all of the town names n.n;; they are all types of plants, as you hopefully picked up. Ditura being another name for Fox Glove, Banyan being a giant type of tree, Murtlewood being a sort of tree as well, and Peyote being yet another type of plant. Ditura and Peyote are poisonous, though, while the other two aren't xD and hell, Hazelwood doesn't really exists, so it's kinda hard for it to be deadly XD yeah, this is me being a crazy plant-dork that i sometimes can be XDXD forgive n.n;
C/C please
-Mako