Summary: You're not supposed to fall in love with your captor, especially if he is a high-ranking member of the yakuza. Things just never seem to follow that law, however. Completely AU. Mainly Sasuke/Sakura. Rated for violence and language.
Pairings: Sasuke/Sakura, more will be revealed as the story progresses
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, at all. All the characters belong to Kishimoto Masashi-sensei. The only thing in this story that is mine will be the OCs and the plot itself.
Conspiracy of the Heart and Soul
Chapter Eight – The Inexistent Brotherly Love
Everything was quiet in Sakura's room. It wasn't unusual for Ayumi anymore that Sasuke visited every night and stayed for long, seemingly arduous hours by her side. Even if he wasn't talking, nor was Sakura, she could feel, even see the chemistry between them. It wasn't something special, but to Sasuke, it seemed he thought the world of this captive. He was even prepared to die for her, even if he didn't know her. For as long as Ayumi knew Sasuke, he had never put his life on the line for another person's cause. It was either a cause of his volition or nobody else's. A faint smile, surprisingly, found its way to the amber eyed female as she watched Sasuke merely look at Sakura's sleeping form.
"Ayumi, do you have those papers I asked for?" said Sasuke as he turned to face her, his voice barely above a whisper but cutting, sharp and clear in the silence of the room. Ayumi nodded as she clutched a rather thick envelope. Walking over towards Sasuke, she handed it to him; the heavy weight on her chest was literally lifted off of her. "Hmm," he murmured as he pulled out the papers and put them on the desk, picking at them, looking for the right one. Ayumi stayed behind, her pale amber eyes ever watchful. "Call Shikamaru, tell him I'll be outside this room. When you come back, stay inside." Ayumi nodded wordlessly as she left. Even with Sasuke, she still obediently followed his commands. However, unlike with Itachi, his were neither harsh nor simple, they were merely commands. They were commands that did not bring an air of destruction with them.
"What the hell do you think you're doing with Murakami," murmured Sasuke to the silent air of Sakura's room, afraid to wake her up. His calloused fingers ran over the smooth paper, the dry ink running beneath his fingers. A frown appeared on his face as he took in the data, analyzing it. The numbers, the figures, the words, they all looked like garble to him. It was written in a code, unlike how the papers from two days ago. Since then, they had recruited a considerable number of people, his little army growing to the size of about a hundred of the elite members of the yakuza, excluding the main five, who were getting tired of Itachi's greed.
This was no joke, whatever Itachi was planning. The registration for classes in Kyoto University was in two weeks and the only thing he managed to decipher from all the garble written down in front of him was the date of this thing and a general idea of what he was about to plan. All he knew was that it involved mass murder and that it would be on September 29, the day after the four-day Kyoto University registration and the day before the classes actually began. With what he understood about it, he could hit three birds with one stone, instead of the usual one or two. He could free Sakura from her captivity without anyone stopping him, he could kill his pathetic excuse of a brother in the process and he could stop whatever hell of a mess Itachi was planning.
Turning around, he sat on the desk as he waited, his onyx eyes taking in the darkness. He could see, his eyes were already used to the lack of lightning within the room, and he was glad for that fact. His onyx eyes rested on Sakura's blanketed figure, a feeling of warmth somehow filling his body. She was lucky, lucky to have a normal life compared to any one of them within the yakuza. She was lucky, that she had everything he ever wanted, a normal life, parents to love him as any would a child and most of all, freedom, the freedom to speak, the freedom to choose and especially, the freedom to live. The longer he stayed in this wretched place, the less he felt human, until, until of course she came along and changed all that. Suddenly, there was a knock.
Sasuke's onyx eyes affixed themselves towards the door, gazing at whoever was behind it. Long hair was all he could see. His gaze went down slightly to face the eyes and the color, pale amber. It was Ayumi. Standing up, he turned around and stuffed all the papers back into the envelope. Walking towards the door, he passed her wordlessly. He didn't need to say anything; he didn't feel like saying anything. He was far too disturbed with what he had managed to decipher on the papers he had picked up from Ayumi. All he had asked for was his brother's schedule for the next two weeks and his plans. What he didn't ask for was a mass murder of such a high caliber he never thought possible.
"Ayumi told me you had something urgent you wanted me to look at," said Shikamaru as he leaned idly against a wall, "Anything harsh?" Sasuke said nothing as he handed Shikamaru the envelope. "Fuck this is heavy!" the prodigy of a hacker grumbled as he lifted the envelope and put it close to his chest. Rubbing his forehead with the ball of his hand, he looked at Sasuke. "You know what this is?" he asked as he motioned to the envelope in his arms. "And what do you need me for? They're just a bunch of papers, as far as I can tell."
"Yeah, simply putting it, they are just a bunch of papers. They are, however, papers of my brother's schedule for the next two weeks and anything that might come up such as missions, parties with the legal side of Sharingan, not that we have any to begin with, and the like," explained Sasuke as he walked down the corridor, Shikamaru slightly behind him. "However, they are coded. I didn't take them out but there were a couple of diskettes in there, highly likely they're encrypted. And anyway, if they are just things that aren't highly classified, why should they be written in codes, right? I was only able to fully find out one thing, the date of September 29, the day after the registration and the day before school starts again. I'm not quite sure about this one but I think it's going to involve a mass murder of such a high caliber that no one ever thought to even exist."
"Coincidence that it's on the 29th, don't you think?" drawled Shikamaru lazily as they walked on, towards his laboratory in order to decode the mess that was within the envelope. Sasuke nodded slightly as they walked on, their shoes clanging heavily against the chrome. "Well, you still haven't answered me. What do you want me to do with all this data? Besides decoding it of course, that's a given."
"Decode it and with the data you've gotten, figure out the best course of action and the earliest date when we can strike. At least give us one week to prepare, the registration is in two weeks away, from this date." Shikamaru nodded slowly as they walked on.
It was amazing, amazing that he did not become the leader of Sharingan. Of course, the fact that Itachi was older and he was named heir was the major reason but nonetheless, if no heir was named and they both had enough right to claim leadership, he had a feeling Sasuke would become the leader. He had the battle scars, the experience, the pain, the remorse to run this yakuza the way it was meant to be run. Itachi, the minute he sat on his throne of power, he left all the grunt work to them. His skills rusted from their lack of use, but he was still strong, regardless. Sasuke on the other hand, he gained wisdom, he gained every shred of his fighting spirit, all through the countless of missions that left him wounded and to fend for himself.
"What are you thinking about, fool? Your lab is this way!" hissed Sasuke as he turned to face Shikamaru. The hacker's brow furrowed slightly then Shikamaru plastered an obviously fake smile on his face.
"Nothing, nothing at all."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Next Day
"Uchiha-sama, this is what you wanted, is it not?" asked one of the many workers within the factory, holding a long metal case that held within it, a weapon. Itachi looked at the worker, then at the black casing. It was long, probably holding a rifle or a machine gun, or it could be the one thing he was waiting for. It could be the belt he had ordered and stitched onto the leather would be the ten holsters for the ten guns he could bring. Of course, he always had a section within his body dedicated to his ammunition that would be no problem. Not having a myriad of guns was the problem. Stretching out his hand, he took the case.
"Ah, I see you've got the hold of the special package. I would have personally delivered it to you, Itachi-san, but I have been held back by certain, circumstances," said a voice from behind him. Itachi looked back and nodded slowly. "Go ahead, open it, open it! I'm sure you'll love what lies beneath the black cover. I've seen it for myself, since I dare not give you anything below your standard, and it's a beauty! If not for the fact there was only one of it left, I would have gone ahead and ordered a second one for myself!" Itachi turned back to face the black case atop the desk. He rolled his eyes. He was a slick man, bending everything in order to get what he wanted from his clients, but he didn't know just how ruthless he was.
"So, Ichigawa, you like what's within, don't you?" asked Itachi as he fingered the work of the leather. Supplying the guns was no problem of his that was why he had recruited Murakami in Fujimori's stead.
"Yes, yes of course! I told you myself that it was a beauty and you know how exceedingly high my standards are." A glint was vaguely visible in his dark eyes as he reached out to touch the leather belt, his yellowing teeth showing with his toothy grin.
"Tut tut now Ichigawa, this is my accessory," said Itachi with a calm air as he shut the case promptly, almost slamming on top of Ichigawa's fingers. Ichigawa supplied the things that the weapon dealer could not. He provided the accessories that they needed, the costumes to hide their identity. Wheeling around, Itachi pocketed his hand and looked at Ichigawa. "You know, I never did like you," said Itachi as he grinned at Ichigawa, death awaiting the slick man. "This isn't the original, where is it?" Itachi's mouth twisted itself into a satanic smile.
"W-what do y-you m-mean, I-Itachi-s-san?!" said Ichigawa, warbling his words together, "I-it i-is th-the ori-original o-one!"
"Don't think I don't know. Just because you supply our costumes, our accessories, doesn't mean I don't have an eye to detect something fake from the original. I was bred in a rich family," hissed Itachi, his voice dripping with venom, "And this belt, I need it for the greatest mission that will ever occur in all of Japan, no, in all of the world!"
"W-what i-is i-it I-Itachi-s-san?!" He was panicking! Indeed, it was not the original one, only a very good copy of it on the outside, very weak and frail on the inside.
"I suppose I can tell you." Ichigawa let out a sigh of relief. He would be spared for now, enough time to be able to kill this arrogant client of his. "Two words, Ichigawa: mass murder. I plan to murder everyone, all the yakuza, so that they may know of Sharingan's infamous existence. Do you know how many there are in Kyoto alone? There are at least five or maybe even six of these yakuza and all dare to defy Sharingan in its greatness. And I will accomplish this, all in one day." Ichigawa's eyes widened. This man's sanity was inexistent! All the yakuza within Kyoto were so far spread out that it would be impossible to destroy every single one of them in one night.
"B-but t-that is impossible!"
"Nothing is impossible for me. I can and I will do it. No one will know that it was I, no one will suspect me. No one but the underworld knows the meaning of our symbol and our name, Sharingan. The blood red eye with three commas surrounding the iris, it is the most feared symbol of all."
"Y-yes, I know but how do you manage to do this all?!"
"That is the part which you will never know." Itachi smiled wickedly as he took out his gun and shot Ichigawa, placing it back within his cloak quickly before anyone noticed. The loud whirring of the machines was enough to cover up the loud blast. "And I'll be taking this now." Itachi kneeled down and picked off the belt he was wearing, the belt he was supposed to own. "Might take a while but it'll be worth it, cleaning your filth off of my belt."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shikamaru's Laboratory
"He is insane!" roared Neji as he slammed his fists down on the table, causing everyone else in the room to flinch. "Okay, I'm fine with Sasuke's mission since it only involves breaking one yakuza down, this one! But Itachi, he is downright insane! He's planning on destroying every single one of them just so Sharingan can remain unopposed, unrivalled!" Sakura was in the corner, eating the food that Kotoe had brought for her, watching their reaction. Neji's of course, was violent. Sasuke stayed quiet, his hand twitching. Tenten's eyes were downcast. Ayumi was standing near the doorway, her right hand resting on the hilt of Thanatos and Shikamaru, Shikamaru was typing away at his laptop. "When will this mission commence, Shikamaru?" asked Neji, his voice deadly. He killed alright, but he never killed those who weren't involved in his mission in any way.
"Well, Sasuke did ask for one week for preparations. Itachi's mission will commence on the 29th, the day after the registration and the day before school starts for Sakura. The registration is from the 25th to the 28th. That leaves us with that one week, to strike any time from the 18th to the 24th." Everyone in the group nodded as they watched Shikamaru. "But knowing the fact that we have only a hundred people and he has well way over that amount, I sincerely suggest striking on the 24th. With that time limit set up for the preparations, we have exactly thirteen days to finish everything, from recruiting to arming everyone with their own gear."
"The night before last, we were able to add all the data from the archives and we were able to figure out a route which would be safest and lead us to Itachi-san's whereabouts without any trouble," spoke Kotoe softly as she attracted the attention of the other four, Shikamaru typing away once more. "Shikamaru-san said that if we have enough man-power, we could create a diversion, to attract his attention, similar to what happened during the incident. Of course, Itachi-san will not waste his time to dealing with such a small outbreak, around fifty men, though they will be subdued by another fifty men on our side to ensure their safety and our safety in numbers. On the other hand, the four of you plus my brother will go up to Itachi-san's whereabouts and when your about ten meters away, we will signal for the rest of the breakouts to continue."
"So stage one is the basic preparations, the arming, things like that. Stage two is when the first outbreak starts, trouble ensuing in one concentrated area of the base, while the five of us go up and corner Itachi. Stage three starts when we're ten meters away, thus allowing the other groups to start attacking the other sections. The group that first started the brawl will break out into groups of fifty, since that is the safest number, and go their separate ways while we deal with Itachi?" asked Neji, double checking if he understood the plan.
"Exactly. However, we are at least one hundred fifty men short. The least number we can have is two hundred fifty and it wouldn't hurt to have any more."
"That's the easy part. They want a better life, a life where they don't have to kill. Many of the members in Sharingan owe their lives to the Uchiha family, after all," said Sasuke, his voice strangely calm. "We can recruit them. I will always promise them a life free of this. It won't be a lie since even I don't want this life any more. It's been a fucking hell for me."
"How, how many do you think they would be?"
"Oh, around a thousand people at least. Sharingan is a very large organization, not all join it for the sake of money, bloodshed or the chance to show off the innate talents we have. Others, others join because they're indebted to my family, much like one of us." Ayumi's lips twitched slightly. Yes, she felt indebted, but she also needed a place to belong. Nonetheless, she felt she made the right decision.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After the Meeting
"Sasuke-kun, why are you pushing yourself to your limits?" asked Sakura as she walked behind him, her jade green eyes filled with curiosity. Never, in her life, had anyone risked his life to save her own. Never, in her life, did a man take interest in her own life, in the way she lived it. Never, in her life, did she feel anything different towards that same man, the man who was risking his life to save hers and getting to know her more and more each day. The Uchiha stopped, causing Sakura and Ayumi to as well. His onyx gaze was focused right in front of him. "Sasuke-kun?" Receiving no answer, she turned forward. She made a yelp as she hid behind him, afraid of the person in front. It was Itachi.
"Hello, little brother, Ayumi, Sakura." The way he spoke sent shivers down Sakura's spine. Sasuke's as well but his was well hidden, beneath his mask of aloofness. "Now now, is that any way to greet your older brother?" asked Itachi, taunting his brother, no matter how subtle it would seem to be.
"I have no brother, older or younger. I am all that's left in my family." Itachi's face had a momentary flash of anger, one no one saw. Shrugging Sasuke's comment off, he faced Sakura.
"Ah, my beautiful Blossom. I hope I didn't hurt you too badly, some nights ago." Sakura's lower lip began to quiver as she let go of her hold on Sasuke's coat, hugging herself. Ayumi went forward and steadied her, hoping she wouldn't fall all of a sudden. Sasuke's face twisted itself into a look of anger.
"How dare you remind her, Itachi!" hissed Sasuke as he advanced towards his older brother. Anger was the only emotion he could feel at the moment, everything else was a useless feeling to him. "It was the darkest time of her life and you're so damn happy about it!" The look of anger appeared on Itachi's face. Forgiveness, that was not for Sasuke, in his mind.
"Asshole," hissed Itachi, his onyx eyes flashing, as he glared at his younger brother. Sasuke's feet were dangling slightly, unable to reach the chrome floor panels. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?" hissed Itachi as he tightened his grip on Sasuke's collar. The younger Uchiha began choking, his skin paling visibly, as the lack of oxygen in his body, truly began affecting him. Fury burned steadily in his eyes as he loosened his hold slightly. The younger of the siblings couldn't reply, beginning to suffocate to death. "Fuck your morals, they shouldn't even exist within you," growled Itachi as he threw his brother down violently on the floor panels, "They shouldn't even exist within anyone for that matter." With that, he wheeled around, fury and anger emanating from his being.
"Are you alright, Sasuke-sama?!" asked the worried voices of the people around. Sasuke was coughing, breathing heavily, and regaining the oxygen he had lost. Sakura was already crying, her face buried in Ayumi's shoulder. In his mind, only one thing was running through, death. Not just any death, the last he would probably commit in his entire lifetime. It would be the death of the man named Uchiha Itachi, no longer his brother but just another prey to him.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tsuzuku…
Hmm. Again. When I write rushed chapters, they never end up the way I plan them. Heck, the chapter preview for this chapter was supposed to be in the beginning but guess where it is? At the end of the chapter! Anyway, enough about my rambles, here's the explanation of the things that happened within this chapter!
Sasuke, he grew colder and more unfeeling, don't you think? Less talkative, compared to the rest of the chapters, too! The reason for that is that he's thinking, thinking about so many things. What, exactly, you will find out in the next chapters!
The basic structure for the plan has been described as well! If you don't understand, read carefully. I honestly think I described it well enough for people to understand it after reading through it only once.
You also see Itachi's cold and unfeeling side in this chapter, more of it anyway, and the thing he is planning! Having five or six yakuza, besides Sharingan, in Kyoto is a dangerous thing. A yakuza isn't one of those street gangs where one city can have multiple of them! A yakuza is a well-thought out underground syndicate where entering their lair will give you a 95 percent certainty of death, be it yours or anyone else's. You get to know more about the two plans, Sasuke's of Itachi's downfall and Itachi's of the other yakuza's downfall, in the next chapter.
In the end, you do get to see the inexistence of the thing called brotherly love, between them. I think it's sad that there's no such thing between them. Honestly, I have two older brothers and I love them dearly. It's a pity this had to happen but it is part of the story.
I'm not quite sure where this story will go after the next chapter, but don't think I'm running out of ideas! If you would be so kind, please tell me, in your review, if you want a detailed description of what's going to happen in the thirteen days of preparation between both sides of the party, or to just let me continue with my flow. If the former option is chosen, that'll give you guys more Sasuke/Sakura action! If the latter is chosen, there might be unknown plot twists which will add to the excitement! Either way, nothing is lost.
Anyway, after the good news, which was pretty obvious, there's bad. I decided to get rid of Balance since no one was really reading it. Who knows though, I might post it up because I want to continue writing it, though just not posting it online. However, there is a second piece of good news! I've decided to replace that story with a completely AU story called A Mercenary's Tale! Read that once it comes out, please!
In the end, have a happy and prosperous new year! Even though it's two days late, I'm sure it deserved to be said.
As usual, here's the chapter preview!
Next Chapter: Chapter Nine – The Preparations for the Downfall
Chapter Preview: Unknown to both brothers, each was preparing the ploy for something common, a downfall. However, they were both after a different downfall. The older, he was after the downfall of the other yakuza, besides Sharingan. He was hungry for power, for fame, for the reputation of being the best among the yakuza in terms of notoriety, torture and skill. They were not a force to be defied. The younger, on the other hand, was planning for the downfall of the one man that hindered him from a life that he wanted, a normal life. With his death, everything would end; everything he ever dreamed of having would be his. Both brothers, so alike yet so different, both absorbed in their preparations for the downfall.
