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 Twelve – The Prelude to the War

It was dark as he walked around in the upper grounds, exposed to the public of Kyoto, of the Sharingan headquarters. His hand was shaking as he nervously inhaled the intoxicating nicotine in his cigarette. Blowing out the grayish smoke from his lips, various thoughts entered his mind. Was he ready for the mission that was to come in exactly twenty-four hours? Was he ready to go back to a life he yearned for but was not used to anymore? He didn't know. It was eight in the evening when they had decided nearly two weeks ago. It was September 23rd already, exactly eight in the evening. Putting the cigarette to his lips, he inhaled once more then almost automatically blew out another puff of grayish smoke.

"What the hell am I doing?" he asked himself after puffing out more smoke. White hot ashes fell to the pavement, bright red in some areas. Lowering his dark blue eyes on the cemented pavement, images of his past began to appear on his mind's eye as he watched the dust cool down and be blown away by the wind. "I don't want to continue living as a thug for Sharingan but it's the only life I know," he muttered painfully as he dropped the end of the cigarette and crushed it using his heel. Flipping open the cover of the box, he took out another one and pressed it between his lips. Fumbling around, he began looking for a lighter. Hearing leaves rustle, he turned around, panicking. What if someone heard? "Wh-who's th-there!" he asked, nervous about who was behind.

"Tayuya, that is my name," she said plainly as she ran a hand methodically through her hair, her dark eyes focused across from her. "I'm new here," she said suddenly as she crossed her arms. Internally, she was vomiting because she didn't want to act this way, degrading herself to a mere new recruit when she was one of the six that the Uchiha Itachi trusted and the sole female for that matter. "Care to tell me how Sharingan works? I know it's the best, which is why I joined," said Tayuya in the most demure manner she could muster. She was sickened to the core. She would never act this way if she could help it but at the moment, she needed to. She needed to find what was up the sleeves of Itachi's younger brother. Something was wrong, very wrong.

"Oh! Tayuya-san, welcome, then, to Sharingan. I'm Murasaki Eiji," he said as he turned to face her, the apprehensions within him lessening as he calmed down. She didn't seem to pose much of a threat, if she was as new as she said she was. "Sharingan, obviously, is a yakuza. We are headed by the Uchiha Clan, at the moment it's… it's Itachi-sama." He faltered a bit, she noticed. Hiding her frown, she nodded, motioning for him to continue. "He assigns missions to certain three to four men teams. Usually, the teams are composed of a hacker and two or three front men. That's all I really know. I'm not one of the higher officials. You should really talk to Shikamaru-sama if you want to know. He's the head of the hacking division, you see," explain Eiji good-naturedly as he continued smoking.

"Oh, I see. Is there any major operation that you know of that's being prepared for right now?" she asked, sincerely curious, scrunching her nose as the foul-smelling smoke was pushed towards her direction. Eiji shifted uncomfortably as he thought about his answer. He shouldn't give any information about the mission of Sasuke but she seemed nice and trustworthy enough to spill a bit about it. "Well, Eiji-san is there any that I should know about?" she pressed further, a fake smile on her lips. His heart melted slightly. She looked so pretty with that smile on her face. Shrugging, he nodded. It wouldn't really hurt to recruit just one more person to the mission. "Okay, so tell me about it!"

"I don't know much about the plan itself, I just know I'm back-up. Sasuke-sama, Itachi-sama's younger brother, is planning something against him. I just know it's to save that girl, I forgot her name but she's real pretty and she has hair the same color as yours, pink," explained Eiji in a hushed voice. Tayuya nodded and smiled as she asked him to move on. "Well, that's as far as I know. I don't think he plans to actually overthrow his brother or anything, but just to let her escape and live a normal life. He seems to act a lot kinder towards her compared to everyone else. Would you care to join us? She looks so innocent so she doesn't deserve to stay here." Tayuya shook her head and smiled wickedly as she pulled out a gun. "Ta-Tayuya-san!" he half-shouted as he looked at her, mortified at what he had just said.

"Thanks for the information but I'm not Tayuya-san to you, I'm Tayuya-sama. I am one of the trusted six of Itachi-sama," she said sadistically, "And you wouldn't need to call me that. You'll die anyway." In a split second, a bullet drove its way through Eiji's skull, delivering an instantaneous death. "There was something up that little traitor's sleeve. Guess Zabuza, for all his untrusting ways, was right after all," she said as she looked down on Eiji's body, "Pity, he looked cute too." With that, she wheeled around and began making her way back to the rest in the group.

Meanwhile, leaves in a bush rustled as the figure stood up, walking in the opposite direction Tayuya went to. It seems that it wasn't just her who found out about the plan.

"A mission huh?" The figure began moving away as soft clacks of the soles of the shows the figure was wearing stomped against the pavement. "A mission to save her to be exact."

Shikamaru's Laboratory

"Kotoe, where the hell is your brother!" muttered Shikamaru, his jaws clenched tightly. His hand was shaking with anxiety and it had been shaking a lot since he woken up. Of course, he was isolated within his own laboratory for final adjustments in whatever else he had left to do. The burnt sienna locks of the female swayed as she shrugged, looking at an opposite direction for what was about to come. She never took it against him, when she became the object he vented his frustration on. It never happened often anyway. "Well!" Swallowing, she gathered the courage to answer a very pissed off Shikamaru.

"I told him to come soon. Knowing him, he'll be here in a few more minutes," she said softly as she clutched the clipboard she was holding tightly, trying not to be afraid of Shikamaru at the moment. Indeed, it was a tense atmosphere for all. Neji and Tenten were arguing with each other, something they rarely did since they got together. Sasuke didn't speak as much to Sakura, if he spoke at all, but the pink haired girl was content to watch by the sidelines. Ayumi was sheathing and unsheathing Thanatos so many times that it was starting to be a bore to see the blade that had killed so many by her hand. Shikamaru was starting to get frustrated and blame everything on some others, something he never did if he wasn't nervous.

"He better come soon!" growled Shikamaru as he began to fix up the customized weapons for those who would be directly under Sasuke's command during the mission. He had gotten imprints of their grip when they were holding guns and were modeling the handles to their exact specifications. It was different for the others, who got the exact same weapons. Because they were the core group, they had to get the best and the most effective of all the weapons, seeing as they had the most dangerous task of all, killing the head of Sharingan, Uchiha Itachi. Just as he was about to mumble something under his breath, the door opened and revealed a very calm looking Kenta. "Where were you damn it!"

"So-rry. Neji made me get something for you," he said apologetically, stressing the fact that he had been getting something that would probably help the hacking prodigy. Throwing the small package to the hacker, Kenta stuffed his hands in his pockets as he walked over towards the bench and plopped down on a seat. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow as he caught the package wrapped in simple brown paper and sealed with a piece of twine. It didn't look like anything special, judging from only its packaging but he knew better than to judge anything by its cover. Ayumi was an example. A mere child when she entered, now one of the top front men, in her case women, in Sharingan.

"It's a box," said Shikamaru incredulously as he unwrapped the brown paper. It was laughing at him, mocking him for expecting so much more from it. "Well, it's a box with a lock on it and a key. Let's see what this troublesome thing is," he mumbled as he picked up the key and inserted it into the lock. The lock opened easily and fell effortlessly onto his lap. Flipping the top open, his coal eyes focused themselves on what was inside. A microphone that he didn't have to hold lay inside and on top was a plain piece of parchment with elegant characters painted on top. They were only elegant because they were brushed on, otherwise, it would just be Sasuke's plain old handwriting.

'Shikamaru. Use this to communicate to any of us, Neji, Tenten, Ayumi, Kenta and myself, during the plan. Just ask Kotoe on the instructions on how to switch from one person to another. I asked her to make it, since you were busy, and made Kenta go get it just so no one would be suspicious of what she was doing. Kotoe has made a program for this and just ask her to install it into your laptop. The program was incorporated to the headsets the rest of us will be using.

-Sasuke

PS. Sakura will stay with you in the lab because it is the safest place for her. Take care of her or I will personally kill you if she's hurt in any way.'

"Guess he hasn't lost his sense of seriousness," said Shikamaru dryly as he set aside the parchment and examined the microphone that looked similar to a pair of headphones. Looking at it in a brighter light, his coal eyes began calculating the specs that Kotoe had used to fashion them. The microphone was brilliantly made, obviously with the best materials as they came from the legal side of Sharingan, which would hopefully flourish after all this was over and done with. Finding a small indentation, Shikamaru looked at its shape. It was a port. Looking inside the box, he found a long black cord with a jack at the end, to connect it to his laptop or any computer in general. "This is very well crafted, Kotoe," said Shikamaru, praising the twin sister of Kenta, "You could very well start your own computer company, given the right materials and such." Kotoe blushed heavily as she stuttered her thanks. His praise for anything technological was hard to earn. "Put the program for this thing into my laptop, okay?" The burnt sienna locks of the female flowed as she nodded, a bright look on her face.

"What did you want me for, Shikamaru?" asked Kenta as he drummed his fingers idly on the metal countertop of the table, a bored look on his face. Neji had told him to get something from the lobby, from a little kid of no older than ten with his parents. Guess they were paid to be able to "smuggle" in the headset within the Uchiha Industries building so he could pick it up and give it to Shikamaru. After that, Neji told him that Shikamaru needed him to be there anyway so he might as well do it. "Neji said you wanted me for something…?" asked Kenta, curious about what he was supposed to be doing here.

"Yeah. See that clay gun? Go hold it like you would a real gun. I need an impression of your grip of a gun," said Shikamaru lazily as he waved it off, setting aside the headset and the box. The older of the Nuitori twins nodded as he stood up and made his way to the clay gun. Holding it, the impression of his grip altered the shape of the clay. "A bit harder." Kenta squeezed the clay slightly. "Okay, that's enough. Put it back in the shelf and then you can go. I'll give you, as well as the others, the customized laser pistol by tomorrow, as well as the other gadgets you'd probably need for the mission. Tell the others except Sasuke. He'll know about it anyway," said Shikamaru as he shooed Kenta away. A slightly confused expression found its way to Kenta's face but the other male nodded anyway.

Itachi's Room

"Yes, Itachi-sama, that is as much as I was able to get out of him," said Tayuya softly, her eyes glistening as she thought about the favor she had done for him. Itachi's head bent down slowly, a dark and angered look on his face. His little brother dared stage a plan to let that prisoner of his go? At least he didn't plan a full scale mutiny on him. However, his little brother would still pay, for planning something against him. "Itachi-sama, what shall we do? I was not able to pull out any specific date but with the way he was acting, we could very well say it could happen any time in forty-eight hours," said Tayuya nervously, chewing her bottom lip. If it weren't Itachi, she would brush off anyone else rudely and be snide. However, in his presence, she was greatly humbled.

"Call Sakon, Ukon, Zabuza, Haku and Kabuto," said Itachi's voice, a bitter tone painting his words. Tayuya nodded slowly as she turned around and began making her way outside. "Wait, Tayuya." The female stopped in her tracks as she turned to face him once more, a quizzical expression on her face. Itachi waved it off again. "Never mind. Just make sure they have at least one weapon of expertise, not a gun since that's pretty much a given, before you tell them to come. I know you have your hypnotic spells from your flute, something rare and powerful," said Itachi.

"As you wish, Itachi-sama."

When she left, Itachi stood up and balled his right hand into a fist. Driving it into the wall, he let out his anger, his aggravation. Small wounds opened up on the skin covering his knuckles, thin strips of crimson slowly trailing down.

"Damn you, Sasuke! You dare defy me! You will pay for your insolence. I knew you were nervous about something, perhaps a mission that I was unaware of but never did I expect that it would be for your prisoner and against me."

Sasuke's Room

"It's tomorrow already," said Sakura in a hushed voice, gasping for her system lacked oxygen, after Sasuke had claimed her lips in a shattering kiss. Sasuke didn't reply as he just held her close, in the darkness of his room. He was crying unshed tears as he held her body against his, afraid of what might happen. Of course, all the necessary plans were set up and confirmed but he couldn't help but feel nervous of the outcome and what might become of them afterwards. "I believe in you," she said softly, her lips against his ears, as she spoke, sending shivers down his spine at the sudden addition of heat against his ears, "And I will wait for you, with a smile on my face." Sasuke just tightened his hold on her, a gesture that he believed in her as well.

Lately, they had been spending more and more time in Sasuke's room. His explanation was because he feared for her safety. Among all of the rooms, he trusted his the most because it had the voice recognition lock. Though they slept on the same bed, physically, he never forced her to do anything against her will. He was simply content with just being able to drape his arm around her and be surrounded by her warmth. She was simply content within his hold and seeing his face as serene as it was. No one was ever able to see him like that and live to tell about it, before Sakura anyway.

"Are you scared?" he asked bluntly as he pulled away from her, sitting down on his bed. Sakura shrugged as she sat down beside him, her head on his shoulder, as she put her hand on top of his. "Are you nervous then?" She shrugged again and stayed in the same position. "You'll stay with Shikamaru and Kotoe in the lab tomorrow because it's safer for you there. Even though no one else can get into this room, I'd be much more at ease if someone is with you."

"Okay," she said softly, closing her eyes. "Before everything cannot be undone, are you sure you want to do this, Sasuke-kun? I mean, you can still back away."

"Yes, I'm sure. After this mess, we can both go to Kyoto University and I'll go to the College of Business Administration, if your friend can help me get into it."

"I'm sure Renge-chan will do everything in her power to let her father accept you in the college. I mean, what he says, goes, since he is the dean."

"Much like Itachi then," mumbled Sasuke bitterly. Sakura laughed.

"Sort of, but he doesn't go off and tell his men… err… faculty to go off and kill someone now does he?" Sakura was trying to contain her laughter.

"I suppose not," said Sasuke thoughtfully.

"Really, you know nothing of the world anymore."

"Yes I do. I know of this world."

"But you want to get out of it, Sasuke-kun, so it's pretty useless to still know about it at this point."

"You'll help me understand the world I've missed since I was small," said Sasuke stubbornly as he fell back on his bed.

"Yeah, I would be there to help you. Otherwise, you'd be lost. I mean, sure, you know how most things work but you don't know how normalcy works over there. I mean, I have a feeling you'd cock a gun at someone who accidentally hit me."

"I would. Who knows what the person could have done to you?"

"See what I mean," said Sakura softly as she traced circles on his chest idly, "But anyway. What's important is you get out of this mission safely and go out with me to the real world."

"I suppose you're right."

"I am right!" Before she could say anything else, Sasuke shut her up by pulling her down and kissing her once more.

Tsuzuku…

Okay. So I guess I answered the question whether Itachi knew about the plan or not. He did, to a certain extent, that there was a mission being prepared for that he didn't know about. What he didn't know was that it was against him, in a sense. He still doesn't know the entire ploy but, he does know a bit about it.

That's all I really have to say right now. Hope you've had fun reading this chapter.

Probably not updating next week because the 5th is my birthday and yeah.

Oh yeah. From here until chapter eighteen, they're the parts of a short story. It's just the name really, the denouement or the solution isn't exactly a solution to the conflict.

As usual, here's the chapter preview!

Next Chapter: Chapter Thirteen – The Prologue to the War

Chapter Preview: "It's just a matter of minutes until it starts," said Sasuke to the other five as he leaned against the table. They would move from his laboratory to where Itachi would be found until later. Drumming his fingers idly against the metal countertop, he focused his gaze on Shikamaru's laptop, the all-purpose one, if he might add. The surveillance cameras were all wired to his laboratory anyway so it would be easy to see if they were near their destined point. The people in the first group of fifty were on their way to point A. The second group of fifty was already in point B, where they would watch and eventually subdue the members of the first group. Moments later, they were in their positions. Sasuke's eyes widened as he watched, his hand clenched tightly into a fist. "And it starts now." As if on cue, the one who was supposed to start the mission went into a heated argument with his partner.