Vengeance in Seven Days

By: Crystal Avatar

Disclaimer: For the last time- I do not own the character names Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, Hinata and Fugaku! They belong to Kishimoto Masahi! (Man, for some reason, I feel like this won't be the last time I'll have to say this.)

Author's Note: Welcome to Chapter Five, Part Two! Thanks to all those who have reviewed the story, and I also acknowledge the latest reviewer fReAk PeAk- I love Hiroko and Misa-chan too, but I'm not sure if they'll be making another appearance. We shall wait and see, hehehe.

C.A

Punctuation Notes

"Talking" 'Thinking' SFX (Author comments)

Day Five – 'Conflict', Part II
Naruto's eyes went wide in disbelief. He could not believe where the guards had taken him.

Past the bridges to the northern, richer sections of the town, he found himself standing once more at the great gates, now open, to the gardens that surrounded the mayor's great home in the village. As he walked sullenly through the gate, he immediately noticed the tree that Sakura had been sitting under that day, as well as the bushes he had been stalking from.

'Sakura kissed him.'

Naruto struck the thought from his mind and proceeded onward towards the great verandahs that skirted the household. A heavy rock had settled itself in his belly and he could hardly breathe, secretly fearing that the next guard who would walk by would recognize him straight away as the perpetrator of the assassination of their great leader.

'Impossible, don't be afraid, man: the guards never detected you that night and, even so, your face had been concealed. Just relax and calm down or you'll give yourself away.'

He snuck a glance at Hinata, the beautiful, strong, blue-haired girl who walked by his side. Her face was passive, lacking any expression, until she noticed him looking and she smiled warily back at the boy, unsure of what dangers would threaten them both.

'Hinata-san… I am so sorry. We'll get out of this soon…'

The guards led them up to the wooden verandahs where they removed their boots and kneeled deeply into the ground. There, the leader of the guards who had been guiding them stepped up humbly, dropped onto his backside, and slid the door open slowly and patiently. After he had opened the door, the other guards saluted the figure in front of them and silently returned to patrol in the gardens.

"Shinta-san and Hinata-san, outsiders to the village of leaf, great Mayor."

Naruto and Hinata kneeled side by side, keeping their heads close to the ground in deep respect of the owner of the house, whom they had expected to meet them.

"I see. Captain Shikamaru, you are dismissed."

"Yes, Mayor," the lead guard said, leaving the three at the entranceway.

"Please, both of you stand up. You don't need be so humble towards me. You are guests."

Naruto stood up first, quickly and agitated. Calm on the outside, he was intently scanning the room for any hidden threats, enemy ninja eager to ambush them. After he had spent a second searching the shadows, he turned his focus towards the man in the center.

The mayor was an old, but tough-looking man. He wore a well-sized beard and a plain, black eye patch over his left eye. His right eye managed to shine with an age-old pride that time had not yet been able to extinguish. He regarded the two kneeling figures in front of him, behind his complex, white robes.

"Tokugawa Hinata?" The Mayor remarked, amused.

"Hatake-sensei?"

Hinata scoffed, visibly pleased. Her hand rose to her open mouth in disbelief.

"What a coincidence. How goes your father, Lord Tokugawa?" The mayor smiled sincerely.

"He's healthy, and you?"

"Just fine," the Mayor replied before a wave of sorrow washed over his face momentarily.

"I hadn't seen you since you were a child. You have changed, Hinata-san. You seem stronger, more powerful than before. When I met you, you were still a shy, young teenager."

Hatake had been one of Lord Tokugawa's most loyal retainers throughout the years. In fact, he had even been trusted with tutoring Hinata back at the castle when she was a child. Hatake had not stayed for long however and had left to oversee a small town he had inherited from his father after he had died. That town was Leaf and now he had become her Mayor.

Hinata laughed, which somehow drew attention to Naruto standing beside her. He was silent and trying to understand their relationship.

"My, is this your boyfriend?" Hatake asked, admiring the young man.

"He is very close," Hinata replied, not answering the question, but giving a sly smile.

"My name is Shinta-san, I am a traveling poet. We met here in Leaf by coincidence."

Naruto thought to himself. His late security guard, Fugaku, was definitely guilty of treason against their lands, but what of Mayor Hatake? He couldn't be sure of him and so he stayed quiet. His silence and unwillingness to say more was obvious and apparent.

"I see," the Mayor said after some time. "Well, I better not keep the both of you. I'm sure you have heard the most unpleasant news of our Security Chief, Fugaku, passing away last night. His death was by natural causes," He said with a grim expression. "His son, Sasuke-san, has informed me that he would like to invite you and Shinta-san to dinner with him and his fiancé, Sakura-san. It should just be the four of you tonight, I hope the servants take care of you all."

Hinata choked inside: was the mayor trying to hide Naruto's assassination?

Then,

"Will you not be joining us, Hatake-sensei?"

"I-" Suddenly a guard rushed through the door and cut off the Mayor's speech.

"I'm sorry to disturb you like this," the familiar face of the lead guard, Shikamaru, begged, "But something has happened to Hiroko-san back at the Inn! Come quickly! A disaster!"

The three who stood at the doorway took in the news with a simultaneous gasp of surprise.

The Mayor spoke immediately.

"Forgive me, but matters have called for my presence. Please, Shinta-san, Hinata-san, make your way upstairs. On the third floor, in the eastern wing, Sasuke-san has prepared a great dinner for you all. I have told him not to expect me so please make your way with my apologies. Oh and Hinata-san," he added as he turned to leave, "it was good to see you again. Bring your father my good wishes. Goodbye."

And Hatake-sensei disappeared into the gardens, following Shikamaru into the night.

Naruto paused for a second, 'What had happened to Hiroko back at the Inn?'

"Come, let's finish this and leave. We must see what they want from us," he said finally.

Hinata nodded silently and took the young man's hand as if she was blind and he would be guiding her through the darkness of the large, spacious home. It was a fitting idea, using Naruto as the guide, for he had already studied the layout of the house intensely and knew where every room lay. He had even already acted on this knowledge some nights ago.

"Third floor…" Hinata murmured redundantly.

They had reached the end of the entrance hall and ascended the stairs and turned the corner on the second floor, bumping into two maids that were standing by the side of their path to the second flight of steps. They bowed politely and gestured to the top of the set of stairs as if they were lights leading them to the dinner. On the third floor they found a similar pair of maids standing outside a paper door. Through the screens they could see lanterns being burnt in many places of the room, illuminating the dining chamber with a fiery glow.

"Shinta-san, Hinata-san. Welcome," the maids bowed in a curtsey.

Naruto slid the door open and stepped into the lit dining room after having received the implication that there was no need to bow politely on entry. The Master, Sasuke, had asked that they be sent into the chamber to joint hem immediately and with minimal time-consuming formalities.

"Hello and welcome," a dark voice slithered, " Please have a seat."

It was a cozy room and its size, the two visitors noticed, was merely exaggerated by the lantern light. The low, flat table of the center of the room could not have been longer than eight feet long. Dotted against the walls were small pieces of wooden furniture setting: smaller tables, flowerpots and bonsai gardens. His side of the wall had even been decorated with a sword holder- in it's wooden antlers lay a katana and a wazikashi.

Sitting on one side of the center table, Naruto could see the source of the voice.

It was the man Sakura had called 'Sasuke'.

Halfway down the table away from him sat a woman wearing the ornate robes of a geisha.

Sakura.

Naruto's eyes froze on the girl for a second. He noted that her long, silky pink hair had been tied into a bun and that her face had been powdered white so that no blemishes could be seen. She was striking as always, an image of terrifying beauty. It made his heart ache.

Then he turned to Sasuke. This was their first meeting.

Sasuke was a darkened soul. His black hair strung back unnaturally, as if the very authority he exuded had hardened all of his features into a blunt stone. His features were sharp and angled like a hawk's and his eyes, although relaxed, seemed almost fiery.

Naruto's instincts could feel hostility in all angles. The mad distrust and contempt Sasuke seemed to have for his two visitors seem to reach into their minds like tiny snakes.

"Sasuke-sama, you have summoned me. Why?"

"Sit first," Sasuke ordered with fake sincerity for their comfort.

Naruto sat, Hinata, clutching eagerly to him, followed his lead. She huddled close to the young man, not wanting to act until he had decided on a course of action.

Then, Naruto picked up the chopsticks in front of him.

Sakura was quiet, gazing at Naruto and Hinata with a relaxed naivety. She didn't seem to care at all whether or not guests were attending and appeared as a statue, except for the occasional blinking of her eyes and the slow waving of her head.

'Does she not recognize me?' Naruto's first instinct wondered.

'She's just remaining quiet, as a geisha would, if ordered too. She will not speak unless spoken too and will reveal no hidden thoughts or feelings about you to the table.' His thoughts answered back.

Hinata-san noticed the geisha's unnerving behavior also, becoming silent in her watchful gaze and speechless consideration. Occasionally, the geisha, she noticed, would look lovingly towards the dark man at the end of the table, his fiancé, apparently, to agree with him.

Which is what she did now.

"I am honored. Outsiders have obliged. Outsiders! Please eat- there is fish, eggs, rice balls, hibachi meat…" He declared as he pointed to every dish that lay on the table.

Hinata looked at Naruto with a disturbed look on her face as if she suspected the food to be poisoned. In reality, she harbored no suspicion towards the host couple at all. It was Naruto's behavior and general mood since they had entered the house that bothered her the most.

Then there was also the fact that his instincts were rarely ever wrong.

She looked at him as if to say, 'What's wrong, Naruto? What are you thinking?'

Naruto returned a gaze to the blue-haired girl, 'I don't know. This isn't right. Let me think.'

Naruto looked at Sakura, her shapely body hidden warmly under her large robe. She was silent, but she had already picked up her chopsticks and was keen to eat. When he saw Sasuke pick up his, she began to pick at the food on the table. Naruto, not wanting to offend this unknown, but fear inducing boy, picked up a rice ball with his sticks.

"What brings you to Leaf, Shinta-san? Hiroko has already told me that you are a poet? Is this true? What would a traveling poet have to seek here in our small village in the country?"

Sasuke's voice was firm and accusatory.

"Inspiration," Naruto took a bite out of the rice ball, chewing it slowly.

"Ah, I see. And you, Hinata-san. You are widely known as the princess of our great Lord Tokugawa. But why are you here? Tokugawa has interest in our humble affairs?"

Sasuke had spoken the last line with poorly disguised contempt for the warrior-daughter. He had also chosen to used the lower –san prefix, as opposed to the –sama prefix to which she was entitled to a person of Sasuke's rank and familiarity. It seemed that he did not care at all and was not afraid of the consequences of fooling with a woman of such power.

His eyes still made Hinata tremble slightly, however.

"Shinta-san is a friend. I have come to bring him back, my father calls for his services."

"Really? Interesting."

"What, if I may ask, Sasuke-sama, do you find so interesting? Why are we here?" Naruto asked firmly, but gently, trying not to anger without sacrificing answers.

"Nothing serious, really," Sasuke assured, dipping a piece of chicken into a bowl of soy sauce, "Except that everything fits together too… I don't know. Too well. Extremely well, in fact."

"What? What do you mean?" Naruto mused, trying his best to sound innocent.

"My father, as you outsiders may or may not already know, passed away earlier this week, a few nights ago. His name was Uchiha Fugaku, Captain of Security in this village."

The three listeners showed no outside response to the news he revealed. He continued.

"We're keeping the death secret and we tell as many within the house as we can that it was a death of natural causes. But the rumors are unraveling us and gossip is probing our claims."

Naruto watched as the geisha slipped a portion of fish meat into her mouth, her mind seemed to be elsewhere, concentrating only on the food. She peeked at the two visitors now and then, unobtrusively and politely though, as if she were shy and had never met either of them.

"What really happened, Sasuke-sama. What are you getting at?" Hinata asked.

"That my father was murdered!" Sasuke yelled, bringing all those at the table to freeze.

Silence followed. Then the dark-haired boy continued speaking, reverting time to normal.

"That he was murdered, by someone's sword. His throat had been cut."

"Why do you tell us then?" Hinata asked again, noticing that Sasuke's gaze was fixed on Naruto now. She had not been able to break his attention.

"What do you mean everything fits together well?" Shinta added defensively.

"Well, let me tell you what I know, Shinta-san."

Sasuke breathed and stated his logical case. He had been pondering it for some time.

"Number one: one of my most trusted maids, Haruka, disappeared from this house on the third night of this week. Later my guards tell me that they saw her coming from the Inn."

Naruto paused and remembered the girl he had met, the maid who had taught him everything about Fugaku's dwelling, completing his plans. Then, he remembered with a dread chill the eerie voice that called itself The Siren, and how it had guided him to Haruka, the maid.

"Number two: my father is discovered dead the next day on the fourth night of this week. Haruka was one of the only people of this mansion trusted with the allowance of entering my old father's room. She has been cleared as a murder suspect, but not yet as an accomplice."

Naruto turned his head slyly to the wall, as if his x-ray vision could penetrate the walls and ceiling above to where he had slain Fugaku that night.

"Number three: the next day, day five of this week, my guards inform me of a boisterous, young woman of blue-hair and leather armor searching about the town for a blonde-haired boy. She is immediately recognized as the daughter of Lord Tokugawa and her search, villagers had informed me, ended quite forcefully at the Inn when she had found you, Shinta-san. Hiroko the innkeeper would later come to confirm this fact to me."

Hinata's eyes narrowed. She was becoming anxious and fearful of this 'Sasuke' as he detailed certain events with calm, accurate detail as he sliced and ate at pieces of meat.

"Number four," Sasuke went on like a robot, "Hiroko overhears an intimate conversation between our princess and the traveling poet. It is one in which she uses another name to refer to him. Whether or not this is some playful nickname shared between secret lovers, I am not sure, but the fact that a woman of your status, Hinata-san, would lower yourself to associate so fondly with him irks me."

"Cut to the point, Sasuke-sama, what are you implying?" Hinata begged, bordering on anger.

"My maid, who has exclusive knowledge of my father, escapes to an Inn. The next day my father dies. This very same Inn also happens to contain a poet who appears inappropriately intimate with Lady Tokugawa, and she implies that our poet has another identity."

"So what, Sasuke-sama? None of this is connected. There is no sense in this," Naruto countered, finishing another rice ball, carefully and slowly.

"Oh they are linked: The maid is linked to that Inn. That Inn is linked to you, Shinta-san. And Shinta-san, you are apparently very strongly linked to Tokugawa also. If I find that my maid is linked to any of you, then this could prove to turn out more interesting than I ever imagined."

"Haruka-san," the geisha murmured. Her voice was so soft it could have been mistaken for the cool passing of a small breeze.

Naruto turned and saw his friend, Hinata, trembling uncontrollably under the weight of Sasuke's accusations. He was breaking her spirit, scaring her into what she had once been- a shy, weak-spirited girl, who crumbled in tense situations. Years of hard military training and conditioning went down the drain under Sasuke's deep and powerful scrutiny.

"God," Hinata gasped, as her shaking tilted her chopsticks unevenly, causing her to drop a rice ball from enough height to knock her bowl of soy sauce over. The black liquid poured down the table and stained the tatami matting underneath a dark shade of red.

Naruto and Sakura remained without response. It was Sasuke who cried out next.

"Maid, clean this mess!" He called at the closed door abrasively, frustrated.

Within seconds the door to the dining room slid open and in scampered a young female maid. Her hair was tied back, although not as neatly placed as Sakura's, and whose face was attractive in an adorable sense. Suddenly, Naruto recognized who this girl was.

It was Haruka. The informant from the inn.

She stumbled inside, her head pointed solidly at the ground, and ran awkwardly towards where Hinata was sitting, producing a dark cloth and rubbing at the stained matting obsessively with it. Dried tears stained her face once more and new ones threatened to take their place. Sasuke had terrified her beyond her wits.

She was close enough to Hinata to breathe on, but she had not had the bravery to look up at either the hosts or the guest's faces, fearing retribution later on. She had certainly suffered after Fugaku's death- whether through interrogation or general, rough gossip of her involvement in the death. She was a young lady who had aged much in pure stress.

Naruto tried his best to look away immediately. It was his sly attempt at hiding his face from the maid's recognition should she look up from her cleaning for any reason.

"Haruka," Sakura's voice again as if she were speaking to her most favored servant. Her voice was a clear resonant instrument that sounded like a thousand birds chirping. "You are wiping so hard that it disturbs our guests. Please apologize."

Naruto and Hinata could not help but admire the sound of her pretty voice completing an entire sentence. Both of their faces turned to see her lips return seductively to themselves.

Haruka glanced up for a second at the guests to apologize when the words lodged themselves in her throat. Right behind her, she noticed, was a head full of bright, blonde hair.

Familiar, blonde hair, she noticed, and blue, crystal eyes too.

'It's him', she thought, not ever having found out his name.

She stopped what she was doing and her mouth gaped open in surprise recognition.

That was all Sasuke needed: watching the whole situation and what her reaction was like.

"The maid," he said in stern declaration, "Is linked to Shinta-san."

Naruto's head rolled back to the front and at that moment he could swear he could see the veins in his forehead popping, his eyes turning red with silent rage.

"Guards!" Sasuke made a low guttural cry to the outside of the room.

The game of deceit had ended and Naruto had lost. He had no other choice but to fight now.

"Hina! Get up!" Naruto cried, urgency in his voice. "You too, Haruka! Leave!"

The maid obeyed immediately and scampered off between the guard's legs.

Naruto regained his feet like an agile cat and wheeled around to snatch the sword and wazikashi from the holders behind him. The guards burst through the door next to him and charged at the guests waiting inside as if they had rehearsed this arrest many times before. Sakura and Sasuke had already regained their footing and the dark-haired boy was already dragging the geisha by the hand through another door on their side of the room, leaving the guards to handle Naruto and Hinata.

CLANG! SHING!

Metal bit metal as Naruto parried a strike from the guard's spears, one failing to stab Hinata's chest by mere inches. Naruto passed the smaller sword, the wazikashi, to Hinata.

"Get behind me and see if you can watch my back while I think! I'll hold these guys off!" He rasped quickly while the guards were dazed, wondering if they wanted to attempt taking on such an impressive swordsman.

They decided quickly.

"You will die, outsider, for daring to resist us!"

One million thoughts rushed through Naruto's head at once.

'How had he not known Hiroko was reporting his actions to Sasuke? Why had Sakura remained quiet given the time they spent together? Was Sasuke a part of his father's schemes too? Or was all he wanted was the honor of avenging him?

SHING!

Naruto's katana deflected another strike. Luckily, the table could only allow one guard at a time to challenge him. He could easily handle them until Hinata behind them could determine whether or not they should push towards the way Sasuke had run.

Suddenly, one of the guards lined behind the man now attacking Naruto, of which there were four in total, jumped up on to the table, not caring for the mess he would make. He lunged daringly at the boy, but landed with a thud on to the end of his sword.

SHIG! SPLAT!

His sword entered through the jumping guard's stomach and tore itself out of its side.

That's when Naruto's patience broke, right as his shoulders bumped into her face behind him.

"Hina-chan, stay as far back as you can for me and wait there."

Naruto screamed a lone, howling cry. He would make the guards regret their pitiful attempts.

He charged at the group, challenging their numbers with blind bravado. The first fell with a downward slash clipping him at the shoulder and across his chest. The next strike came, a spurt of blood blowing forth, through the face of the man behind and out the back of his skull. Naruto withdrew his blade in time to block the next man's strike, holding his sword at bay an inch from his face. He saw that there were two left to deal with, as he struggled to hold his strong enemy's sword at bay.

"Har!" The guard screamed, throwing Naruto off balance and forcing him to drop his sword to the ground. He smiled with sadistic glee when he saw that he had disarmed his opponent.

Naruto's eyes followed his sword, spying that one of his chopsticks was still lying on the table, one half of it poking out from the edge.

"Not yet," Naruto called before his foot came down and flipped the chopstick into the air and into his hand. With his free hand he grabbed the sword of his enemy before it could come down and end him, holding it there above his hair, pulling the guard towards him and finally, stabbing the chopstick through his right eye. It failed to come out through the other end of his skull, but the implement did its job, falling the man in a spurt of red blood.

The last guard staggered back in fear of this crazed, blonde warrior.

The maids screamed at the red spurts of life fluid staining at the paper walls from inside the room. They rushed to clear the corridor, screaming prayers of safety and mercy.

Then suddenly the bloodstained, rice paper wall fell outwards, as a man fell through it with enough force to mangle a tree. He had been thrown through the wall, creating a man-sized hole through which the maids could see the chaos and death lingering inside. Whether he was dead or unconscious was hard to say, but there was no movement from his body.

Naruto's eyes peaked through the hole to see if there were any more armed men waiting in the corridor outside. When he was sure, he stepped through the hole, Hinata's hand clutched eagerly to his own. He knew the Lieutenant could take care of herself if they were separated.

"Damn it!" Naruto screamed. "Where'd he go?"

That's when he noticed maids clambering from downstairs, rushing up to run into him on the third floor. They were coming from below.

Hinata saw this too.

"Let's go," She cried.

"And finish this," Naruto added.

And so the pair, both armed with steel, headed downstairs to meet their opponents where Naruto knew they would be waiting for him in the gardens outside.

Haruka clambered through the entrance hall ahead of the two outsiders. Clearly in front of her, she could see her master, Sasuke, blindly dragging his fiancé, Sakura, with him as if she were a rag doll. She watched as they left the house and found the grass, turning around again to face their enemies when they should leave through the doors.

Sasuke noticed Haruka trying to exit the house.

"Haruka, dear, where are you going?" Sasuke asked melodically, seizing the maid by the arm.

"Master, I'm afraid," The maid sobbed.

"Do not worry, Haruka, there is no need to be scared anymore."

And then Haruka choked, her eyes drawn wide by the new and sudden pain. Then Sasuke withdrew his sword from the stab wound he had created in the young girl's belly.

"I release you," Sasuke whispered, a sadistic grin nearly reaching his face.

Haruka's remaining moments were short. Because she been an orphan for as long as she could remember, she did not know who her final thoughts would turn too. Ironically, she found she could still muster the strength, however, to recite a poem that the maids had chanted to remind them that swords were powerful tools and not for the likes of their working class.

"The sword is nothing/Without a master, it rests/Steel is forged for pain."

'If only,' she thought, 'someone cared whether or not I died. My fate is that of a mere pawn in this struggle between powerful men and I am powerless to stop any of it. How unfair…'

Her last thoughts drained from her body as her lifeblood seeped into the snags and carpet of the cherry blossom trees. The sakura flowers were extremely beautiful this year round.

COMING SOON! THE THIRD PART OF THIS CHAPTER!

Thanks for your keeping up, readers!

In the final episode of Conflict...

The endgame arrives!
Naruto or Sasuke- which of the two will achieve their vengeance?
Passions collide and sparks fly- why must people die?

Nothing's certain except death, taxes and vengeance...

Stay tuned for some love-crazed desperation in the next chapter!