A/N: I'm sorry for the lag on the update! I started school last Monday (I attend Cal State University of Fullerton). My schedule will probably take a lot of my time, especially on updating this story frequently. But don't fear! Whenever I have the time or if I'm on break, then I will continue updating this. Don't think that I will abandon this fanfic. I enjoy writing it, and I'm glad that many of you are liking it!
To the many of you who provided comments, arigato! It brought a smile to my face when I read the various inputs. They're very encouraging and thoughtful!
So in return, I decided to make this a long chapter. I think this chapter is longer than the previous ones.
Warning: There are explicit and violent descriptions in this chapter. Don't say that I didn't warn you! And yes, there is some good ol' profanity as usual.
Oh yeah, there will be 2 new characters introduced in this chapter as well.
The title of this chapter is from Saosin's song "Lost Symphonies." The chapter is not based on the song itself, but I thought it was appropriate to title this chapter by using that song's name (Disclaimer). So in other words, it's not a songfic.
Enough of my rambling...on with the story!
xoxoxoxox
"Attention everyone, within an hour or so, we will reach the Sound border." Neji proclaimed to the squad. Once again, he activated his Byakugan through his mask to check their surroundings for any danger. He couldn't spot anything harmful at the moment. "It appears to be clear from what I've inspected with my Byakugan so far."
"Good. We won't be wasting our time fighting any idiots," Naruto exclaimed all the way from the back of the group. Sakura let out a small giggle.
"Neh Sakura-chan, how do you feel about reaching the Sound territory, dattebayo?"
She craned her neck to face him and her jade eyes started to widen through the holes of her mask. Naruto felt he jolted her nerves once again, and felt even worse than before. He doesn't want Sakura to have another emotional outburst!
"I honestly don't know. I feel a mixture of nervousness, anger, and fear," Naruto gave a mental sigh of relief and grinned behind his mask.
"I know how you feel, Sakura-chan…"
I wonder if we will encounter Sasuke-kun once we reach there? Sakura thought to herself.
Shannaro! You are going to kick some Sound ass! Inner Sakura exclaimed.
"Hey Sakura-chan!" Kiba snapped her out of thoughts as he ran towards her direction, coming from the front of the group.
"What do you want!" Naruto barked.
"Whoa now! I mean no harm! I just want to talk about Nozomi-chan with Sakura-chan," Kiba formed a huge grin behind his mask.
Oh great, he'll probably bring up Yasashiku-kun too…Sakura mentally groaned to herself.
"Ohhh! Can I listen in on your conversation, dattebayo! I want to hear about your new girlfriend!"
"Haha whatever, baka. Go ahead if you want to," Kiba scoffed.
"Anything new with you and Nozomi-chan?" Sakura broke the death glares the two guys gave each other through their masks.
"Well, since I told you that I spent time with her recently, she got prettier than before! Her hair grew a little longer, and she changed her outfit. I find it to be quite hot, haha!"
"Haha, atta boy, Kiba. You're becoming a pervert!" Naruto chuckled. Sakura bashed him over the head.
"Ow! Gomen, Sakura-chan!"
"Perverts are disgusting!" she detested.
"No, I'm not a perv, you baka! I call her "pretty" and "beautiful" more than anything. I never say she's "sexy" or "hot." It sounds way too immature to do so, especially face-to-face to a girl."
"Atta boy, Kiba!" Sakura patted him on the back, "no wonder she's falling for you!"
"Oh, stop lying just because Sakura-chan is here! You know if you were just talking to me, you would use "sexy" and "hot" in your vocabulary. It will lead to a typical 'guy talk—'" Naruto scoffed and displayed his foxy grin behind his mask.
"Anyway…" Kiba cut him off, "where was I? Oh yeah!—"
At least an hour will pass by very quickly…Sakura thought to herself as she and Naruto continued to listen to Kiba's obsession with Nozomi-chan.
The mass continued to walk at a brisk pace.
Shit! I have to go back to Sound territory in order to reach the Land of Lighting…Sasuke thought to himself as he continued to jump from one tree branch to another. He was about a mile behind the ANBU squad.
An hour passed, and the mass finally reached the Sound border. The scenery around them looked desolate and bleak. Tall grass swayed in motion of the wind, which was the only noise to be heard other than from the group.
Neji activated his Byukugan to be aware of an ambush or guerilla attackers. As he was scanning the area, he saw that the village was about a mile away from them. He was surprised by the fact that he couldn't spot any Sound nins guarding the border. The veins from the corner of his eyes resided beneath his skin. He turned around to face his squad.
"Attention everyone, it appears that this area is safe as well. It's deathly silent and desolate for some reason. Surprisingly, it's clear of any Sound nins. We shall now proceed, but please do with caution. Equip yourselves with your weapons just in case!"
That's odd. Why aren't there any Sound nins guarding this area? I have a suspicion something has occurred here…Sakura thought to herself after hearing her captain's observation.
"Don't you think that it's weird that there are no Sound nins guarding the border?" Naruto asked both Sakura and Kiba. They both nodded.
They all took out their weapons in case an ambush would occur at any moment. Sakura equipped herself with a kunai in her right hand and 2 shurikens in her left.
This is it, the moment I've been waiting for: entering the Sound village. I wonder how it looks like? I can't believe this is actually happening! Sakura's lips started to tremble behind her feline-looking mask.
She was broken out of her thoughts with another proclamation from her captain.
"This is a reminder, everyone: this is a territory owned by Orochimaru. He is a powerful legendary sennin and considered to be extremely dangerous. We must be careful if we come in contact with him. For now, please stick together and do not stray away," Neji eyes darted toward Naruto's direction, "Lieutenant Uzumaki Naruto, please come to the front to accompany me as we proceed towards the village."
"Yes captain!" Naruto replied as he ran towards the front of the group. He caught up to Neji and the whole group continued to cautiously walk through the territory.
Oh my God, what if we really do come in close contact with Orochimaru? How about Sasuke-kun? Sakura felt her heart pound violently within her chest. She could have sworn her heart would burst out from her chest any minute. She started to tremble. Kiba noticed her arms were trembling.
"Sakura-chan, are you OK?" Kiba asked her.
"I'm just a little nervous. That's all. After all, this is our first time going through Sound territory and encountering Orochimaru."
"Ah, I know what you mean. This kind of mission makes me wanna shit in my pants!" Kiba sheepishly laughed and rubbed the back of his head. Sakura let out a soft giggle.
"Byakugan!"
Neji activated his bloodline limit power once again when they were just a few yards away from the Sound village. Naruto observed the bleak surroundings to check and see if the Sound nins were playing a sick joke because none of them have attacked so far. It surprised everyone in the group, including Sakura and Kiba. They still readied themselves with their weapons.
"This is unusual! There are no attackers in sight! Let's proceed once again!" Neji proclaimed as he motioned his left arm towards the village.
Oh fuck, we're getting closer…
Sakura took another step.
…and closer…
And another.
…and closer…
Her heart started to beat faster, and gulped a huge lump in her throat.
Is that the ANBU squad over there? Shit, they're going to see what I did! I have to sneak pass them somehow…
Sasuke still had his chakra concealed as he viewed from a tree branch that wasn't too far behind the group, but not as noticeable to plain view though. He hid within the shadows of the swaying tree leaves. Sasuke was able to view the group, but not as clearly.
OK, if they decide to observe the village, I can manage to slip right past them while having my chakra conceal. I hope they won't spot me!
As the group got closer to the village, Neji and Naruto noticed blood spatter patterns on the ground in front of the massive entrance gate.
"What the fuck happened here!" Naruto growled behind his mask.
"I'd like to know too. It's so damn silent here. This is really unusual," Kiba growled out as well, "captain, should we inspect the area?"
"Hmm, I think it's considerable that we should. We can report back gathered information to Tsunade-sama. It might be resourceful to her," Neji replied to Kiba's question, "everyone, proceed with caution please."
Oh my God, what if…Sasuke-kun…is…
Sakura! Shut up! Stop being pessimistic! Inner Sakura's thoughts interrupted her original reverie.
Sakura's face contorted into a look of despair. She was afraid that she will view a scene that may scar her for the rest of her life. She didn't want to see the decomposing corpse of her beloved. Her world would crumble in front of her eyes if this were to happen.
"Byakugan!" Neji activated his bloodline specialty once again to observe the surroundings of the Sound Village.
It was unusually silent, as if they were walking through a graveyard. They looked around to see worn down houses and shops. It seemed like there was no soul at sight; it was as though everyone that resided in this village decided to pack-up and leave, or even worse…a massacre must have occurred. The scent of blood, rotting corpse, and smoke filled the desolate air of the village. Sakura shuddered at her observations and the disturbing scent in the air.
This must have been like what happened to the Uchiha clan those many years ago. Poor Sasuke-kun. That must have been so hellish for him…Sakura retreated back to her thoughts.
"H-Help! Help, p-please s-s-somebody help!"
The squad looked around to find out where the faint call came from. It sounded like it came from a young boy. Naruto peered through the window of one of the worn down households and saw the boy in the corner of the living room with his mother. They were both quivering from whatever occurred earlier in this village.
"A-are you g-going to h-hurt us?" the young boy asked the golden-haired ANBU squad lieutenant. Naruto slowly raised up his mask from his face and gave the boy his gentle fox grin.
"No, we aren't here to hurt the both of you, dattebayo," Naruto kindly replied. The squad followed Naruto to the household and came inside to gather up the two of them. With much persistence and persuasion, they finally managed to convince them to remove themselves from the corner of the room. The boy and his mother had brunette hair and wore loose, baggy shirts with capri black pants, similar to Orochimaru's Sound attire. This must be the main type of clothing that the Sound villagers wear.
"Captain, can I ask them the whereabouts of Orochimaru…and…Sasuke?" Naruto whispered to Neji, as they both observed Sakura comforting the quivering mother and son.
Neji's face gave a hint of thought and concern mixed together. "Alright. This will be helpful information that we will report to Tsunade-sama. But remember Naruto, don't let your emotions interfere. The one I'm mainly concerned about is Sakura-chan though. What if she finds out that Sa—"
"Captain! Don't you dare think or say anything like that of any nature!" Naruto roared while gritting his teeth. Everyone looked towards his direction.
"Is something wrong, Naruto?" Sakura asked with concern in her voice.
"Lieutenant, you do not raise your voice like that to your captain!" Neji roared back.
Both of the males started to glare at each other, but Sakura ran towards them and came between them. She had her arms out-stretched, holding both of the males back.
"Captain, lieutenant, please don't display such rage here. This is not the time," Sakura proclaimed as she looked towards the ground.
"Sakura-chan is right. Gomenesai, captain," Neji accepted Naruto's apology.
"Go ahead and ask them, Naruto."
Naruto walked towards the mother and son. His azure orbs gave them a look of pity because of the petrified condition they were in. Finally, he mustered the courage to ask them his question. Sakura looked towards their direction, curious to what her best friend is planning to ask them.
"Hey buddy, what is your name?" Naruto asked while ruffling the boy's brunette hair.
"I-I'm K-Kyoshi," the 8-year-old boy stuttered in a barely audible tone.
Aww, his stuttering reminds me of my Hina-chan. I miss her already…Naruto reminisced for a little bit.
"…and how about you, ma'am?" he broke out of his reverie and gazed up at the beautiful brunette woman's midnight orbs.
"My name is Koto."
"Nice to meet the both of you! My name is Uzumaki Naruto, dattebayo!" Naruto displayed his foxy grin to them once again, "that's my name! Don't wear it out!"
Both of them formed a small smile and chuckled at Naruto's friendly and goofy demeanor.
"I would like to ask you both a question. I know it maybe a little too frightening to recollect the events that occurred earlier, but it would greatly help our group to find out what happened so we can protect the both of you furthermore," Naruto asked with a serious and concerned tone in his voice.
"I would like to know what happened here earlier, and the whereabouts of your leader, Orochimaru?" he cleared his throat to continue.
"…and a certain raven-haired shinobi named Uchiha Sasuke…?"
Both of them shuddered a little bit at Naruto's straight-forward interrogating and hesitated to answer the questions. Silence loomed over the individuals. Sakura had a look of anticipation on her face, waiting for the both of them to answer the very same questions she was contemplating about earlier.
Kyoshi finally mustered up courage to answer Naruto's questions. "I-I'm going t-to answer N-Naruto-san's q-questions, o-okaasan," His mother looked at her son with a concerned look but accepted the fact he was brave enough to do so. "Go ahead then, honey…"
"A-all I remember s-seeing was f-fire and s-smoke coming from O-Orochimaru-sama's compound. E-Everyone started r-running all over t-the place. T-They were screaming and I t-think a l-lot of them decided to p-pack up and l-leave the village. There a-are proba-ba-bly some o-other people here t-too, b-but are too scared t-to come o-out. They're proba-ba-bly sc-scared that th-they will get h-hurt as well, b-but I know h-he wouldn't h-hurt anyone e-else in t-t-this v-village—"
Sakura's mouth gaped open and had a look of more anticipation, sensing that he wasn't done answering the question. Naruto looked at the boy with a soft expression and encouraged Kyoshi to continue on.
"Kyoshi-kun, who is this "he" you are talking about?"
"H-his k-katana w-was covered with b-b-blood and g-guts. I-I tried to a-ask h-him what h-h-happened…"
"Who, Kyoshi-kun?" Sakura accidently blurted out. She immediately covered her mouth with her hands due to embarrassment.
Dammit Sakura! Don't get so fucking antsy now! Let the boy talk! Inner Sakura blurted out in her mind.
"S-S-Sasuke-san…"
The squad's reaction was a mixture of shock and astonishment. Sakura's emerald orbs widened and her mouth gaped open even more, while Naruto's expression went blank.
"What did Sasuke-san do, Kyoshi-kun?" Naruto continued to ask.
"S-Sasuke-san was r-running f-fast and h-he saw m-me on the st-street b-because I was w-watching the s-smoke c-coming from O-Orochimaru's p-place. He picked m-me up and p-placed m-me on my d-doorstep. H-He told m-me that 'e-everything will b-be OK f-from n-now on and n-not to w-worry anymore f-for my safe-t-ty,'" Kyoshi started to twiddle his fingers and tears started to develop in his huge, innocent eyes, "I-I miss S-S-Sasuke-san b-because he w-was like an o-older b-brother to m-me. H-He was n-n-nicer to m-me and the o-other people h-here compared t-t-to O-Orochimaru-sama a-and K-Kabuto-san. S-Sasuke-kun was w-well-liked i-in our v-v-village."
Koto nodded in agreement to what her son just stated about Sasuke.
Oh no, I hope the villagers are not in harm's way since the ANBU squad are there now.
Sasuke was yards away from the Sound village entrance and tried his best to continue concealing his chakra. He ran swiftly and managed to be out of the squad's sight range.
Kyoshi-kun, remember what I told you, everything will be OK now! If the ANBU punks try to hurt you or the other villagers, I hope you all are strong enough to defend yourselves! I know all of you are…
Sasuke glanced sorrowfully at the village's gates and continued on pursuing his quest to find his brother.
I'll get their first before those dumbasses!
Sakura and Naruto's expressions were of astonishment. Even Neji, Kiba, Ten-Ten, and Shino were surprised at the fact that Sasuke was even nice to other people.
S-Sasuke-kun actually has a heart? Am I dreaming? Sakura thought to herself.
"You're doing a good job, kiddo. Do you know what happened to Orochimaru-sama and Kabuto-san, Kyoshi-kun?" Naruto continued on.
"I-I really d-don't k-know. S-Sasuke-san said h-he had a f-fight w-with b-both of t-them. H-He said he h-had to l-leave to fulf-fill h-his g-goal. H-he said h-he w-will be b-back to s-see us a-again s-someday," he looked up at Naruto's azure orbs, "m-maybe you s-should check o-out O-Orochimaru-s-sama's c-compound b-because m-my m-mother a-and I didn't s-see h-him c-come out for m-many h-hours…"
"I think we should go and do that," Naruto agreed and ruffled Kyoshi's hair once again, "arigato for your help! Oh, and the way you talk and twiddle your fingers like that reminds me of my girlfriend back at home," he smiled at the boy once again.
"You're c-cool, N-Naruto-san! You k-kind of r-remind m-me of S-Sasuke-san!" the boy smiled while he wiped the remaining tears from his midnight orbs.
Naruto looked at him with a soft expression. Really? I remind him of Sasuke-teme? Wow, that's a first…
"Arigato, Kyoshi-kun and Ms. Koto for your help and generosity," Neji went up to both of them and shook their hands. Sakura and some of the other proceeded to do the same. Sakura was the most gracious one. She decided to give them bear hugs for their reliability.
Some of the other ANBU squad members and hunter-nins decided to remain in the village to look after the mother and son, and to find other petrified villagers hiding in their homes.
Sakura, Naruto, and Neji took the initiative to go to Orochimaru's compound to investigate the scene.
Sasuke-kun, what the hell did you do here? she asked herself once they reached the huge gate door of the snake sennin's lair.
Once they opened the heavy gate door, they saw a horrendous scene: parts of the lair was burnt down; furniture and other furnishings were broken and scattered everywhere; there was blood splattered all over the place; there was still some smoke emitting from some charred furniture and the walls; the distinct scent of smoke and decomposition mixed together intoxicated the air.
Sakura and Naruto gagged from the strong scent. They both shuddered at the sight they saw, but knew the fact that Sasuke was not among the ruins since Kyoshi-kun stated that he ran away. Neji activated his Byukugan to observe more of the surroundings.
"I don't see them here. Maybe there is a room at the bottom level," he tried to look for the staircase leading towards the downstairs room with his bloodline limit. He finally found a partly charred door among the array of broken furnishings.
"There it is. Let's go!"
The 3 of them ran towards the door, removed the rubble in front of it, and Sakura used her "smashy, smashy" strength to punch the door open. They made their way down the cobble-stone stairs.
"Oh…my…dear…God…"
"Holy shit…"
"…"
The 3 of them were extremely astonished at the scene they witnessed in the huge room: Orochimaru's corpse was strewn in the middle of the floor. His head was a few inches away from his charred corpse. A vast amount of blood flowed from his headless neck and dried up on the floor. Bits of tissue matter were scattered within the dried up crimson blood and limp blood vessel protruded from the remains of his neck. His head was facing towards their direction. His eyes were still open but his snake-like pupils were rolled to the back of head. His eyes looked like they were still glaring but with only the whites of the eyes showing. His mouth was open and grinning in a maniacal manner, with his long slithering snake tongue drooping from it.
Oh my God, Sasuke-kun…y-you…m-murdered…Orochimaru…Sakura almost gagged and fainted at the sight of Orochimaru's decapitated head from his body.
As the 3 of them sorted through the rubble, they managed to find Kabuto's mangled body. He was badly sliced up and he was missing his right arm. Sakura felt the urge to vomit even more when she saw Kabuto's blood vessels protruding from the dismembered right arm and blood trickling on to the rubble. He had a huge chunk of wood impaled through his heart area. Blood and tissue matter dried up on the deadly wooden weapon. His eyes were still open, but had a blank expression on his face. His mouth was slightly agape with a streak of blood running down the left corner of his mouth. His glasses were mixed up with the rubble, broken into miniscule pieces.
He got too carried away. He actually caused this bloody madness? Sakura's skin color drained out of her.
"Fucking Sasuke-teme. He literally massacred the hell out of these 2…" Naruto solemnly said as he was plugging his nose from the pungent odor of decomposition.
"He definitely did…" Neji agreed as he plugged his nose as well.
"Sakura-chan, are you alright?" Naruto asked as he glanced at Sakura coughing and gagging.
"I 'cough' don't get it. I'm used to 'cough' seeing corpses since I'm a medic 'cough' nin, but for some 'cough' reason, I'm not used to seeing 'cough' THIS…" Sakura finally ran to a pile of rubble and vomited on top of it. Naruto ran to her side and patted her back.
"Don't worry, Naruto. I'm fine." Sakura reassured her best friend.
"At least he got rid of that Orochimaru-teme and Kabuto-teme! They deserved to die anyway since they attacked Konoha and killed the Sandaime! I hope they burn in hell, especially for taking Sasuke away from us!" Naruto said with a mixture relief and anger.
"I wonder where he ran off to…" Sakura muttered but both of the males heard her.
"As much as I want to find him as both of you do, that is not our mission. Our actual mission is to find and execute Uchiha Itachi," Neji stated matter-of-factly.
"We both know it is, but Sasuke was our teammate and we miss him dearly, dattebayo," Naruto replied back, trying to hold in his emotions.
"Yes we do, but we have to concentrate on hunting down Itachi first, Naruto," Sakura interjected, "then maybe after that, Tsunade-sama will grant us a mission to find Sasuke-kun."
"I'm sorry that emotions had to interfere at this point of the mission, but we must put them aside and continue on with out mission," Neji stated, "but I'm sorry if I'm sounding like an ass right now. This is my duty as a captain to tell you both to co-operate."
"We understand, Neji. You're still our good pal," Naruto patted him on the back, "don't worry, you're doing a great job as being our captain!"
"Alright then, as duty of a captain, let's commence on our mission. We must continue towards the Land of Lightning. Let's go!"
They trudged through the rubble and walked up the stairs. Sakura was feeling a bit discombobulated after the scene she just witnessed. She didn't know how to comprehend it.
Am I happy and relieved that he killed the both of them? Or am I afraid of the fact that he killed them in such a brutal and violent fashion? Did he change in a good or bad way? Did he even change at all? she had so many questions racing through her mind.
"OK, we'll report what we saw to the other squad members and to Tsunade-sama once we come back to Konoha," Neji interrupted Sakura's thoughts.
They continued climbing up the stairs.
'ACHOO'
Sasuke pulled down his mask and let out a sneeze as he continued towards the Land of Lightning.
Hmm is someone thinking of me? Is it one of the ANBU members? They probably found the corpse of Orochimaru and Kabuto in the lair. Meh, those fuckers deserved it anyway after what they put me through…
A/N: Sorry if Sasuke seems a little OOC in this, but I thought it would be good for this chapter.
Oh yeah, I got Kyoshi and Koto's name from a website that listed common Japanese names (I'm not Japanese myself, so I had to do it).
Kyoshi means "quiet" (ironic because he seems to talk a lot lol), and Koto means harp. Notice how their names deal with melody and sound? Well since they reside in the Sound Village, I gave them names dealing with melody and sound.