Chapter 3 No toast for me

To be calm during the mission? Are you saying that I have to be calm during this mission on the Leaf during the chuunin exam? Do you dare to imply that I'm ever not calm! I'm always calm during any mission! Now get out of my face, or I'll kill you!

Gaara of the Sand

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The first thing to do was to find out where the target was. They went to her home, where she lived with her father. The mother had divorced her father and left the Leaf village seven years ago. Her current location was unknown. The girl's name was Cara. Seventeen years old. Her house was an old building in dire need of repairs.

Kakashi waited outside while Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura started searching for any clue inside.

Naruto and Sakura searched inside the room while Sasuke walked around the house. A few minutes later they met again.

"Look Sasuke; there are some discarded maps over here. They were hidden behind a desk." commented Sakura a few minutes later.

"Hai, hai. I was the one that found all those maps." Yelled Naruto "And we already know where she went..."

"They went to Hamu. A city in the North of Fire Country, quite close to the border with the Grass Country" interrupted Sasuke

Pause.

"How... how did you know?"

"Too easy. The girl's father is very avaricious, even if he is rich. You can easily see that looking around this old house. He doesn't love her very much either, and a proof of that is that he was more concerned about the money than about his own daughter. So the girl, even as the heiress of one of the biggest fortunes of the Leaf, has had very few luxuries and love in life. After she stole the money from her father, she found herself with more money than ever. She would then choose to elope to the most beautiful and fashionable place she could think of. The best place would be Hamu. It's a very popular place for honeymooners because of its romantic landscape and beautiful monuments. The map just confirms my suspicions. They are runaway amateurs"

Sakura looked at him with adoration in his eyes. Naruto looked at him with anger. Sasuke sighed. Those two had already apparently forgotten him losing control before. So they were back to annoying-mode. Not that it was so bad, anyway. They were all right. He would remember them gladly after he went to the Sound

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"You have done well guessing the girl is here. But this city is very big and the money can be spent very quickly." Kakashi warned "You better find her fast."

"And what are you going to do, sensei?"

"Me? Well..." Kakashi looked around and started walking to a bookshop "I guess I'll be around"

A collective groan came out from Team 7, and a series of thoughts about their sensei slacking off and being a pervert crossed everybody's mind.

"We will be dividing the work. I'll go to check all the hotels, and inns in the old part of the city. That's where they probably are. Naruto, you will check the new city, even if there are only a few hotels there" Sasuke explained.

"Sasuke, you bastard! You want all the glory for yourself! I want the old city by myself!"

"Ok, ok. You can have the old city." admitted Sasuke. "Sakura, you will go to the places honeymooners tend to go: Monuments, the Sakura's Trees Avenue, Main Street, the Tower of Love and stuff like that. We will be permanently in contact by radio. Good luck to all."

Sasuke started walking to the new part of the city, followed by Sakura's worried look. Behind them, Naruto used Kage Bushin, and some hundreds Narutos ran toward their objective.

Sasuke had a half-smile in his face. He was thinking about Naruto.

The good thing about him was that he was very predictable. He would never give up, he would never run away, even when common sense so recommended, he would let himself be ruled by emotions, he would try to act cool and he would always try to make him look bad. To trick him into the old part of the city was far too easy. That was a job that needed to be done, just in case, but it was probably worthless. It was true that there were many hotels in the old part of the city. The most expensive hotels were in the new city, and he was sure that the target was in one of those hotels. They had enough money for that. Considering the short time that had passed since the girl had ran out of her home and their arrival, and that shinobis were able to close long distances far faster than normal people, he was confident they still hadn't left the hotel.

Sasuke never noticed that there was somebody following him.

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Naruto stopped for a second. His clones had searched every single room in thirty inns already. In most of them they occupants had chased them down. Maybe there was an easier way of finding the girl without bothering everybody else?

Naruto thought for some seconds. He soon decided that his method was faster, and rushed the fastest he could to the nearest inn

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Sakura was mesmerized by the beauty of the place. Trees Avenue was easily the most romantic place she had seen in her whole life. A lot of couples were walking holding each other hand.

She wished he could be in place of any of them holding hands with Sasuke. He would look at her with his onyx eyes. He would move his face closer, and they would kiss a sweet, romantic kiss. He would say sweet words on his ear and... And who was she trying to kid? Sasuke was too busy with his absurd revenge to pay any attention to her. Still, hope was the last thing that should be lost. Maybe one day he would acknowledge her, maybe... but not likely.

Sakura concentrated again on his search.

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"This is the picture of the girl I'm looking for. Have you seen her before?" Sasuke interrogated looking carefully the face of the bellhop in the eleventh hotel he had checked.

The bellhop looked the picture with a bored expression in the face. The expression disappeared and was replaced with a surprised look, and afterwards with a cunning look. Finally, he returned the picture with an innocent look.

"Sorry, I don't know" he said with a smile.

"How much did they pay you to keep you silent?"

"Eh? I don't know what..."

"Whatever amount it was, I'll double it if you tell me where she is"

Again the cunning look. There was no doubt anymore.

Sasuke smiled. Finally a break! He had been getting restless with the mission. While he was wasting his time, his brother was getting stronger.

Sasuke looked around for five seconds. The lobby was full of people. If he caused a ruckus, there would be the possibility the target found out.

"You will pay me double? Could you show me the money first?"

So he would have to be fast.

Sasuke grabbed the writs of the bellhop and pushed it down on the desk. Then he put his own hand exactly on top of it. Finally he drove the kunai deep into the desk, almost touching their fingers.

The bellhop, that hadn't had time to protest, decided to shut up when he saw the kunai.

"My brother did this once in front of me. I thought he was really cool. He also warned me that I could lose one finger doing this" Sasuke said in a melodious voice.

"Wait, wait. What are you going to do?" The scared bellhop pleaded.

Sasuke used his own fingers to separate forcefully the fingers of the bellhop. Then he started hitting the space between the fingers with his kunai, leaving deep marks. At first he did it slowly. Then he started raising the speed, around all the fingers

"What are you doing?" screamed the bellhop.

"Waiting for you to tell me where the girl is" Sasuke said in a calm tone. He was moving so fast the kunai that even he had problems following it.

"Royal Suite! Royal Suite! They are in the Royal Suite!" screamed the bellhop over and over, afraid of losing his fingers

"I don't believe you" said Sasuke. He was not looking to the kunai anymore. He was staring to the eyes of the bellhop with Sharingan eyes.

"It's true! I swear! Kami-sama! I swear it's true! Please! For Kami-sama, look at the knife!"

Sasuke stopped the kunai in mid-air, totally sure the information was valid.

The people in the lobby were staring at him. Two security guards were pointing at him, unsure how to proceed with a Leaf shinobi. A small Leaf shinobi, alright but nobody could ever know with those monsters.

The bellhop jumped back while Sasuke started walking to the stairs.

"You are crazy!" murmured the bellhop.

"Don't underestimate shinobis. When I was just ten years old I studied at the Academy all ways of interrogation. And I was always first in my class" Sasuke explained still walking to the stairs.

"What... what would you have done if I hadn't answered?" asked slowly the bellhop.

Sasuke turned around and looked at the bellhop with cold eyes

"The year after that, when I was eleven, we had Interrogation II. That's a euphemism, because what we learned was how to torture prisoners to take information from them. My classmates called it Torture Class."

Sasuke turned around and ran to the stairs. He didn't bother to turn around to see the expression of fear in the bellhop's eyes.

If he had, maybe he could have seen a person that had been following him all morning.

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Sasuke knocked down the door, and was welcomed but a scream from a girl that resembled exactly the picture of the target, and an angry yell from a young man, probably the boyfriend.

"Motobuchi Cara? I'm a Leaf Shinobi. I have the orders to take you back to the Hidden Village of the Leaf" Sasuke explained with a monotonous voice, looking at the target and the other. The boyfriend was looking at him as if he knew him, maybe from the public show in the chuunin exam. The girl was just looking angry. Both of them were dressed. None of them armed. That was good. There was the possibility he would have to drag her by force.

"I don't want to go back there"

"What you want is not my concern. I have my orders."

There. He sounded like a nice village tool. That damn Hokage would be proud, and probably his parents would be too. Pity they were dead. Killed by their own son

"Are you going to let them take me away?" yelled the girl to his boyfriend.

And here he was, wasting time, doing stupid missions while the gap between him and his brother, the true Uchiha genius was getting wider.

"You have talent, Sasuke. Keep up, and you will be like your brother, the Uchiha genius" His sensei had praised him after his first exam at the academy

"I can't. He is a shinobi. I know that one. They call him the Uchiha genius."

And for the second time in a row, first time ever in his whole life, Sasuke exploded. He didn't mind when people called him a genius. But it was frustrating that knowing that no matter how many times they called him that, he wasn't. His brother was the true Uchiha Genius. It was really frustrating. But usually he would just shut up and concentrate on improving, usually.

Before he knew what he was doing, he was already doing seals. Sharingan eyes activated. He launched himself against the boyfriend, Chidori sparkling in his right arm.

He was aiming for the boy. But at the last moment he turned right, and the fully charged chidori hit the wall. It exploded for the impact.

"Arrggg" the boyfriend ran to the other end of the room. He was trembling, because that shinobi had hit the wall, almost touching his face. Quickly he made a run out of there, before he was killed.

Sasuke was panting, surprised. What the hell had been that? He had lost control again? What was wrong with him? If he hadn't moved the hand at the last second...

However, his conversation with himself was cut short when his shinobi senses told him there was somebody else in the room

"How do you do, Kakashi-sensei?"

"Doing fine" said Kakashi casually, looking at the place where a wall used to be "I don't like walls very much either. I prefer open spaces. I don't even like the colour of these walls. But maybe you went a little too far breaking them."

"It was just a strategy, scaring the girl enough that she will do exactly as I said." Sasuke answered pointing at the terrified girl. The boyfriend has already left the room "If I had wanted to kill him, he would already be dead. I pointed to the right."

"Well, maybe it was a little too close."

"As I said, it was strategy. What are you doing here, anyway? How did you arrive so fast?" Sasuke wondered changing topics

"I used the dogs to track them one hour ago. I was waiting here to see if any of you would find them" Kakashi observed.

The explanation made a lot of sense. Kakashi didn't have any reason to lie. Still, a gut feeling was telling Sasuke that something was wrong with that explanation.

"Well, please sensei; speak to her until Naruto and Sakura get here. She's too scared to escape now, anyway" Sasuke considered turning around... and finding himself staring face to face with Itachi.

Sasuke jumped backwards assuming a defence stance, eight shurikens already in his hands. Only after they were already flying, and Itachi had copied his movements exactly, did he notice that "Itachi" was just a mirror.

The glass shattered by the violent impact of the eight shurikens, all of them thrown with full force.

"You don't like mirrors very much either" said Kakashi behind him. "Or is this a strategy too?"

Sasuke didn't dare to turn around. For one second, he had been so sure...

"I didn't like the style of the mirror" and after saying that, Sasuke started walking outside the hotel, more convinced than ever that he had to leave the Leaf the sooner the better. When he arrived back to the Leaf, he would check if ANBU were still around. If they were, he would wait for the next day for the next mission. If they weren't, that very night he would leave.

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Kakashi sighed. Sasuke was losing it. Meeting his brother again had broken not only his patience but his auto control. In normal circumstances, he would need time to put the mask of indifference he always wore. But Orochimaru's offer added an element of confusion to his student. Staying in the Leaf was like torture to him.

He had been following Sasuke, afraid that he would try to leave for the Sound that very day. He hadn't. But he could read him. His impatience was overwhelming. In one, two days at most, he would make his move.

Was there any hope for him?

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"Ne, Sasuke-kun? Don't you think Hamu city was beautiful?" Asked Sakura

"Aa" answered Sasuke, looking carefully around the village. Almost no ANBU could be found. That was good. That very night he would leave.

"Maybe we could go one day... the two of us..."

"No." answered Sasuke, wondering when she would stop with her stalking. He couldn't think about any distractions. He had two lives to destroy: His and Itachi's

"Sasuke, you bastard. At least pay a little attention to Sakura" yelled Naruto. Sasuke barely paid him any attention.

The three of them were waiting outside the Hokage office, where Kakashi had gone to enter his report of the successful mission. Sasuke couldn't wait to go back home and start planning his escape.

"Well, this part of the mission is over" said Kakashi, who was leaving the office.

"Is there anything else?"

"Just a little thing. A party to celebrate the completion of the mission"

"The mission is done. I'm out of here" said immediately Sasuke

"Well, it's not a normal party. It's a goodbye party."

Sasuke stopped, and turned around, slowly. Behind him Naruto and Sakura were already asking questions.

"What happened? Who is leaving?"

"Are any of us going anywhere?"

"Tomorrow I'm having one more mission with you, guys. But the next day I'm going to have to start taking S-class missions. And there is always the possibility of getting killed during those missions. That's the reason I want a party all of us together. Just in case."

"Very well" Sasuke said, surprising everybody there. "We'll go to the party."

Sasuke knew he had made a mistake as soon as he saw Naruto's face of surprise and Sakura's of happiness. Acting weird the day before leaving was stupid. It was bound to make everybody suspicious. But at least... at least he wanted to say good-bye to them one last time, just that one last time. What was wrong with wanting one last happy memory of them together? Was that so selfish? He would act suspiciously, but before anybody could do anything about it, he would be out of the Leaf

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"Sensei! I can't drink sake! I'm not old enough yet!" yelled Naruto.

Sasuke sighed. Kakashi was stupid. Apparently, he didn't want a normal party. He just wanted some drinking partners. What a nice goodbye party! They were all in a small bar, already cramped with many partygoers, and everybody was drinking heavily. The smell from the alcohol was already making him dizzy. Well, whatever. This was everything he deserved, anyway.

"I'd like to propose a toast" Sasuke announced looking at everybody at that table. Naruto, Sakura, Kakashi. All of them were important to him. The next day they would become enemies. The Leaf wouldn't allow his Uchiha blood to be lost. Hunter-nins would be after his head. But that was his fate and his decision. Everything was the way it had to be.

Everybody looked with uncertainty to him. Finally, one by one, they picked up their cups of sake.

"First one is for Naruto. He is an idiot. He is the dumbest and loudest shinobi in the whole Leaf village. He lacks the slightest common sense, and you have to spell out everything to him. He loves too much to act cool and to show off, usually getting things worse. He is also too stupid to understand any hints" he finished remembering Hinata

"Want to fight?" yelled Naruto.

"However" continued Sasuke "His spirit and determination are an example for all of us. He will never, ever, no matter what happens, give up. I fully believe that he will become one day Hokage, even if he is the worst in history. I think, even if it is for lack of competition, that he is my best friend."

After saying that, he drank the cup in one gulp. He felt like throwing up for a few seconds. He could feel everybody's stares on him. At his right, Naruto was trembling.

"Sasuke... Thank..."

"The next toast should be to Sakura." Sasuke said, and struggled for words to say. He had to remember that he was leaving the next day. At the very least he didn't want to shatter her heart too much by saying some nice things to her that very day. "Sakura. Thank you."

"Thank you? What for?"

"Just thank you, for everything." Sasuke explained, drinking the cup, and feeling even worse. He decided that he wasn't going to drink anymore. He had Kakashi to thank also, but he wasn't sure he could take it. Sakura and Naruto had finally drunk one cup.

"I... I propose a toast for Sasuke" muttered Sakura "Because..."

"I propose a toast for Sasuke. He has just mastered Katon. Now he can wear the Uchiha symbol in his back with pride." His father had praised him. Everybody on the table, his father, his mother and his grandparents were there. Itachi was doing a secret mission."

"No!" Sasuke yelled dominantly. Next he added with a softer voice "I have drunk too much already. I can't drink anymore. Besides, I don't like parties very much, and I hate people toasting for me"

He was feeling the alcohol getting to his head. He sat down, and felt the headache coming. That was perfect. He would excuse himself saying he wasn't feeling all right. The next morning, when he missed training, everybody would joke about him being drunk, and nobody would be concerned. He would have at least twenty-four hours for getting to the Sound, time enough to avoid pursuers. Then he would...

"Sasuke! You should be ashamed of yourself! Drinking with your age! You are just a failure!" said a severe voice near him. The whole bar was silent.

Sasuke turned around to yell at that voice, and found himself staring to Mangekyou Sharingan eyes.

"Itachi" He whispered said with an eight-year old voice "What are you doing here?"

"I'm drinking, because I'm old enough. But you are not. You are too young. If our parents saw you they would be ashamed"

"How would you know? You killed them!" Sasuke answered angrily looking back at his cup, and considering drinking another cup just to show his older brother how much he hated him.

Then he noticed something wrong.

"Hey, brother?"

"Aa" answered Itachi, drinking sake and not paying attention to him. Sasuke hated when people did that.

"You know, I'm supposed to kill you. What are you doing here?"

"You are supposed to kill me? That's ludicrous. Besides, you are drunk."

"I'm not drunk. I just drank two cups of sake"

"Then look around."

Sasuke did. Everybody in the bar had been killed. No wonder they were not speaking anymore. Although it was annoying that all the corpses looked the same that the corpses of his clan.

Kakashi was drinking, and he was showing his face. He could see now why he always wore his mask. The reason was that he was a vampire. His fangs were shining. Naruto was having a discussion with the four previous Hokages, although some of them were starting to smell bad. Finally, Sakura had grown some angel wings and was flying around.

"You see now. You are just having a dream."

Sasuke smiled the saddest smile, and turned around.

"That can't be, brother. I can't have a dream, because every time you appear, the dream becomes a nightmare."

Itachi smiled. He went near Kakashi and drove a stake deep into his heart. Then he went near Naruto and cut his neck with the same katana he had used to kill his family. Finally he used some arrows to kill Sakura.

Sasuke was trying to stop him, but heavy chains were holding him down.

"If you want to kill me, brother. Follow the Red brick road" Itachi said pointing to a brick road with the colour of blood.

"What's at the end of the road?"

"Hell, but I am too at the end of the road. The only way to kill me is going to hell and becoming a demon."

"I'll do it!" Sasuke promised, pushing, breaking all the chains that were holding him down. Blood, most of it his, was pouring from the broken chains "I'll become a demon! I'll become a monster, but I'll kill you! I'll kill you!"

Just when all the chains were broken, a new one appeared. It was a precious chain, made of sakura blossoms. No matter how hard he pulled, he couldn't break it. Sasuke himself wasn't sure if he truly wanted to break it.

"Too late" Itachi observed.

The red brick road fell down, and Sasuke with it. He fell, and fell. Then there was only blackness.