The Missing
Rating: M
Chapter Three – Capture
All you people can't you see, can't you see
How your love's affecting our reality
Every time we're down
You can make it right
And that makes you larger than life
Sasuke froze in his tracks, raising a brow. "You're lying." He said, tone flat. "Naruto would never give up on his dream to be Hokage. Me? Maybe. Hokage? Never." The Uchiha shook his head, completely unbelieving. "I know that there's nothing that could have deterred Naruto from the position of Hokage if it was simply laid out on a platter for him like it was. There's got to be some mistake!"
Lee sighed and nibbled on his lip. "Sasuke-kun," He whispered. "It's all true. All of it."
There was a resounding silence between the two boys; even the forest seemed unable to come up with a reply.
"So… He just refused? Is that it?" Sasuke stepped forward, clenching his hands into fists. "This is a big joke, isn't it! You're all just trying to get back at me for leaving! Cut the bullshit, Lee! Where is he?" There was a warm sensation in his eyes. Was… Sasuke crying? "He's dead, isn't he? You're all just repeating the same story to keep your vain hopes up!" The Uchiha hesitated for a moment before jumping up and into the trees, furiously wiping away the tears forcing their way out of his eyes. This was stupid! Impossible!
Naruto… Where in hell are you? Come back to the village. We can go for Ramen…
He kept jumping, not even knowing where he was going. Was he outside of the village? Was he going in circles? Sasuke shook his head and ran a hand back through the navy locks. It didn't matter; he wasn't breaking any rules. How could he, really? He wasn't even a Konoha Ninja anymore.
Ninja or not, Sasuke was completely unprepared for what happened next.
-x-x-x-
"Naruto-kun? Naruto-kun?" The man crept forwards, crouched painfully low. When he found that son of a bitch he was going to…
"H-Hai Itachi-sama?" Naruto pushed the thicket aside with trembling fingers. He always trembled around Itachi. It was weird; the man was just so frightening. It was those eyes; the way he never seemed to turn the Sharingan off. How many times had he used the Mangekyou Sharingan on Naruto? It was hard to say how many.
But, in reality, it had hardened the now 18-year-old. He wasn't the bumbling idiot he had been five years ago. He didn't yell, or scream, or screw up. He had since broken his blood contract with frogs, and signed a new one with Leopards. He could form the Rasengan one-handed, his Chakra control was almost flawless, and he could summon the Kyuubi on a whim.
As far as he was concerned, everything had been a small sacrifice approaching this. He had lost everything, including his dignity, but had gained so much more. One could say that the blonde was a hypocrite, after chewing out Sasuke so vigorously and then deserting Konoha himself. You could say that he was just a confused little boy trying to make his way in the world. You could also say that he was turning into the next Sasuke; with his clouded ideals and inhuman drive to avenge.
Yes, Naruto had decided that he, too, was an Avenger. Every night, Naruto justified himself to his pillow. 'I'm only doing this so I can kill Orochimaru, and make the bastard pay for what he did to the 3rd Hokage, Konoha, Sasuke and everybody else that he had hurt. The friendships the sannin had broken up, the clans he had divided; the lives he had ruined.
Itachi grunted and moved forwards to crouch beside his student, envious of the boy's tiny and nimble frame. He wore and ANBU suit, and not the Akatsuki cloak his two 'comrades' were restricted to.
Naruto knew that Itachi had only taken him in because of the Kyuubi. He had willingly sacrificed it to him on one condition: That the Uchiha helped him to get his revenge. Perhaps that was why Itachi had devoted so much time to the vessel. He showed promise, and ha a seemingly unbreakable spirit. Oh, how enjoyable it had been to break that spirit, watch those vibrant blue eyes deteriorate into soulless pits.
"Naruto-kun." He murmured, motioning to the village before them. "You are to release the Kyuubi and completely destroy this village. Do you hear me?" Itachi tapped the cracked forehead protector Naruto now wore around his neck. "Do so, and you will receive a reward." Behind the high collar of his cloak, Itachi's lips twisted into a cruel smirk.
"Hai... Itachi-sama." Naruto's voice was, as always, toneless. Silently, he moved away from his 'Sensei' and through the forest surrounding his target. Why were they always built in small valleys overgrown with dense forests that provided ample hiding places for various enemies? He sighed unhappily as the Kyuubi's red Chakra swirled around him, his claws elongating. The boy extended his left hand out to his side, forming the Rasengan. His first 'victim' was a small house on the outskirts.
The screams were heartbreaking, earsplitting; but Naruto seemed oblivious to them all. His garnet eyes glowed in the dark of night as he sent Rasengan after Rasengan into the crumbling township. When the demon-child ran out of buildings to wreck, he simply unsheathed the thin sword t his waist and began to slay every living thing in sight. Children's cries and Mothers' pleas fell on deaf ears as Naruto continued his butchery. Few dared to oppose him; those who did earned themselves a Rasengan to the heart.
It was about 30 minutes later when Naruto was done. He knew that some people had managed to escape, and that they had gotten a good look at his face. That was fine. Itachi had told him to leave survivors, right? He always made sure he, Kisame or Naruto left at least one person to suffer in what remained of their lives. The whole point of this was for Naruto to become ands-Ranked criminal, anyways. It wouldn't take long... Konoha was the closest hidden village. He stiffened at this thought, midway through wiping a spot of blood away from his cheek. He hated to think of what their reactions to this… disgrace.
For a second, a wave of guilt crashed through the boy's body. He was forced to push it away, however, at the sound of Itachi's voice. He sounded pleased. And that was never a good thing for at least one person.
"Naruto-kun, I would have thought you'd be sympathetic with the children, at least… Given your past. How ruthless of you. I am impressed."
Behind the Uchiha, Kisame snorted loudly. "I say he let too many people get away. I counted five. Didn't we tell you that three would suffice? Konoha is only a day's walk away from here on a common trade route." The criminal shook his blue head. "You're lucky we haven't figured out how to unseal the Kyuubi and keep it under control. If, and when we do… I will personally dismember you."
Naruto didn't flinch. He was used to Kisame's empty threats. The blonde was not, however, used to having anybody, much less Itachi, stand up for him.
"Now, now, Kisame." Itachi's voice held something f amusement. "Five people out of a village 1,000 strong? I'd say he'd did a fair job. This is his first time, after all. And his innocence has clearly peeled away to reveal the monster inside of him, the very monster we seek to extract and unleash upon the world, bringing about the undeniable glory of Akatsuki. Can you not be grateful for that, at least? If we had gone after Sasuke, like you had first suggested, I also doubt that we would have such a devoted an, might I say... humble? subordinate."
Kisame was thoroughly unmoved. "Red eyes, ANBU suit, Rasengan, whisker marks on his cheeks… Konoha would know him if a retard took the stand."
"Still, five is only two more than the recommended number, and I didn't see you making any move to dispose of the extra escapees." Itachi raised a brow, just daring Kisame to object. There was no objection. "Well then," The Uchiha continued, almost… Cheerfully? "We'll be moving on before the local Militia catches wind of this. Naruto-kun?"
Naruto snapped out of his daze. "Wh- Oh! H-Hai, Itachi-sama!"
The older two moved on, ascending into the trees overhead. They didn't bother to look behind, or wait for Naruto to catch up; the boy had stated early on that he lived only to improve and avenge everybody that Orochimaru had wronged. Then, he would sacrifice his body to Akatsuki, and live by their standards. He had been taunted numerous time by Kisame, reminded every single day that extracting the Kyuubi would probably kill him. It didn't matter to the blonde. As long as he achieved his final goal, he would concede willingly.
-x-x-x-
"HOKAGE-SAMA! HOKAGE-SAMA! It's an emergency! Hogake-sama!"
Sakura's eyes snapped open. Startled, the girl quickly lifted her head out of her hands and made a disgruntled sort of sleepy noise. "What is it?" Her pale green gaze danced over the young blonde genin who had just exploded into her once-calm office.
The genin fought to collect himself, forcing syllables out through quick, dry gasps. "A... nameless village… to the north, it…" He had to pause to collect his breath the rest of the way. This ninja, Sakura remembered, had terrible stamina and a lung problem. She waited patiently, although not very much so, for him to go on. Finally, he was able to speak coherently. "A nameless village to the north of us…" He repeated. "Was completely destroyed, and only five survivors remain. But, Hokage-sama, the disturbing thing is that their description of the attacker… Fits Naruto perfectly."
-x-x-x-
Sasuke almost roared in frustration, what the hell was going on here!
He had returned to the village about an hour ago, after venting his pent up frustration by training in the dense surrounding forest. Upon returning, though, he had been scooped up by an ANBU team and brought into a desolate looking interrogation room. There, he had been tied up and drilled for the duration of that sixty minutes. Questions about Orochimaru. Questions about Itachi. Questions about Naruto.
Finally, he snapped. "Why the hell are you asking me all of these questions, anyways?" He boy demanded, lurching forwards as best he could. The ANBU team tensed, weapons at the ready. Finally, one stepped forward, a female by the looks of it. Her red air framed the mask like a sort of waterfall.
"Uzumaki Naruto, the former leader of our ANBU squad is the number one suspect in the destruction of a nameless village to the north of Konoha." Her tone was grave. "We are asking you these questions because of his peculiar behavior, which seemed to center around you, your desertion of Konoha, and your apparent death two years ago."
A male near the back stepped forward, the brown spike of hair on the back of his head looking oddly familiar to Sasuke. "Yume… I can take it from here. All of you. I would like a private moment with our... Prisoner."
The ANBU members filed out, but stayed close to the door. Their discontent was obvious, but they had been trained to obey their squad leader without question.
In the interrogation room, there was a moment of silence in which the two ninjas stared at each other. Finally, the ANBU member removed his mask, revealing a look far from the norm. Hurt brown eyes and an emotionless expression seemed to bear holes in Sasuke. "We all thought you were dead… Naruto included. He told me that… Itachi said he'd been keeping an eye on you, and that you'd crossed the line with Orochimaru one time too many. So, Naruto refused the mission. After that… He started to disappear from the village for a few days. He said he was training, but he came home sometimes looking like he had been dragged backwards through hell. Eventually, I asked him what had been happening." Shikamaru shrugged helplessly and sat down on the floor, cross-legged. "It seems that for the past two years, your brother Itachi has been training Naruto. His organization, Akatsuki, seeks to extract the Kyuubi from him and unleash it on the world."
Sasuke gawked in silence. "The… Kyuubi? Wait… He trained under Itachi!" The Uchiha struggled against his bonds. "That's absurd!"
Shikamaru shook his head. "I heard you saw his room."
"I… Yes, I did."
Shikamaru sighed, chuckling sadly. "Naruto was suicidal. He cut himself a lot. He never cleaned it up, and I didn't have the heart to. He made me swear to tell everybody that they were training accidents."
Sasuke sighed, staring at the ground. "He's been lied to from the start, huh? Shikamaru, let me go after him. I promise that I'll bring him back."
Shikamaru faltered, his eyes widening. "That's what he said about you." The boy gave an unconvinced snort, but stood up and untied Sasuke nonetheless. When he had one so, the boy stepped back and watched Sasuke test out his arms and such, waiting oh-so patiently.
Finally, Sasuke was ready. It was then that Shikamaru roared and pounced on him, the rope and a kunai knife in his hand. "How DARE you attack one of your own!"
Reviewer Responses
Konoka – n-n I sort of try for the confusing and ironic aspect of stories. I hope I don't end up confusing you TOO much. But, then again, you can always Email me for clarification.
DesperateMeasures – Eep! Well, here's your update! I hope you didn't die waiting for it. n-n;
Coruscate – Icky. Chatspeak? That really kills a story.
Love Squared – GASP! I am glad you noticed! n-n Actually, I think Sasuke IS a bit of an ignorant git at times. I hate how people always seem to make Naruto the weak, stupid one. u-u
Loaned – Thanks for the encouragement!
Mistress of Muses – Really? Arigato n-n; I was sort of worried that I didn't get everybody's personality right…
Anyways, Thanks again to everybody who reviewed. I'm sorry that this update took so long; I was just sort of stuck. Don't worry, I'll try my very hardest to make sure that updates are quicker in the future.
'Till next time, Ja!