Escape
(Chapter Ten)
Ino almost hit the ceiling.
"WHAT!" she screamed at the top of her lungs to the figure trembling before her who's pearly eyes closed in shock and fear. The blonde loomed over the poor creature, a look of despair mixing in her blue eyes.
"A-ano. They've… They've been-ah-captured by… Uhm… Orochi-"
"How could this happen!" Ino wailed, spinning on her heel and repeatedly hit her head on the wall behind her, "That lazy idiot! He probably was the cause of this!"
Hinata blinked at her friend, twirling her index fingers together before chiding in, "Ino-san, just because… He's your… Uhm… Boyfriend doesn't mean… It's… It's his fault!"
The heiress had been reading plenty of psychology novels lately from the boredom of not being assigned to any missions lately and she had learned that couples often blamed each other for every single thing that went wrong.
The Yamanka sniffed and wiped her tears tat had rolled down her cheeks out of hysteria and stress, "Gomen, Hinata-chan, it's just… He's been gone a long time and now this? It's not right…"
"… We are ninja, Ino. Just suck it up and deal with it-" scrutinized the brunette that had just entered the flower shop, the bell tingling above her two hair buns.
"Tenten, what about you? You've been acting reckless ever since Neji and Lee left for their missions!" Ino snapped back, her eyebrows furrowed.
Tenten scoffed and picked up a single daisy to smell it before placing it back, "that's none of your business…"
"See! You're doing it again!"
Hinata looked in-between the two glares and with a huff she frowned, "Sto-stop it you two… We all miss our friends…"
Naruto-kun…
Hinata soon turned quiet as Ino sighed and Tenten pulled back, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Fine."
"Fine."
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The room was filled with the toxic scent of sake, as the current Hokage was strewn over her desk like a rag doll. The blonde stirred with a moan as she knocked over the sake bottle, only to be caught by a concerned Shizune.
"Tsunade-sama, you know you shouldn't be drinking at a time like this…"
The Hokage groaned in vain as her head rolled to the side and her bright blue robs eyed Shizune carefully.
"How could I not drink? Sakura's out there somewhere! She could be hurt, or worse, dead!" Tsunade stifled a sob as she hit her forehead on the desk and covered his face with her hands. Shizune sighed and tapped her on the shoulder, trying to be as serious as possible. It was hard handling Tsunade when she was drunk.
"Sakura's not hurt or dead… We've ahd reports that's she's a lvie and well, though being held captive in the Sound-"
"Sound!"
Tsuinade's head snapped up, "No! This is-hiccup-terrible! She'll never leave this way!" she wailed and flumped her head down again onto the desk.
Shizune stood for a moment, hovering over the Hokage with a quirked eyebrow. Reaching over and harshly pulling Tsunade up to sit straight, she looked straight at her superior's eyes.
"Fool! Sakura's not stupid…"
The blonde hiccupped once more, her shoulders wavering as she sighed and sat back in her chair, "I'm sorry Shizune. I… I've really been drinking lately, and…"
Shizune rolled her eyes, feeling quite tired with the Hokage's habits, "All that matters now is to get Sakura and the rest of the ANBU out of there quickly without a fight… We don't know what'll happen if Orochimaru gets dragged into this…"
Tsunade narrowed her eyes and stood up, her yell piercing the air, "That wretched snake! He's nothing but the devil himself!"
Shizune was startled by the sudden movement of the Hokage and pulled her down back onto the chair, Tsunade dizzily swaying back and forth, her cheeks tinted pink. She was obviously not sober.
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The chamber was dark and damp, leaving the three figures that were chained side by side to think for themselves. It had been a long day of torture, and they were savoring the moments they were free from the grasp of rusty tools. The silver-haired man had left, bringing relief to the area, including the dirty rats themselves.
"You all right?" a muffled voice came from the right as the owner of those sensitive words struggled against the chains, the metal clinking against each other.
"Heh. Oh you know-" started the one in the middle with a small smirk planted on his lips and sweat covering the grime on his forehead. The one on the left did not answer as his gleaming white eyes scanned the room, observing every torture device that was sued against them.
"Neji?" the middle one asked reluctantly.
"Yes Naruto?" Neji sighed, his ankles throbbing from the pain that had inflicted upon him a few minutes before they were chained to the wall. Naruto paused before looking over his left shoulder to his companion.
"Do you see any way out?" he whispered, his blue orbs flickering towards the door that was locked tightly. Neji softly shook his head, a headache starting to behold his temple. Shikamaru struggled once more on the right, his hands coming closer together. His fingers slipped.
"Kuso… There's no way my plan would work if I can't get my hands together and make a jutsu…" he chuckled ironically. Naruto looked over at him with an eyebrow raised, his neck bearing marks from the clamp that was tightly held onto him an hour before.
"Troublesome…"
"Tch. Shut up with that phrase-" Naruto scoffed, trying to bring light tot eh darkness with a little joking around, despite the pain that was encircling his body.
"Shut up…"
The two were silent, their heads turning over to Neji who had quieted them with two simple words. His eyes were narrowed, as if he was concentrating with such difficulty, even the genius Shikamaru wouldn't be able to figure it out. A clanking was heard and Neji smirked, wringing his wrists. Naruto stared at him astonished as Shikamaru simply gave an approved look.
"So you've finally mastered it, have you?" the lazy genius asked, the dumbfounded Naruto looking from one to the other.
"Heh. Yeah I have…" The raven-hared man stood, slipping off his ankle chains and proceeding to take off Naruto's.
"Wha-What?" Naruto asked in a quivering voice, "What just happened?"
"You weren't paying attention in ANBU, once again… We had recently been asked to master jutsus with out minds. Meaning that we don't need the hand seals…" Shikamaru answered, his tone sounding a little peeved. Naruto flinched at his remark that he hadn't been paying attention, but grinned when his Neji succeeded in removing his chains.
"Thanks."
Neji grunted and moved on to Shikamaru as Naruto stood up and stretched. He stopped suddenly, cringing when he felt a sharp pain in his side. He guessed he shouldn't move too much after receiving the large gash on his waist when Kabuto had sliced him with a knife. Shikamaru was free at last, and the three all stood at the back of the room checking over the remains of their bodies. Their minds were okay, but by the many blood splatters they had left behind, it was obvious that their physicality wasn't all right at all. Shika looked to the doorway and smirked, "It'll be almost simple now…"
"Almost?" Naruto stared at him, still poking at a bruise on his shoulder.
"This is Sound… They have more prowling beasts than the forests…" Answered Neji, who had activated his bloodline and searched the outside area.
"Clear…" he responded after a moment of silence. Shikamaru sighed in relief and nodded for the group tog et moving, "Remembr. Our mission is merely to find Sakura and bring her back…"
The genius looked to Naruto with a serious expression. Naruto stopped with small smile and looked back at him, giving him a curt nod with a frown.
"I understand…." He muttered. Neji looked away from them both, his mind unsure whether Shikamaru and himself should trust Naruto's word unless he said it was his 'Ninja way.' After all-it was a while since Naruto has seen his moody best friend.
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"Oh my dear… I see it's raining…"
A smirk came forward, straight into the pink-haired ANBU member's face. She gasped behind the tape that had now covered her mouth when she saw the yellow snake-like eyes staring back at her. Tears were streaming down her face, and how could she not cry. She had just…
"Kukuku. Well, I'm guessing you didn't have as much fun as I did, hrm?" the snake hissed in an almost threatening tone before turning away and continuing to wrap the yukata around his body.
Sakura held back a sob as her green eyes averted from the Sannin that was standing above her. Even his shadow sent a chill down her spin as she sat, cold and naked against the wall.
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He stood stiff against the door panel, and for the first time his heart died.
She wasn't there.
Her.
The Uchiha gripped his kunai harder, his dark eyes bouncing from the walls to the floor, a ribbon, the bed, the walls, a… Wait… Ribbon?
His orbs snapped towards the red piece of silk on the floor, ignored on the floor. His shoulders tensed as he walked over and picked it up, fingering it lightly as he suddenly realized what happened. She had left on her own, to find Naruto and the others.
"So annoying…" he muttered under his breathe before turning on his heel and skyrocketing out of the room.
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CARO:
So, anyone spot the irony in this chapter? ;) This is my longest chapter so far, and I know that I made most of the parts short. I just develop what was happening in other places first before continuing with Sasu and Saku.
Tenshi-Battosai: Don't worry. He's fine xD
narutofan4ever: already have.
Redwillow123: Ah. That genjitsu stuff will be explained later ;) Look out for it.
Kacijo12: Isn't it what goes around comes around? xD Anyway, thanks :) And well, hopefully my shedule won't delay the next chapter ;;
Hersheys Rocks: Yeah. I wrote this one wayyy back when I was in Chile. My Grandpa didn't like me on the computer too much, so I had to cut it short. xD
Gaara-Chibi: Gasp:o You really think he's going to kill them! xD
Outsane: Haha I love your screen name. -cough- Anyway. You're hope has brought ti to be true! So far... MWahhahaa. No. For you're information, I might not have any character deaths. I haven't decided yet. You never know when I feel like killing someone off. haha. I doubt it'll be Neji though.
Hyuuga no Shiranai: Oh dang me xD Haha. I love cliffhangers.
Ivory Black aka Torri-Chiobie: skmdgbsklgbkrwgbasuidgba Back to you
Mystic Water Goddess: Haha sure I'll right you another chapter! xD Thanks for your marvelous compliments :)
Aliyah Amidala: But I love cliffhangers D:
thisismystory: Wow! Tahnk you for your long review. (You were right, I do love them:D ) And yes, I agree with you aobut when writers tend to focus on jsut the apiring and never bring in any of the characters. In real life, things happen at the same time, the world doesn't revolve around one couple you know ;) I always try to edit and check through all my grammer, but I get so excited to post it up, I don't get around to fix everything. Plus Word is a Doodoo program for having bad grammer from time to time. xD I never thought my story was that great :) Glad to have someone who loves it so much :D And -cough- I feel embaressed asking this but... What does a Beta do? .. Sorry ;; Haha, anyway, I'd love to write a shrot story for you on SasuSaku. You mind if it's AU, meaning not in Konoha? ;) I've been having this idea swimming in my head for ages. thanks again :)
keira: Of course I'll continue:D
I-LOVE-HAKU: I did! I did! xD
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As you can see, I've moved all notes and tahnk yous to the bottom, making the story more readable instead of nasty scrolling down if you don't want to read the noted and tahnk yous xD