When Sasuke opened his eyes he wasn't sure what to expect. Not having even seen what they had hit, he could only recall Akamaru making a sharp 'yip' before it all faded to black.
It was almost nostalgic opening his eyes. So similar to when they had first awoken in this new world. At least this time he knew where he found himself. But crap did his body hurt. The sky was slowly fading to black he noticed, signaling to him that they had passed out for a while, having been morning when they took the bike for a drive.
Speaking of the bike it was not in nearly as good condition as he was in. He had only barely sat up when he took in their ride. Dented and mangled their bike was in no condition to be ridden ever again. He took a closer look with a grimace only to notice the missing tire.
That was not good. How was he going to explain this to the circus leader? Sasuke had just received the bike!
Kiba stirred at the back of his mind, reminding him once again that he was not alone. And that he should really look around for Akamaru. If he was hurt they needed to find a healer immediately!
"Akamaru!" He yelled out. Startled by the sound of his own voice. From a distance Akamaru slithered from a distance away dragging with him several men in clown outfits.
Sasuke could only blink at them as they were alerted by his yell and rushing to him. Where had they come from? He thought to himself. Almost confirming his suspicion for how long he must have been passed out, perhaps longer than he thought since Akamaru had to sling himself all the way back to their circus camp.
"Skull!" One of the clowns called out, desperate and out of breath. The same clown they had caught Akamaru threatening several times now. "My god boy the hell happened to you?"
Skull, that had taken some time to get used to. In the circus your name and past didn't matter. People from all walks of life just appeared and everyone would shrug and go about their business. Sasuke appreciated it, though he could see how easily it was taken advantage of. After all that's what he was doing.
Being called Skull was odd but not unpleasant. The name Sasuke carried so much in this world, it was only used by a select group. Better to use this body's name and keep Sasuke for its other purpose. Boarding school had been more than educational.
"Fell off the bike." Sasuke answered.
"Did more than just fall." Another clown answered, frowning at the wreckage left behind. "Shit! The shows tonight. We won't have enough time to get a new one before."
"Viktor might be able to get a new one." Someone commented, Sasuke could no longer see who was speaking. "He always knows a guy no matter the country."
"Right."
Sasuke could only reply by thumping his head back. New bike had to continue the show. Maybe he could join one of the rope walkers or acrobats until the new bike arrived.
If they even allowed him to keep stunting that is.
When they arrived back at the circus tents he was rushed to the nurses station. Being examined by four different ladies in various degrees of disappointment was bad enough. But paired with Kibas silence and Akamaru staring at him from across the room? It was pure mental torture.
Hopefully Kiba will wake up soon. Sasuke didn't like being alone in his head now that he knew what it was like to have a friend everywhere he went.
"You got real lucky this time young man," the head nurse said. Her hands rested on both her hips and her kinky hair filled out of the top of her bun. "Just a bruise this time but it could have been worse. Save the injuries for the show. I don't want Macro to breathe down my neck because he needs you tonight."
"Thank you." Sasuke forced himself to respond. The medical tents were a lot nicer than the Konoha hospitals. The nurses often acted like they hated him but he knew that unlike the Konoha healers, these nurses didn't mean it.
"So I'm cleared?" He questioned.
Another nurse, this one with bright red hair, sighed and put down a clip board. "Seems so Skull." She nudged his bed with her foot. "Try to be careful though. They're pulling Shelly out of the trash so you can ride tonight."
'Sounds ominous,' Kibba commented, tired but very much present in his thoughts. 'Dude what happened?"
Sasuke smiled despite himself. Several nurses smiled back at him not knowing the real reason. Yeah it was good to have Kiba back.
"Ooooh," the crowd screamed as Sasuke flew through the air. Seven months had passed since they trashed their first bike. Since then they have crashed four more times and broken several trees in two different countries.
Sasuke had never felt more alive. Kiba had never laughed so hard. Akamaru seemed to enjoy being an octopus and had much fun brandishing his knives. The circus life was freeing in a way that none of the three had ever experienced.
If they could do it all again Sasuke was confident they would. This world was just so much fun. It didn't stop the slow ache that creased his heart when he caught a glimpse of red. He was no stranger to the loneliness Kiba felt being separated from his family. Sasuke felt the same way but it was easier for him to ignore it in favor of flying through the air.
Kiba was adjusting better but he could feel the longing in his heart to go home. To see his pack and feel the clean air of Konoha. This new world was strange and interesting, but nothing beat their world.
"Give it up for the great and magnificent Skull De Mort!" The crowd screamed as the announcer led the way for their final act. Sasuke had been apprehensive about the whole motorcycle thing, but he found it was a good distraction. Sometimes while he rode and spun in the air he could feel his chakra come alive under his skin. If he could just bottle the feeling, maybe he could even activate his Sharingan!
With that thought in mind Sasuke grinned. Kiba took control of their legs and arms, easily meandering his way into control in the body they shared. It had taken a long time for them to comfortably do this and not crash. But when they did eventually figure it out it was like nothing else seen before.
Skull de mort was a sensation. Russia couldn't get enough of them.
The circus they joined mainly traveled within the country for reasons unknown to them. Later they would find out that the circus was connected to several crime syndicates and was more of a front for some more shady dealings than anything legitimate. But with their joining they suddenly had a large money making business that was perfectly legal!
But that was later. Right now all Kiba and Sasuke cared to know was that they were famous. A good famous. Not the type that would have you killed back home, to many people knowing your name made Sasuke anxious and Kiba growley. This world was a lot to handle.
While Sasuke started the motorcycle and kicked the stand up Kiba lifted his hands making a show of fixing their jumpsuit. The helmet adorned their head like a halo of glittering sunlight. It caught the eye of every attendee.
Sasuke and Kiba had always been good at gaining a person's attention. They were even better at keeping it.
Underneath his helmet Sasuke smiled. Something vicious and even perhaps scary to the children if they could see. It was a smile he reserved for certain contacts of his.
It was easy relinquishing control to Kiba. It had been his idea to take up stunting and it would be his to see it through. Bonus that he was even good at it.
Inside of his head Sasuke could finally relax. Well…not completely. The dark shadowed figure that hid at the corner of his mind watched him still. But they were much kinder to Sasuke than to poor Kiba who often fielded attacks.
"The one!" The announcer shouted. "The only!" From afar a tiger roared. "Immortal Stuntman!" Kiba rushed forward. "Skull de mort!" The ramp came quickly at them. They leapt into the air, the wind hitting his suit and whipping at their helmet.
Kiba laughed long and whooped as the bike flipped in midair. Unplanned, Sasuke noted to himself a little grumpily. He could practically feel the fear of their coworkers. Quickly the bike turned itself in the air and hit the ramp on the other side of the arena.
The crowd screamed in relief and cheered them on. This time Sasuke took control and rode the bike around the arena waving at the audience. He eyed the ramp and decided to go for it again but this time he wanted something different.
On opposite ends of the arena there stood two hoops of fire. For some people it would be impossible for them to ride the bike far enough and not possibly fall in midair. But Sasuke had just enough control of the small amount of Chakra this body allowed to do a small amount of elemental manipulation.
Simple stuff really.
Sasuke had been practicing forming his chakra for months now. As children it was hard to work up the energy or motivation to move forward with training. But now that they were out of the school it was much easier to sneak away for an hour or so to train. Unlike the boarding school nobody questioned where they went and why.
He hadn't exactly practiced for this but he knew he could do it. Sasuke hadn't wanted to be a stuntman, had hardly thought about the bike, and more wanted to be home than anything. But the thrill of the crowd cheering their name sent chills down his spine. He wanted to be something.
So he reared up the bike and sped down the arena. He leaned his body sideways guiding the bike in the direction of the ramp. The hoops of fire burned strong. Even from afar he could feel the heat of it.
Kiba, he could feel, was smiling. For once staying quiet and perhaps sharing in the excitement of the moment. Sasuke didn't want to disappoint anyone. He wanted to live up to the facade that was Skull. He wanted to be something that Itachi would be proud of. He wanted to be better, stronger, more capable.
Sasuke wanted to be everything all at once and he was ready to work for it. No matter the cost.
So when he drove up that ramp? When he felt the stirrings of chakra deep in his bones he knew he had done something correct. The raging fire of the rings responded to his call. As he rode his bike and hit the center of the rings, a small burst of lightning lit up the sky. It all came together to make the picture that would define their career.
A Dutch man by the name of Arno Kock stood in the audience. By pure coincidence he had brought along an industrial camera. Having argued for twenty minutes to get it inside he was determined to use it. Just getting it set up in the stand was a pain in his behind! Everywhere around him people shouted and jostled him.
He was just about nearing the end of the show, defeated and without a single usable shot when the stuntman appeared. The screams of the crowd deafened him but for once he could not find it within himself to care. The stunts the man performed left him speechless.
This! Arno thought to himself. This is what I came to capture!
And by fate as Arno positioned the camera. Skull De Mort performed for the very first time his career-defining stunt.
The ramp that he drove up was the highest anyone had ever seen. It was obvious to anyone that it was not really intended for use but rather aesthetics. But Skull did not care. The crowd was almost dead silent as they watched with bated breath as Skull sped up the ramp.
For several long seconds Arno was tempted to take the picture just then. Already picturing headline after headline. World records that could be beaten and added to the sub header.
He could picture in his mind the way his editor would drop their jaw. Arno was ready for the perfect shot but something stopped him.
Because Skull was not stopping. He was still driving up the ramp! He was going for it!
When Skull finally reached the top he leapt. The motorcycle flew through the air. Higher and higher. To the greatest lengths.
Now! Arno shouted in his head. He clicked the camera. Seven shots but he only needed one. Arno glanced from behind the camera staring at the man who defied gravity and dared to fly with the birds.
The motorcycle was coming down now. The deathly chill of the crowd was gone and instead replaced with screams and more screams.
All around him the crowd chanted in synch, "Skull de mort! Skull de mort!"
Skull had flown through the air crossing over 40 feet to get to the next ramp. The ramps themselves were probably around 100 feet tall.
The landing was what had them all holding their breath, Arno could feel the tension in the air. But it seemed their anxiety was for not. As Skull gracefully landed on the other ramp after having flown through the air and soared amongst the clouds, the crowd let out a wail so loud it had his ears ringing.
He couldn't find it within himself to care.
This is what careers were made of!
"Skull De Mort! The world's newest Stuntman dazzles the crowd!"
"Crowd screams "Skull!" as ticket sales shoot through the roof!"
"Newest stuntman stuns the circus crowd! Could this be the beginning of a new era?"
"Skull De mort is on top of the world! But can he keep it up?"
"Stuntman, Skull De Mort, takes a terrifying fall trying to recreate his world renowned stunt!"
"Skull De Mort rushed to hospital as the world waits with bated breath."
"Skull De Mort makes a complete recovery. Returning to the show this Friday in France!"
Sasuke sighed as he watched the acrobats stretch. It's been a long week.
"Dude we were awesome!" Kiba laughed. "Chakra is such a cheat."
He tried to hold back a smile. Kiba hadn't been this happy in a long time now. Having Akamaru back did a lot to bring the boy's mental health back to normal. The circus was a bonus neither saw coming but he couldn't complain when it made his friend so excited.
Sometimes he thought about Konoha and the life they left behind. He never really considered Konoha completely gone. He knew somewhere in the back of his head that they would return somehow. Itachi was probably so angry with him and he knew Kiba's sister Hana was planning their funerals. Knowing Hana, having had a crush on her for a few months, she probably was just as angry as Itachi but more likely to skin them alive and feed them to the pigs.
Her kind nature and mercy was not the reason for his short lived crush he would say that much.
Yeah, Sasuke thought. We are really cool. It had been a tough few months. Over and over they would perform insane stunts to the amusement of hundreds. Kids would laugh, adults would point, and their coworkers would simply hide behind their smiles. It was a lovely break Sasuke mused, but he really was ready to go home now.
"Alright Skull!" Their newest stunt coordinator called. "We're gonna take it one more time now. I don't want to see any blood this time. The nurse will get on my ass if you bust your head open."
Sasuke raised his arm and gave the man a thumbs up. He rolled his shoulders and moved closer to his bike. The acrobats nearby walked a little farther away to give him his own space to practice. They were all kept close together, still on their way to the next city they were slowly making their way out of Russia and back to the rest of Europe once more. The government allowed them a week here before they moved on and started a new leg of their European tour.
It was comfortable moving so often. Seeing the country and living as a civilian was fun at times but mostly boring. The only joy either of them gained was performing his stunts and practice. The travel was slow and meddling, working their way through several countries. Some of the cities he visited were smaller than the neighborhoods in the village. While others he saw were the size of several hidden villages combined. Like a good ninja of Konoha, Sasuke took in all of his surroundings and noted everything he could that may be of any sort of interest to their Hokage. Kiba, having nothing to do often, remembered and noticed more than Sasuke could afford to. Sasuke ached to go home and see his family. Kiba must have agreed though he said nothing. Akamaru, being an octopus, could not speak but he showed his displeasure with this world by waving around knives. Knives that were constantly being taken away and stolen again.
With a start, Sasuke found his hand on the bike's handle. Kiba was curiously still silent in his mind. It worried him but he said nothing. Instead he threw his leg around the bike and started his usual routine. Checking the brakes was the most important.
The amount of heart attacks they had given the circus nurse because the brakes gave out was quite a bit. They should be dead several times over now. But each time Sasuke would open this body's eyes and see the world clear as day. Any sign of injury was gone and Kiba was silent for a few hours. He would wake and ask confused what happened. Each time they died Kiba never remembered the immediate memories from before nor after. He knew nothing more than Sasuke himself.
Satisfied with his assessment, Sasuke revved the bike up. Ready now Sasuke looked to the stunt coordinator and signaled that he was finally ready. They gave him much more grace than the other performers. He was their real money maker. With one last deep breath he started doing laps around all of the performers stretching. The acrobats who had moved for him earlier cheered him on as he hit his first ramp and leaped from the bike. One flip in the air and he was back on the bike and hitting the other ramp several feet away. He stopped the bike and took a glance at his coordinator.
The man was scratching his beard and frowning. "Can you go higher?"
Sasuke held back a sigh. Times like this he missed his former stunt coordinator. He had died a week prior to a mafia shootout in a local restaurant. Kiba yawned in his head and offered to take over. Sasuke was glad to give control over the body, even if he did feel uncomfortable with the limbs moving out of his control. It gave him time to do things he hadn't had much time to do lately.
Thinking was hard for him. He preferred to lose his mind in the air.
Without noticing several hours passed him by. Sasuke was consumed with the daydream of being home, having not even noticed their ramps going continuously higher and higher with more distance being put in between them. It was only when he felt Kiba scream that he took control of the body again and in turn started to see out of his eyes once more.
He had never been conscious of immediate death. Each time when they died and woke up in a hospital bed it was due to him not paying attention and just dying. His eyesight would black out and that was that.
This time he saw everything. Heights did not scare a shinobi. The wind pushing against him and the gravity pulling him down was supposed to be exhilarating if not intoxicating. And yet when he found himself faced with no chakra to cushion his fall and no friends who could catch him, Sasuke found himself scared for the first time in a long time. He hadn't been scared when he woke in this new world. Nervous? Yes. Anxious? Absolutely. Scared? Never. Not once had he feared for his life in this world. They were civilians he had thought. What harm could they cause him? None. It was his and Kiba's own hubris that caused this. So content that nothing could happen. That nothing could possibly happen.
Sasuke didn't allow himself the luxury of screaming. He was headed face first for the ground.
He didn't want to die. HE didn't want to die. He would do anything to live.
Sasuke wanted to see his brother. Apologize to his mother and Father. Hug Sakura and Naruto. Tell Kakashi he wasn't so bad a teacher.
Kiba had similar regrets. His mother and sister would be upset with him. Akamaru would have no partner. He didn't want to die like this, there was no glory in death.
With their dying wills, both pledged to go home and face their families. The purple that clouded his vision was unexpected but not unwelcome as it comforted his fall. He didn't pass out this time and Kiba even remained awake, as evident of him still screaming in Sasuke's mind.
The screaming around him and in his head made him want to be passed out. This mayhem was very annoying to his senses.
Skull De Mort.
He had first caught his attention when he was but a small boy. Flames are so pure and strong, enough to power the pacifier for a few decades at least. He hadn't needed him yet. Kawahira paid attention to lots of flame users. Skull wasn't the most powerful, not yet, but he had potential.
Skull wouldn't come back to his attention for several years. Long enough for him to grow and expand his energy. To become the strongest while those with more potential choked and died as their flames turned on him.
The cloud was so hard to track.
Skull was one of the hardest. He moved often and not predictably enough for him to be comfortable leaving from his all knowing sight.
Kawahira didn't need him yet. But soon, he knew, it would be time for him to gather the Arcobaleno. He sighed and turned his sights to the storm currently fleeing the country.
This batch would be one of the most interesting.
Sasuke didn't mean to get mixed up with the mafia.
When he was still a child in boarding school he had made lots of friends. Channeling Kibas energy and Naruto's charisma, he had become a well liked child if not well regarded. The younger children in the school started to follow him like little ducks while the older children submitted to his rule. You didn't touch him, you didn't end up hurt. That's what Sasuke had tried to instill in the children of the school.
What really happened was the children idolized him, following his example and working in his name. Some gathered gossip while others built cliques that enforced rules Sasuke had not exactly said but they inferred. The older kids watched him warily at first before ultimately following along. Children were impressionable creatures. Being abandoned in a boarding school left a bit of trauma that Sasuke smiled at and exploited.
It wasn't purposeful that he would argue with Kiba. It was natural.
Kiba must have smiled and shook his head. He could feel the almost disappointment radiating from his head. Not in his actions but rather in his denial that what he was doing wasn't some bastardization of something Ino wouldn't do.
As it was, Sasuke's intention was to never really start anything real. It passed the time and amused him. That was all. Except he had accidentally started something. Before he left the school a few of his former classmates had gone to prison for various crimes that Sasuke may have accidentally set them off on.
He hadn't told him to murder those people. They had free will!
While in prison some rumors occured that he was building a mafia family out of the boarding school. He hadn't known what a mafia family was at the time when he was confronted by a group of very angry buff men. He still didn't know when he had finished kicking said mens head into the dirt. Left groaning and gagging on their own blood the men were no fit to answer his questions.
It was a yakuza group. Sasuke was in the beginning of heading a yakuza group. Interesting but it didn't hold his attention for long as soon after he had fled to the circus and the rest was history.
All this to say, Sasuke didn't mean to start a mafia family nor get involved in it any more than he had already. Unfortunately for him, he was in the middle of Italy. Smack dab in the center of a civil war with no connection to either side. But when he saw a fight break out he smiled wide and blood thirsty. Jumping right in the middle of the gun fight, he ignored all the shots dodging and dipping. He hit, punched and kicked. The purple fire came around him instinctively protecting his body where Sasuke failed. Shots that pierced him healing quickly and never staying for long. When the fight was over and the bodies littered the streets Sasuke stood alone. Happy and covered in blood he had stolen several guns and twirled them around his fingers happily.
His appearance was not common at all. Purple hair and littered with piercings the men gaped at him perhaps wondering whose side he was on and what his goal was. He didn't have one, Sasuke liked to fight. Kiba liked to walk them into tattoo shops and get a new piercing every time they were sad. And Akamaru, who had stayed on the sidelines of the fight happy and safe under a slab of concrete, stared annoyed at them. He probably wished to fight alongside them.
Sasuke grimaced as he walked away as fast as possible. Luckily for him he was well known for his motorcycle clothing and helmet and not his real appearance.
Bala threw her head into her hands. Years! Literal years the head of their family followed around the circus leaving cryptic clues in each public appearance he had. Bala had been one of the few following and decoding his words for their next orders.
No one wanted to know what would happen to them if they were to misinterpret his words so everyone was very careful.
This latest order was pushing the boundaries of their sanity though. Not only had the head of their family finally made his appearance after months of silence in the papers but he had done so with a bang. Having ended a civil war in the carcassa family. Only Cherep would make such a splash in the world. His victorious smile as he stared right into the camera, his glittering, and his stretched outward. It was obvious to Bala. Cherep wanted them to add the Carcassa family to their crime syndicate and bolster their numbers. With such a show of strength what else could it possibly mean?
Gara, a boy who had been in the same classes as Cherep, held a different opinion. "I think he wants us to destroy them." The boy shrugged. "Skull likes to beat up people and put them in their place. They must have done something to him first."
"Skull-sama must want us to absorb them and bring ourselves to the public he-" Bela was practically shouting but Gara cut her off with a wave of his hand.
"Skull is hard to understand." Gara said sagely. "We'll take them as prisoners and use them as a front. When we meet up with him he can clarify. He won't be mad if I tell him."
Bala didn't envy him the job, Skull-sama was a scary man.