In His Own Right:
Chapter Twelve:
*Two days earlier
Sasuke took large gasps, air filling his lungs as he commanded himself to breathe.
Breathe... Just breathe...Breathe through the thin layer of dust and smoke that was now the leaf village. His beloved village, that same village he had sworn to serve and protect. His head swirled and throbbed in pain, as black eyes swung to the side, his Katana a finger nail's length away. He had one shot at this, Danzo stood over him looming with menace, almost as if he were analyzing the young Uchiha as if he could see through the shinobi like an open window. His mask had fallen a short distance away. His features totally visible to the world at this point.
"The resemblance is indeed undeniable." What was Danzo's obsession with bringing up the fact that Sasuke and Izumi looked alike?
Sasuke took this partial span of no action to attack. He reached to his left, his hand going towards the weapon, moving a small distance his fingers curling around the hilt of his weapon as he grabbed it. With that, he took the Katana and in a quick motion swiped the blade at his target. To say the least, the man hadn't seen it coming, his one free eye-widening in surprise from the attack, however, Sasuke had not been able to transfer all his strength into his weapon, slowing the speed down to a significant level, even if it were by just a fraction of a second, it was still enough that Danzo had the ability to dodge the sword, it grazing his face slicing straight through his hair and the side of his face. The elder closed his visible eye, a small stream of blood dripping from the open laceration. Sasuke grunted as he found his left wrist being placed in a tight grip, the Katana's hilt being held in Danzo's other hand. The bastard removed the weapon tossing it to the side.
Damn it!
Danzo took this as a catalyst to speed things up. His menacing hands came forward as he fell to his knees.
Shit! He couldn't let this happen, his mind swirled as he processed something that he could do, some sort of tactic that could somehow help him. This all occurring within a fraction of a second, all his thoughts being processed in this span of a second. Then suddenly...
"Leaf whirlwind!"
A slender leg collided with Danzo's face. Pushing him backward. Sasuke watched in amazement and gratefulness at the appearance of his teammate. Rock Lee, if his hair said anything, though his face was hidden by a mask relentlessly hit the elder with a barrage of low and high kicks. Danzo fell flat on the floor, his back in the dirt. Lee landed next to Sasuke in a series of backflips.
"Do not worry Sasuke, Kakashi-sensei sent me, and I refuse to let anyone harm any of my comrades!", the sporadic youth declared.
He brought himself to his feet, grabbing his Katana as he did, using the weapon to support him, regaining his composure. He had to thank Kakashith later.
"Appreciate it. Where's everyone?",
"They are fine, they will be joining us shortly however right now we have to keep our minds on the objective at hand.", Lee stood, his body in his signature taijutsu stance.
Like a persistent predator, the Elder was back on his feet, just as fast as he'd been knocked down.
"He's been planning a coup, he blew the fucking Hokage mansion sky high. The village is under attack!", Rocklee nodded agreeing.
More root found their way beside Danzo, weapons drawn and battle-ready. Sasuke counted about seven. As another explosion sounded off in the background, this one not as heavy as the last, but still significantly large.
"I'll finish him off, you take care of his lackeys. I want to finish this!"
"Right!", Rocklee shouted as the two wasted no time in attacking.
Lee seemed to have disappeared rushing the root ninja, taking on all seven of the Root Anbu, his reflexes much too fast for the ninja. Sasuke's Sharingan pierced into the man, baiting him, wanting to see if he'd make the mistake of looking him in the eye. Unfortunately, Danzo kept his one eye diverted from Sasuke's, having prior knowledge of the Sharingan's powers already.
"How about we finish this?" Sasuke stated, preparing to attack.
"You can't possibly believe that you somehow stand a chance, child. Izumi...maybe... But you."
"Hm, I think we were pretty even moments ago. All I have to do is step up a bit." Sasuke taunted playing with his sword, tossing it between his hands.
"You know not what you're doing, you're too young and naive to see the much larger picture."
"Oh? I think I do, I'm stopping a crazy old bastard by whatever means possible. I'm not even going to ask you to come quietly, what you've done here is unforgivable. I'm just going to wipe the floor with your sorry ass!", Sasuke's eyes predicted Danzo's next movements, as Sasuke leaped into the air dodging a wind attack sent from the elder. He stayed mid-air for a moment, almost as if he were gliding, analyzing his opponent. The younger brother of Izumi then smiled. As he forced himself downwards, his free hand began to perform the appropriate hand signals for his fire style attack, he then tossed his Katana down towards Danzo in a slanted one hundred and eighty-degree angle. Danzo Blocked the attack, his Kunai being enforced by his wind style. The Katana hit the floor, as Sasuke landed directly in front of the elder and released a fireball jutsu.
The flames devoured the man within seconds. The fire blasting out of his lips, the familiar burning sensation in his tongue and mouth as he did so. He allowed this attack to grow in size, holding nothing back. The fire eventually spread to the mansion, the house catching fire. Only at this point did Sasuke stop. Finally, Sasuke allowed the fire to dissipate, leaving a black scar on the ground.
He didn't see Danzo. Did he disintegrate from his attack? Well, the Uchiha didn't have much time to talk, as a shrunken grazed the skin on his face. Taken by surprise, Sasuke jumped back, grabbing his weapon as he did so, he spotted two root ninja rushing forward. Seeing this he waited for them to engage again.
One came forward, his hand gripped on a Kunai, as he moved forward attempting to thrust the knife into Sasuke. But the prodigal Uchiha was much too fast, grabbing the man's arm before slicing said arm off with his sword. Sasuke then decapitated the ninja in one swoosh. He meant business and would show no mercy. The second shinobi took a different approach. This one attempted casting a Genjutsu on the young Uchiha. It was cute, to say the least. Sasuke saw through and past it with ease, he reflected the Jutsu that was supposed to attack his mind and slashed through his foe like he was butter. Blood, splattered over his Jounin uniform, face, and hair. It was a dirty job, but he did it excellently. His eyes then shifted towards Lee, his opponents seeming to multiply from the last seven, but the taijutsu master held his ground. Seeing this Sasuke's first instincts were to go and help his friend and that were his intentions. Before a hand suddenly grabbed him from behind, a kunai being pressed against his throat.
"You do not seem to understand what's going on here. Things need to change, I'm doing what is absolutely necessary!", Danzo spoke into his ear, his voice deep and had Sasuke been less of a man, he would have faltered at it.
Sasuke escaped his hold, in a quick duck and use of his slim flexible body.
"You're crazy and need to be put down.", he said simply, he kicked the man, causing him to slide backwards.
"You have no idea what is at hand... what the village is capable of.",
"Anything you say cannot be trusted, shut the up and fight.", Sasuke gripped his Katana, preparing to engage in another battle.
"Oh, really? So I'm guessing you don't want to hear the story of how your, oh so, beloved and prestigious sister almost agreed to murdering your whole entire clan, including yourself and your own family?",
Sasuke stopped, opening his mouth to rebuke the man and tell him how much of a liar he was. But it struck him like lightning in the back, sending an invisible wave of curiosity through his body. It didn't seem possible, it had to have been a lie.
"You're lying, Izumi would never." he emphasized the word 'never, moving his hands in animated motion.
"Oh, but she would my dear child. And she was..." he came forward his face a seasoned calm.
"You're trying to manipulate me, and it won't work." he said pointing his Katana, his temples beginning to expand as he felt himself become angry.
"It's not manipulation, it's the truth. It's the truth about how the village has become rather malicious over time."
Sasuke pointed his sword closer, electricity sparking off of it.
"I don't believe it, you're a manipulative bastard and you are lying!"
The man stood in a nonchalant and solemn state. "By no means am I lying, hear me out. This story is one for the books. It's a good argument, and would help explain as to why I'm doing this!"
It was bullshit, and he could smell it. This was Izumi, the clan heir, and his loving elder sister. She would never allow herself to be ordered to do such a thing, she was smarter than that. Hell she was a genius, and she was a gentle individual, despite her being a ninja, she was a kind person. But what was this feeling? This feeling or possibly a voice in the back of his head, telling him that there was truth to the man's words. He shut his eyes quickly as he came to his decision. Sasuke allowed his sword to lower from the man, his eyes opening again. The second-born Uchiha head bit his lip as he found it hard to believe the words that were released from his mouth.
"You have five minutes."
Sakura fell onto her butt, a tremor shaking the hospital, almost as if it were an Earthquake. Her emerald green eyes looked around the hallway, as she soon brought herself to her feet, finding her balance again.
What the hell was going on? Weird shit had been going this whole entire day, and she was stressed.
"Sakura-senpai!"
Sakura turned to her student Matsuri. The atmosphere of the hospital being filled with concern and fear.
"Check the patients, make sure no one is hurt. Go now!"
Matsuri nodded at this before running off in a rather hasty yet hectic pace. Sakura ran in the opposite direction. There were so many things running through her head. That bang, she knew for a fact was an explosion. Where was the source of that explosion? And the main question that made Sakura's head spin the most. Was it an accident or was it done purposely? The Village could be under attack, that was the sad reality of the situation, and if that were true then she needed to keep everyone under her jurisdiction safe.
She ran to the nearest desk to retrieve a phone. Her first call was through the loudspeakers, to every room in the hospital.
"Patients, visitors, and staff I need your undivided attention. There seems to be an incident currently within the village, we are to go through with all necessary safety procedures, beginning with a lockdown." she hung up in a quick fashion, finishing the call. She then dialed the number to the Hokage mansion. If something had occurred, someone there would know of it.
A disturbance in the wind caused the pink-haired girl to stop. Her eyes narrowed when she looked over the desk.
"Sakura Haruno..." her eyes fell between what she counted as four Anbu operatives. Each of their weapons drawn, their masks, though resembling animals along with the deadly weapons bringing more menace to the already threatening squad. People began to clear the area at this.
"...You are being placed under house arrest. Come quietly.",
House arrest?
"What the fuck for?",
"Your allegiance to the fifth Hokage causes concern. The Village is being placed under new authority. Unless you can prove your loyalty to the village and the new Hokage Danzo, you're being kept here 'til further notice.",
Her eyes widen at this. What in the actual fuck was going on? The village was being compromised, and someone else was taking leadership. So, where was Tsunade?
"Are you serious?",
"Come with us...or we'll be forced to make you!",
She stepped back at the man's words. There was absolutely no way she'd submit to him. Hell, Tsunade was a great leader. Who the fuck was this Danzo Character? She stepped back again, the ten ninja approaching her threateningly.
Sakura scanned the area, her eyes looking for a way out, or possibly a strategy. She stopped her backwards movement and tapped her right foot on the marble floor. She noted that they were on the first floor and that under them was simply a supply closet. No patients, no staff. She smiled as she cracked her knuckles and neck at the same time. She could break the floor and separate the ninja, yes! It was marble, which was rather tough, but nothing she couldn't handle. The Anbu operatives stopped their advancement in skepticism watching her curious.
Sakura summoned green chakra to her hands, her strength being enhanced to that of a hundred men. Her fists came downwards, slamming into the marble floor, as the floor opened up caving in and sucking everything in the proximity down with them. It sounded off with a BANG!
Sakura jumped away leaving the damaged area to a more stable area. All of the Anbu Root had avoided the attack but were now separated, just as she wished. Her first victim never saw it coming, as green chakra enhanced fists slammed into the man's back and spine. He let out an ear-shattering scream of pain, as she felt and heard the man's spine crack from the force. The man flew forward crashing into the wall, where he slid down into the hole.
"One down! Who's next?", she challenged, as another two root shinobi engaged her aggressively, one shooting a fireball Jutsu in her direction. As the other attacked with a clone. She jumped out of the way of the fireball, finding herself being slightly scorched as she evaded the full onslaught of the attack. Now she was taking the shinobi and his clone head-on, he ran at her tossing kunai and Shuriken. Seeing this the pinket ducked, dodging the first wave of deadly weapons. She then side-stepped to avoid the next set. With this she ran forward, the ninja slowing down to let his clone attack first. The clone, released a kunai as it and Sakura met. He slashed at the girl, who weaved away from his slashes. His speed increasing with every attack. Sakura then, realizing the increase in his attack speed, caught the kunai in between her hands. She then let a kick collide with the clone. It disappeared in a puff of smoke. The actual shinobi then attacked his partner by his side as the two engaged Sakura with their taijutsu.
She tussled with the two, choosing to be defensive as she waited for an opening. Their attacks doing damage besides her ability to block, and dodge. One of her opponents were attacking but was doing a terrible job at protecting their midsections as they dealt their blows. Sakura grinned at this, seeing and opening, she allowed more chakra to flow to her hands as she exploited this error in the ninja's defense. Her fist pummeled into his midsection, the man was blasted backwards, the damage more than enough to kill.
She performed a backwards summersault, placing some distance between her other opponent. The other ninja seemed intimidated by her skill, standing still for a second, as he gazed at his fallen comrade.
"I'll give you one chance, leave with your life and dignity, or face the same fate as your friend.", she began, giving the man a chance, relaxing at this. He didn't respond, simply withdrawing a sword.
"Well, I guess it can't be helped.", she dashed forward, preparing to end this in one blow. The root agent anticipated this, getting away from her punching just in time. His hands came down as he sent a slice towards the girl, cutting her face. She felt blood spill from her cheeks. The man attacked again with the weapon, this time thrusting his weapon. Sakura saw this and used her hand to punch the sword, breaking it in half with one punch.
The man was surprised, to say the least, but it was too late for regrets as Sakura landed a killing punch. The man, of course, flew backwards dying.
How unfortunate, she thought. As the girl allowed herself to relax, absorbing the damage of the first-floor hospital, she couldn't help but wonder how much it'd cost to get that fix. Her eyes scanned the area, looking at the caved-in floor and blood-splattered walls. She shook her head at this, as she chose to walk backwards. Obviously they had been the same root agents that had attacked Shisui, and obviously, there was some sort of attack on the village. A coup, possibly?
She ran towards the room in which he stayed but found herself being unable to do so, as a sharp pain seemed to hit the girl from every direction. Her body fell forward, as she tripped over her feet. She grunted in pain, as the feeling of metal being lodged in her body overcame her. And the fall only added to the pain. She fell on her stomach, her body becoming weak as she felt the blood rush outwards like a raging rapid. She forced herself onto her back, as she turned to face the direction of the attack. She had made an absolutely fatal mistake; forgetting the fourth attacker.
She grabbed at a shuriken in her leg with her right hand, gripping it as she removed it. She could attempt to heal herself. But she chose not to as she gazed at her fourth opponent approaching Katana in hand. She brought the shuriken upwards preparing to toss it at the man. But this proved to be futile. With speed, that seemed to rival that of Sasuke, the ninja with his katana impaled the girl's right arm, the blade digging straight through her.
She let out a shrill of complete agony, as she felt flesh being ripped and bone shattered. The man didn't have much of a response to her pain, but instead removing the sword. This sent more pain throughout the girl, as she felt her body falling into shock. Root agent then placed a foot on her chest, pushing her flat on her back, as he held the sword over her neck. This all occurring within literal seconds. She felt the blade, begin to dig into her neck, as blood began to leak from her neck, she grabbed the blade with her hand, attempting to stop it, as the blade dug straight through the skin on her hand. The girl closed her eyes, as the realization of her demise hit her. It was stupid really, she had been careless and this one mistake probably would cost her, her one and only life.
An unfamiliar sound made it's way to Sakura's ears. She felt the weapon drop onto her chest, as a sudden feeling of relief surrounded her. What? What was happening? With that another sound followed, this one being more familiar, it sounded as if someone had cracked or snapped a bone, rather violently also.
She opened her green eyes to a rather mouth dropping sight. Shisui, in his patient attire, held the man in a complete headlock. SNAP! The man's face definitely shouldn't have been facing his back. neck twisted in an unnatural position. Shisui released the man's motionless body allowing him to fall to the floor. Both ninja gazed at his body for a moment, before Sakura with relief in her eyes stared back at Shisui.
"You guys thought you could have a party without me?", a sly smirk on was his face. Though it fell into a frown seeing the moment she just dropped. "Oh, Kami! Sakura, I'm here! Shit! How many fingers am I holding? Sakura!-", he held up two fingers as he attempted to get a response from the girl. She didn't respond...
She never thought that she'd be so glad to see or hear the goofy man. She let out a hollow and weak laugh, blood coming out with the struggle. She then drifted into the sea of unconsciousness.
The cells weren't as bad as he'd thought, though, being in a cell wasn't all that good either. Nonetheless, this was their current predicament after the Iwagakure ninja had made them submit. Or rather, they surrendered without a fight, which Naruto still didn't agree with up until this point. But, there was no changing what happened. They had been charged with illegal and apparently their intrusion into the village was a threat to national security, despite Naruto's continuous efforts to pursue them to think otherwise. His protests didn't make anyone happier.
The only problem was the pain the hard concrete floor was put on his ass. Giant steel chakra enhanced bars held them within the cell, which really wasn't enough to contain either of them.
He questioned Izumi, he really did. Albeit, he did understand her reasonings. They weren't the enemy, nor did they consider Iwagakure the enemy, and she didn't wish to start a conflict between the two villages or kill unnecessarily. It was a tight decision, and he would be willing to bet that if it were Kakashi in her position or possible Sasuke then they'd either run or kill off the ninja, disposing of their bodies. But Izumi, she thought differently, her mental state and reasoning on a totally different level from everyone else. It was weird, or she was weird...rather. But, it was a good thing, that she was so passive, she mad have diverted possible tension between the villages in the time of peace, she really thought outside of the box. And she truly had a good heart.
They had been placed in the same holding cells for a temporary amount of time, as they were being processed and possibly charged with the crime of trespassing. If anything they'd be let go with no further actions... That is if they didn't attempt to gain some sort of information and interrogate the three for intel on the village.
Naruto, shifted around the room, his eyes falling upon his sensei, who sat quiet, seeming to be in some sort of meditation. He then turned to his right, gazing at the pale tan girl. From the corner of the room, Izumi seemed to be in a deep sense of thought, her eyes kept scanning between Naruto and Jiraiya. It was unnatural for the girl to seem unnerved, even if a tiny bit. She didn't seem anxious or anything. Actually, she seemed pretty average for Izumi. Normal, for her standards, yes she was an expert at keeping herself look calm. But, Naruto could see past her shell, he could see the way she slightly bit her lip or the gleam in her eyes that usually was never present.
She sighed before speaking. "I apologize for my passive actions, I'm not entirely sure if I made the correct choice, but I did not wish to fight unnecessarily, that would have ultimately lead to unnecessary deaths. And possibly hostile retaliation."
A cool wind blew in from the window behind a tree.
"I didn't want to put you guys in this situation. However, I also didn't wish for any more conflict between the, I may have made a rather incoherent decision. We could have made an attempt to escape even... I'm-...I'm just simply sorry...", there was a rather weird tone in her voice when she explained this, a tone he never thought he would associate with the strong and honorable Anbu captain of Konoha. It wasn't normal. He brought himself from the corner she was sitting, moving from his sitting position, and bringing himself beside the girl sitting next to her. He couldn't help but realize that she sounded, almost sad...disappointed... Crestfallen even. As if she had failed.
"Izumi, you did the right thing. No need to sound so down, things will be alright.", he stretched his arm outwards, bring her closer towards him as he aimed to comfort the girl.
It was weird seeing her like this, seeing her low despite her ability to hold in her emotions and keep herself put together rather well. She was a ninja, after all, it was one of the many things they were proficient at. But there was one undeniable fact about all ninja, a fact that applied to every single person on this planet as a matter of fact. They were Human beings, human beings with skin, muscles, blood, and most importantly, feelings. The future Hokage realized this, and no one was an exception to this not even Izumi Uchiha.
He looked her over, enjoying every second of this view of the beautiful Uchiha, from her dramatically long silky black hair, to the lack of any flaws on her face, to just simply how perfectly rounded her ass was.
"I just want you guys to be ready, just in case things take an unfortunate turn. And I'll take responsibility for any trouble that'll come from this", she stated softly, the tone seeming to be covered up a bit more, but still present.
"Izumi...", he pulled her tighter, holding the girl ever so much closer. With this, the woman did something rather unexpected. Her head, she rested her head on his right shoulder when he did this. It was different, her hair stretching over his chest and surrounding him. The fourth Hokage's son looked down rather stunned. The girl, seeming to be totally calm and unaffected by her actions, and how close they were, he didn't want her to feel bad. He wrapped his other arm around her, as he began to enjoy the warmth and her mesmerizing aroma. He inhaled and well, instantly he relaxed.
Soon his eyes fell to the girl's pale facial features. He noticed two small lines that ran down below her eyes. He noticed how absolutely beautiful she looked, despite the dark holding cell, he could faintly see her face that seemed to resemble that of what he could only compare to an angel. -no, he had never seen one- Kami! His eyes then fell to her lips, her lips that looked ever so soft and delicate. Her lips. It was at this moment that he wondered, how they would feel? What did they taste like? were they soft? He wanted to know.
His hands came upwards as he lifted her chin towards him, inclining heads. She allowed this with no protest. He smiled at her, the girl responded with a weak grin, which was a good thing considering her personality. It was at this moment Naruto, did what he'd only dreamed of. His lips fell into Izumi Uchiha's. Oh! A warm feeling exploding through him, seeming to develop in his belly, before expanding. His hands found their ways to her hair, stroking her silky black hair in a slow caressing motion. Her lips tasted of cinnamon, which would also support the fact that her breath smelt of the brown spice. His mind was blank, as he just allowed his body to move with the motions, her hand finding it's way to the side of his face, as she deepened the kiss, the two hungrily yet slowly engulfing their lips into each others'.
It ended within seconds, the Jounin not exactly sure who had pulled away first. But it was over. The cell was silent again, the only noise being that of the wind that blew through the small bar protected window behind them. Naruto looked to the girl in his arms, who seemed to be in some sort of thought or just simply stunned.
"That...was my first.", she stated simply, Naruto noticing through the small sliver light, that Uchiha heir was blushing, and attempting to hide it. He had no response to this, he only looked down at her. Only then did Naruto come back to reality. He had just kissed Izumi! Izumi Uchiha! His eyes swirled around the room, as he suddenly remembered the third member. His sensei and closest father figure.
Jiraiya stared at Naruto from his corner, a gusty wind blowing in yet again. The old man had a smile on his face that seemed to stretch from ear to ear. His eyes filled with a knowing stare, as he gave Naruto a thumbs up, before winking.
Naruto half-smiled, as he scratched his head, the girl still in his arms.
"Thank-you, Naruto-Kun.", the Uchiha said softly, into his chest.
And it was on this day, that Naruto kissed Izumi for the first time.
*Well, that's Chapter Twelve. I'm not going to lie, I didn't like writing this chapter as much as I did Chapter Eleven. Shit, Chapter Eleven was my favorite so far. This Chapter just was sort of hard for me to write, and I'm not going to go into depth as to why. But basically, I couldn't find the right rhythm for this one. Thus, how it ended. Ha! Oh, and Naruto and Izumi finally kissed...Yes! Finally, it had been done. So how is the rest of the story going to play out from here on out? You may ask. Shit, how are they going to get back to their home village? Damn, I wish I knew... but don't worry we'll find out soon.
*As always, do not forget to leave a nice little review. Thank-you.