As always, I claim no ownership of Naruto or Hikari. Just this story :)
Constructive criticism is warmly welcomed and appreciated. Flames will be noted, but ignored! Please note that Hikari's last name 'Aino' has been changed to 'Yukimura' for the duration of this story.
So without first ado. Here's the new update. Please enjoy and please review :D
THE 'DEATH' OF TEAM SEVEN
"…The silence isn't so bad
'Till I look at my hands and feel sad
'Cause the spaces between my fingers
Are right where yours fit perfectly."
~ Owl City (Ocean Eyes [2009])
~ONE MONTH LATER~
~HIKARI P.O.V~
Sasuke is worse than ever.
He has secluded himself within the Uchiha compound and won't talk to anyone. He's already threatened dismemberment with Sakura, who refuses to accept the fact that Sasuke has suddenly become a recluse, and only leaves the house for food, training and missions. He attempts to use Naruto as target practice for his kunai and shuriken. The only person in our squad who seemed to get off lightly was me, strangely enough, I copped the silent treatment. Otherwise, he hides himself at home, and nobody knows why he's acting this way….
"Maybe he's still pissed?" suggests Naruto.
It's a possible, mostly because he still glares at both Naruto and I during our missions and training sessions and refuses point blank to train with ANY of us – including Kakashi; and even he is getting worried, and normally he 'ignores' us when he's supposed to be the responsible adult and showing us a good example.
"Well, I think Lady Tsunade was too harsh. Punishing Sasuke-kun like that." Sakura said matter-of-factly.
"Sakura, you don't think anything that Sasuke does deserves punishing." I pointed out. Sakura scowled at me for a moment before smirking smugly. "What's with the smirk?" I questioned. Sakura preened her bubblegum hair and sniffed snottily.
"You're just sore because Sasuke-kun ignored you. At least he spoke to me today." Naruto sheepishly scratched the back of his head.
"Actually, Sakura. He told you to beat it, or he'd cut out your tongue and impale it on a tree trunk." He pointed out. Sakura bopped him over the head hard.
"NOBODY SAID THAT YOU COULD TALK!" she bellowed at him, putting him down AGAIN for the updeemth time. That was the last straw. Grabbing her harshly by the hair, I pulled her towards me, enjoying the sound of her shrieking in pain and stared at her with what I assumed were furious, bloodthirsty eyes.
"Now listen here, you stupid pea-brained bimbo! Sasuke and I have told you to stop picking on Naruto and beating the crap out of him when he annoys you or says something you don't like hearing." Sakura clawed at my hand, desperately trying to free herself.
"Let go of me, you crazy bitch!" shrieked Sakura, tears of pain streaming down her face. Suddenly, I felt somebody's hand grabbing my shoulder. I turned and saw Naruto smiling softly at me, but also looking fearful for Sakura even though she didn't deserve it.
"Let her go, Hikari-chan. She's not worth it." Naruto urged. I hesitated.
"Naruto, she can't get away with bullying you like this. It's not right and it's not fair." I protested. Naruto nodded.
"I know, and I'm thankful for you defending me. But if you continue hurting Sakura, you're no better than she is." He pointed out. For a moment, I considered ignoring Naruto and dragging Sakura away to teach her a lesson she'd never forget, so she'd think twice about picking on Naruto or anybody else just because she couldn't control her fucking temper or get her own way. In the end, I conceded and released her hair, watching Sakura drop to the ground clutching her scalp. A few moments passed before Sakura finally got to her feet, glaring at me with hatred.
"You're gonna regret that." She vowed and started advancing towards me. Naruto growled with frustration and stepped in front of me, blocking Sakura.
"Geez, didn't you hear what I just said? Just let it go already!" Sakura turned her glare towards Naruto, who shrank back a little at the caustic look.
"Get out of my way, you idiot!"
"What's going on here, I wonder?" a deep feminine voice interrupted.
The three of us looked over to see Mitarashi Anko chewing on yet another stick of sticky sweet odango dumplings. I heard Naruto gulp, and I could see why. Anko was unpredictable and dangerous at the best of times, but this time she was looking both annoyed and amused with the situation – and when she was like this, she was the equivalent of a ticking time-bomb: one wrong move and you could be blown to kingdom come. Sakura, ever the narc and apparently oblivious or completely insane, immediately spoke up.
"Anko-sensei! Hikari assaulted me!" Sakura stabbed her finger at me, drawing Anko's attention.
Great! Throw me to the wolves, why don't' cha…
There we were: an emotionally exhausted, fed up and teary-eyed Yukimura kunoichi, who was worried about the highly volatile and reclusive member of an assassinated clan, and Konoha's most unpredictable knuckleheaded ninja who was looking extremely nervous by the mere presence of Anko while trying to fend off the attacks of an obsessive fan girl with anger management issues. Anko eyed me off like a hungry snake taunting a small mouse.
"Did she now? And what exactly did you do to Haruno here?" Anko-sensei requested of me, smirking. That 'smirk' had a hidden message encoded in it that read 'if-i-don't-like-what-I-hear-you're-completely-fucked'. I scowled at her.
"Nothing that she didn't deserve." I replied coldly. Naruto's eyes widened in shock. Without warning a kunai came flying at me, aimed directly between my eyes. I snatched it out of thin air and raised an eyebrow at our former Academy teacher. Sometimes training privately with Sasuke paid off. Sakura and Naruto gasped; one with amazement, the other disappointment.
"Impressive," Anko praised me, and I suddenly felt something sharp cut my cheek and something slimy drag itself across it. "But that didn't answer my question. Now I suggest you try again without the cheek." I wiped away at my cheek and saw blood, realising that Anko had just grazed my cheek with a kunai and then licked off the blood with her tongue - exactly like she had done to Naruto before we went into the Forest of Death during the Chunin exams. I looked over my shoulder to see the kunai embedded in the dirt and I glanced back and saw Anko spinning another kunai around on her finger threateningly, via the medal loop.
"I'm waiting…" I paled, realising my mistake and drew in a deep breath before complying.
"Sakura, Naruto and I were discussing why Sasuke had been a shut in this past week. Naruto pointed out something to Sakura which she didn't like. So she decked him, insulted him and I retaliated." Sakura looked triumphant.
"See she confessed to it—"
"I haven't finished..." I glowered at her. "Naruto stepped in and told me that she wasn't worth it and told me to let it go and let her go. Apparently, Sakura wasn't satisfied with that, so she attacked me." I looked Anko in the eye. "That's when you came in." I finished. Anko didn't look impressed.
"That's it? That's what I wasted my time for?" Anko said to Sakura who looked cornered. Clearly she was expecting me to be hauled over the coals. Instead, she was getting into trouble.
"But, but she—" Sakura protested.
"Was being a good friend. Nothing more." Anko finished with a tone that suggested finality. "On your way Haruno, before I do something to you." Anko promised. Sakura paled before scowling and storming off in a huff.
"Uh, thanks sensei?" Our former teacher smirked again, before retrieving her kunai from the dirt.
"You've got spunk, kid. I'll tell ya that much." Noticing Naruto, she messed up his already messy hair and smiled at him, genuinely. "You're damn lucky, brat. She's a keeper." she said, winking at him – which caused us both to blush in embarrassment when we realised what she was getting at.
"He's not my—"
"She's not my—" We heard laughter and then realised she had disappeared without us noticing it.
I groaned in frustration.
"I wish they wouldn't spontaneously disappear like that." I complained. "They haven't even taught us how to do that yet." Naruto said nothing. He still looked redder than Hinata whenever Naruto got too close to her, causing her to faint right out. A fact that, by the way, still cracks me up every time I see it happening. I looped an arm around Naruto's shoulders, as we continued walking casually down the road.
"Thanks for knocking some sense into me back there, Naru." I thanked him. Naruto looked at me like I was nuts.
"Why wouldn't I? I don't want you to get into trouble because of me." I instantly frowned, knowing where he was going with that statement.
"Don't start with that bullshit. You're nothing like that stupid fox." I reminded him and pinched his cheek to distract him from those thoughts.
"OW! What was that for?" He growled. I stuck my tongue out at him.
"A distraction." And quickly darted out of his reach. He smirked back.
"You're gonna pay for that!" he declared. And just like that, playful Naruto had returned. I giggled and ran for it, Naruto hot on my heels. "I'm gonna tickle you till you throw up!" He promised. I squealed as his fingers barely grazed my arms and ran faster. We continued to dodge each other: running down alleys, over rooftops and through trees until finally Naruto managed to distract me with a shadow clone and tackled me to the ground, rolling around and straddling me so I couldn't get away. I was at his mercy.
Shit…
"Payback time!" He grinned and the 'torture' began. About five minutes, my stomach was beginning to hurt from all the laughing. "You give?" He asked, still grinning madly.
"Ha ha ha! Yeah, I give! I GIVE!" I yelled. But suddenly Naruto was distracted by something, which gave me enough time to scramble away from him and catch my breath. "What is it?" I gasped.
"It's Sasuke." Naruto said, getting to his feet. I glanced over at where he was staring and saw Sasuke standing before a swinging target, deep in concentration. Before our eyes, we watched as Sasuke, with calculated movements threw shuriken at the target, each making their mark.
"OI! TEME!" yelled Naruto unthinkingly, causing Sasuke to start and miscalculate his last aim. I shot to my feet and smacked a hand over his mouth.
"Naruto!" I reprimanded him. Sasuke turned his head and saw us. My heart leapt into my throat at the menacing stare Sasuke threw at us, before he quietly and without uttering a word gathered up his weapons and walked away without a backwards glance. This pissed Naruto off.
"Hey! Come back here, you bastard!" Naruto made to follow Sasuke, but I grabbed the back of his orange and white jacket. "What are you doing?!" He demanded.
"Don't. There's something wrong with him." I murmured quietly, watching Sasuke's retreating back disappear behind some trees and bushes. Naruto looked at me in shock.
"What do you mean?"
"Exactly what she said," We jumped out of our skin as Kakashi appeared from out of nowhere clutching his orange book in one of his gloved hands. "Something isn't right with Sasuke-kun." He confirmed. Naruto immediately rounded on him.
"Where'd the heck did you pop up from?!" Kakashi raised an eyebrow at him.
"Seems that we need to brush up on our observational skills. I could've come up behind you and killed you, you know." Naruto rolled his eyes petulantly.
"Yeah, yeah." The orange book disappeared into his weapons pack, just before Kakashi came over and crouched down beside me, observing my body language.
"Excellent observational skills, Hikari-chan, full marks. Now what conclusion did you come up with?" Kakashi asked me, ignoring Naruto. I shuddered when I remembered it.
"The look in his eyes. It was so hateful." Our masked teacher frowned.
"Good, you saw that too." I frowned, turning to face him. "I've been observing him since I saw him leave the Uchiha compound and tracked him all the way here." Kakashi explained via my unasked question.
"So what do we do?" asked Naruto. Kakashi straightened up and gestured for us to follow him.
"We need to report this to Lady Tsunade. She might be able to help us come up with a solution." Naruto and I nodded before running to keep up with our speed walking mentor.
"Can't say I'm not surprised why the three of you are here." Was the first thing her ladyship said the moment we walked into her office. We didn't even have a chance to open our mouths.
"What tipped you off?" asked Naruto. Tsunade turned from where she had been standing at the large curved window of the Hokage's office which overlooked the whole of Konoha, and took a seat at her desk. What was most surprising was the fact that she seemed sober as a judge, despite the fact that her beloved sake bottle was within arm's reach. She had a a troubled frown.
"The way Uchiha has been behaving about two weeks before his punishment was completed." She clasped her hands underneath her chin. "I have always observed the Uchihas to be stern and aloof characters, but not to this degree." She turned towards Kakashi. "Has his curse mark been acting up?"
"As far as I am aware everything appears completely normal with the seal. There is no precedence for his behaviour." He confirmed.
"What can we do?" demanded Naruto.
"How can we help him?" I asked. Tsunade raised an eyebrow, possibly suspecting something judging from the reactions Naruto and I gave. She exchanged glances with Kakashi, before a barely visible smile spread across her face. Standing from her desk, she came over and perched in front of her desk and levelled us with a serious look.
"Yukimura, Haruno and Uzumaki are hereby ordered to observe Uchiha and get back to me with the results. This will serve not only as practice for the next chunnin exams, but also to discover exactly what's wrong with him." I glanced over at Naruto and saw the same determined expression on his face and we nodded.
"Understood." We said.
"Very good. One of you must tell Haruno." Naruto and I reacted in shock and presented Tsunade with stricken looks. Tsunade smirked evilly.
"I had an interesting visit from Mitarashi Anko about an incident regarding a fight between the three of you."
Crap…
"This serves as punishment for not behaving like responsible shinobi. Now bugger off, I have work to do." She dismissed us, leaving Naruto and I to fight between us about who was going to deliver the mission to our annoying colleague.
~SASUKE P.O.V~
It's time.
It's time for me to take control of things, because I can't take it anymore. I can't just sit around while Itachi is out there living it up on my pain. I need power. I need the power to defeat him, and I know for a fact that I'm not going to find it here in this pathetic village.
Sure, Kakashi is training me, but it's the same old shit that I already know. There's nothing left for me here. Time to venture out on my own and accept Orochimaru's request to become his new body.
~AUTHOR P.O.V~
Weeks ago, Sasuke was approached by Orochimaru's bodyguards: the Sound Four.
It was their leader, Orochimaru's greatest desire to take Sasuke's body for his own, as the one he had inhabited three years ago was dying and he needed to possess a newer, stronger body in order to survive and preserve his 'immortality'.
"Get out of my sight. I want no part of that." Sasuke had said at first. However, the moment the Sound Four had left, positive that Sasuke would accept Orochimaru's offer of training for more power and his ultimate fate as Orochimaru's new body, Sasuke had second thoughts. So Sasuke stewed over it for weeks, until that day when he came upon his brother and his partner, Kisame and realised that Orochimaru's offer wasn't a bad one. The opportunity to accomplish one of the goals he made during his first genin mission was almost becoming a reality.
Sasuke packed up the necessary items he might need into his backpack. He was almost about to leave the house he had lived in his whole life, and this hated village, when he suddenly noticed the photograph team seven had taken years ago. He paused for a moment, reflecting upon the faces of his teammates. None of them had truly done anything wrong, but each had their own idiosyncrasies that Sasuke resented and hated about them:
Kakashi, while having the reputation for being a brilliant, ruthless, notorious and talented ninja, yet alone a surrogate father-figure he so desperately needed (or so the other older shinobi believed) – left much to be desired as far as Sasuke was concerned. His squad leader refused to teach him more than Sasuke was capable of learning, or to help him gain the power to defeat Itachi and avenge his clan. Which was what Orochimaru had promised him through the Sound Four. As far as Sasuke was concerned, Kakashi had used up his usefulness.
Sakura...
Sasuke shuddered as he gazed at the bubblegum haired girl laughing and trying to look cute in the photo. She was useless, weak and pathetic, and only seemed to be interested (or obsessed) with gaining Sasuke's attention. The only possible way to gain Sasuke's attention, let alone respect, was to actually show some aptitude and talent as a ninja. Okay, she had excellent chakra control and when she wasn't drooling over Sasuke, had a decent amount of brains when she put her mind to it. But it wasn't good enough. Sakura did not possess the passion, determination and dedication a shinobi required to persevere in this dangerous world. And it was going to get her killed.
Naruto. That complete dobe...
Sasuke bristled at the blonde-haired idiot glowering at him in the photo. Here was a boy who possessed unnatural strength and power, and not to mention plenty of natural instinct. What he also lacked at times were brains and common sense. However, Sasuke put that down to inexperience with life and social skills. But damnit! He only had these attributes courtesy of that fox-spirit Kyuubi, and he wasn't putting it to good use! As far as Sasuke was concerned, Naruto was one of a few people who could match up to him in both strength and power – the only problem was he had TOO much of it, and Sasuke was resentful and envious of him.
He needed to surpass him, become stronger than him or die trying.
Then there was Hikari, the only girl and kunoichi who wasn't out to gain Sasuke's affections. No, Sasuke knew for a fact that that was the last of her priorities. Like him, Hikari's main goal was to avenge her family against Orochimaru.
His affection for Hikari had become a problem. If he was to accomplish his goals, he had to sever all ties and have no emotional connections with anyone. Even if he had to break her heart to do so. During his seclusion from everybody in the village, Sasuke had done some reading about his Sharingan. In order to gain the next level of his doujutsu: the Mangekyō, he had to sacrifice the life of his best friend. And in doing so, he would have the power to defeat Itachi once and for all.
The only question was: was it Naruto or Hikari? Frowning at the photograph of team seven, Sasuke focused upon both Naruto and Hikari, before slamming the frame down on his desk. He made his plans to lure the both of them away from the village to complete his Sharingan transformation.
~HIKARI P.O.V~
It was dusk before I finally relieved Sakura from her stake out, in which she left without even a glance or a word to me. I rolled my eyes at this typical treatment. I took a brief sprint around the Uchiha compound before taking place on a tree branch that overlooked Sasuke's bedroom window. It was there that I saw Sasuke staring morosely at the photograph of the five of us, that day that Kakashi made us pose for a professional photographer. But he looked far from nostalgic, instead he simply slammed down the frame on his desk and retreated from sight, taking his backpack with him. My eyes widened.
Where are you going at this hour?
Something didn't feel right about this, and my gut instinct was screaming at me to follow him. Sasuke was headed towards one of the more hidden exits from Konoha. I tailed him for as long as I could before I realised that I wasn't the only one following him. Scanning around, I recognised a third chakra source that belonged to Sakura. But instead of feeling annoyed, I rejoiced in the fact that she was tailing Sasuke as well. Eventually, Sakura cornered Sasuke at a nearby stone bench and confronted him. I quickly hid myself at a nearby bush and eavesdropped on their conversation.
"Sasuke-kun! Stop! Where are you going?" Sakura demanded. Sasuke paused in place and levelled Sakura with an unusually calm expression. This earned a dismayed gasp from her.
"Get out of my way, Sakura. Or, I'll make you get out of the way." He warned before moving to sidestep her and continue his way out of the village. However, Sakura for once, realised his intention and moved once again to stop him.
"You're leaving aren't you?"
Sasuke made no reply, which only confirmed our suspicions and fuelled our intent to stop him, and if Sakura failed to do so, then it was up to me; and I wouldn't be going down without a fight. Sasuke made another attempt to leave, but was once again thwarted by Sakura. It was clear he was getting impatient, due to the fact that he was clenching his fists around the straps of his backpack.
"I can't let you leave, Sasuke. You have too much here to let go." Sasuke raised an unamused eyebrow.
"Oh yeah? Like what exactly?" He sneered, making a deliberate lunge at Sakura who took an instinctive step back away from him. She hesitated. "Hn. Thought so." He managed to move around her and continue walking away before Sakura finally spoke, her voice desperate and pleading.
"I love you." She confessed, and Sasuke stopped dead in his tracks, hesitating. "And if you won't stay in Konoha, then I'll go with you and help you." She promised. I felt a sharp pain in my heart. Was he actually considering accepting her feelings and her help? Suddenly, Sasuke disappeared from sight, shocking both Sakura and I into believing that he had teleported himself away from here to where he was going before he rematerialized behind her, standing very close to her and whispered into her ear. Sakura's eyes widened at his words before Sasuke delivered a sharp knife hand strike to her and knocked her out.
My eyes widened in shock.
What the hell is happening?
I watched as Sasuke scooped up her lifeless body and laid it down on the nearby stone bench. He readjust a stray hair from her face before turning and continuing his way out of the village, without a single glance back at her.
Like hell… I thought angrily, and got up from my hiding place rushing after him. He better have a good explanation for even thinking of defecting from Konoha, or I was gonna drag his ass back whether he liked it or not! It took a while to actually catch up to Sasuke, who can move rather quickly if he felt like it. I was about to give up completely and report to Tsunade when it was he who had the drop on me.
"Do I really have to repeat myself?"
He asked sounding both annoyed and strangely amused. Almost like he was expecting this to happen. I spun round and tried to whale on him, tears almost blinding me in my rage. But he caught my hand before I could land a blow on him.
"I heard enough back where you left Sakura." I replied filling my words with venom. "How dare you!" I whispered, earning a smirk from Sasuke who moved towards me seductively. I took back my arm and stepped away from him, feeling betrayed and cautious.
"What's the matter, Hikari-chan?" He mocked. My tears created tracks down my face as I tried to understand why he was doing this. But apparently, they spoke volumes as Sasuke's smirk melted away into a disgusted grimace before he turned away and started walking.
"Why?" He stopped walking and looked at me in outrage.
"Why!? Are you seriously asking me that question? You know damn well why!" He snarled, once again advancing on me. Only this time I stood my ground.
"No. I really don't." I admitted, "What could you possibly gain from defecting from Konoha?" I demanded to know.
"Power, and the ability to defeat my brother once and for all!" He replied cuttingly. I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
"And you couldn't achieve that here? Who could possibly offer you that!?"
"Orochimaru."
My eyes widened in shock.
"That psycho? He KILLED the Third and MY FAMILY! There has to be catch!" I protested wildly. Sasuke smirked again.
"I will defeat my brother, then offer up my body to Orochimaru." He replied.
No…
"I won't let you do this. It's suicide!" Sasuke's face turned into an ugly sneer.
"And how exactly are you going to stop me? Tell me that you love me like Sakura did?" I almost smiled at that. Clearly he meant that as an insult, but I could see very faint hopefulness in his eyes when he suggested that possibility. I shook my head.
"You and I both know that that would never work. All that I can tell you is that I understand what you're going through, and I can help you." I replied.
Sasuke's hard face, softened a little when he realised that, like him I had suffered a similar loss and that I really did understand how he felt and had gone through. Seeing that he was momentarily silenced, I gave him a little reminder that he did have something that he would be leaving behind if he continued on his path of destruction. Sliding off the little flower ring Sasuke had once made and given me when we were eight, I held it up and Sasuke's eyes zeroed in on it. I heard him draw in a sharp breath. But then the moment passed and he turned and walked away.
Oh no, you don't!
I moved to stop him, and like before with Sakura, Sasuke disappeared. Thinking that he was about to appear behind me and knock me out. I turned to face him, ready to defend myself. Instead, strong arms encircled me and a hand stifled a scream.
"I think I just thought of a way that you could help me, Hikari-chan." He whispered into my ear. Then I felt something very sharp pierce my neck and suddenly I felt dizzy. Just before the darkness consumed me, I felt Sasuke scoop me up into my arms and then the harshness of the wind against my skin as Sasuke immediately took off out of Konoha. At that moment, I knew that Sasuke had kidnapped me. But for what purpose?
Oh Kami! Help me…
A/N: Please review thoughtfully :)