A/N: Another chapter. Codenames in the first chapter will be explained later. Enjoy.
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They were falling, faster and faster. The roar of the water below got louder and louder. It was pitch black, and the river was just a writhing shadow of ribbon in the dark. She shivered and ignored the way her hair whipped at her partially obscured face and how the sides of the ravine loomed above, closing in on them. The ribbon of water grew until it swallowed her vision whole. It was just when she could almost feel the icy depths swallowing her up as she fell closer and closer that she reached into her pack and pulled. Her parachute flew out, yanking her up with a force that made her head snap back and her shoulders ache. She winced.
As she now gently descended, her eyes searched the dark waters for a boat. There was no moon out, and the stars were as faint as her breaths that clouded in the chill night air. She strained her eyes, glancing back and forth until a flash of light caught her eye. A lantern!
She motioned to her partner and pointed to the boat hidden behind an outcropping of rock. He signaled back and they tried to steer their courses accordingly.
The parachutes touched down in knee high water and she felt her body seize up at the shock of the cold.
"Did you get it? Did you? Did you?!"
She smiled behind her mask. Puucha was there, hanging lazily off the side of the small schooner, and waving cheerfully. She quickly folded up her parachute and waded towards her friends.
Puucha reached out and helped pull her and Hart onto the rocking boat. He then looked at them expectantly
"Well?"
"Hell yeah."
Puucha grinned.
"That's my girl!"
He turned to Hart.
"And..er..guy?"
Moira snorted and pulled out the case where the stone was now contained.
"This thing better be worth the trouble we went through."
Static crackled on a radio nearby. Hart tugged off his mask, revealing a handsome face and calculating eyes. He walked over and fiddled with the wires. A calm voice filtered into the night.
"Agent Moira. Agent Hart. Did everything go as planned?"
The two partners glanced at each other and grinned. Agent Moira moved towards the receiver and spoke.
"More or less, Boss. We're heading back to HQ now. We'll file a report then. Agent Moira out."
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chapter two
.cause and effect
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"Tonight's top story comes from the Lightning Country where a priceless Genin Era artifact was stolen from the Raikage Museum some time last night. Authorities are investigating the circumstances around this mysterious theft which draws strange parallels to the heist that took place a year ago at the Museum of Gakure where the Hanashi stone was stolen. Offi-"
The T.V switched off, leaving the room in complete silence and Hyuuga Neji looked at the man sitting rigidly next to him. The tension was so thick in the air of that plush conference room that Neji felt he could almost cut it with a kunai. A stern man with dark beady eyes and scars along the side of his cheeks swept a threatening glance towards the other occupants of the room before he spoke. His voice, grating and slippery, was one Neji hated with a passion.
"This is not acceptable. Twice now, those damned minions of Kuro Midori have stolen priceless artifacts, from right under our noses. That botched up assignment in the Fire Country last year…"
His gaze flickered to Neji and the man who sat beside him. Neji's blank face betrayed nothing and instead, he looked at the table. It was a white marble. What a waste of good money, he allowed himself to think before the man continued.
"..And the one last night. What kind of law are we upholding if criminals can get away with waltzing into museums and carrying off items that could be sold to the highest bidder in the black markets? This is despicable. Now, I want you. All of you, to realize what a screwed up job you've been doing. So fix it. Now. Or else. Our Captain is not happy, and frankly, neither am I. I feel like I'm babysitting a bunch of rookies. Sometimes I wonder how the hell all of you made it on our "elite" team. Why don't you guys start acting like you know what you're doing? For now, I'm going to tell you what we're going to do. We're going to make sure another news broadcast like that one will never happen again. And we're going to have tabs on all items and for the ones that matter, we'll take them into our possession. Before they even have a chance to get stolen. Items Midori might want, might even think of wanting. Items they haven't even thought of wanting yet. We will cover all our bases or I'm going to fire all of you without another thought. Got it? Good. Now get out of here and go do the job you pathetic idiots were paid to do. Dismissed."
The man got up and left the room, the door closing angry and final behind him.
The room sprang to life, papers were shuffled, accompanied by the sound of chairs scraped and pushed back. Conversations erupted, most running along the lines of the lashing they'd all just gotten. Some glanced back at the two men who stayed still in their seats but within seconds, the room was empty once again.
Neji glanced at his partner. He seemed to be deep in thought, his arms folded tightly across his chest with fists and jaw clenched.
"Uchiha."
At the sound of his name he turned, his intense onyx black eyes had a fatal gleam Neji found disconcerting. Neji was suddenly reminded of his first mission with the very man sitting beside him. He hadn't known him or his name then.
Uchiha Sasuke.
After a year, the name was still the only thing he knew.
He was determined that was going to change.
"Who were those people, that night last year? I know they were from KuroMidori, but that girl seemed to know you."
Sasuke deigned to raise an eyebrow just a fraction, and his stoic expression was almost sour.
"It does not matter."
"Oh, cut the enigmatic crap Uchiha."
The eyebrow raised another fraction. The onyx eyes seemed to appraise the Hyuuga, assessing his worth.
"She's an old acquaintance."
Hyuuga Neji snorted.
Sasuke glared and swiftly stood up. His hands clenched at his sides before he spoke again, almost spitting out the words like they left a bad taste in his mouth.
"She was an old partner."
A balled up scrap of notepaper was hurled at a trashcan.
The door slammed shut and the silence closed in again.
Neji decided he didn't like that door.
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"You're drunk."
"Aw, shuddup. I am not drunk."
….
"Okay, okay. I'm just extremely hung over."
Haruno Sakura sighed, before groaning and putting her head in her hands.
"Make the world stop spinning, Ino. Make it stop."
Her longtime friend sighed and tapped her bright purple nails against her crossed arms.
"I don't understand why you came to work today. Boss is going to give you heck for coming in looking twice as ugly as you usually are.."
Sakura looked up and growled.
"…And even if you were successful in retrieving the Genin relic last night, you are in no condition this fine morning to carrying out daring deeds of doom."
Sakura snorted.
"Like Boss'll care whether I'm hung over or not. Our Head Honcho is always in constant stages of intoxication. Besides, Naruto wanted to celebrate the mission's success. And there wasn't a noodle shop nearby last night."
She pushed herself off her chair and stood up, trying to ignore the pain that had set up shop in her head and the sudden urge she had to curl up on the shiny tile floor and whimper. They were in the lunch room; a fancy name for a grey indent in the wall that just happened to have two off yellow linoleum tables, a microwave, a purple cupboard with stale packets of tea, and a small fridge that supported its own independent ecosystem.
Straightening the black jacket she was wearing, and chucking the remains of her wilted Caesar salad in the trash, she turned to her friend.
"I have to finish my report in the conference room. I'll see you around Ino-pig."
The blonde yawned and made a shooing motion with a manicured hand.
"Be off. Remember. Dinner tonight at that new restaurant on 9th Ave. I'll personally make sure to plant an exploding tag in your room if you don't show."
Sakura rolled her eyes and left the room.
She walked swiftly down the hall, her heels clicking on the tile and attempting to look as busy and professional as she could. She nodded to a few people she knew as she walked past, gracing them with a demure smile and reaching up to adjust her pink hair that was falling out of its confining bun.
Coming up to the elevator, she pressed the button to go up and the doors slid open noiselessly. She walked in and when the doors closed behind her she unlatched a small cover at the bottom of the long row of buttons specifying which floor one could go to, revealing a keypad. Her fingers flew swiftly over a long memorized code and then punched the red "Emergency" button. She then heard a mechanical female voice.
"Request floor."
Sakura answered, "Eighteenth floor, please."
There was a pause before the mechanical voice replied, "Eye scan please, Ms. Haruno."
Sakura bent her neck down so that her face was level with the buttons "3" and "4" that were fixed side by side. A moment later the voice returned.
"Thank you. We are now proceeding to the eighteenth floor."
The mechanical whirr and the kick start of an engine somewhere could be heard and Sakura felt the elevator rise. A soft ding signaled her arrival and the doors opened to a reception desk where a mousey young lady sat behind, answering phones. She waved Sakura in and pointed at a closed mahogany door to the left. She placed her hand over the phone.
"Waiting for you. Go right on in."
Sakura nodded her thanks, took a deep breath, and opened the door.
She was greeted with a stab of sunshine from an uncovered window and a large table around which her colleagues sat. She saw Naruto reclining lazily, his seat tilted back at a precarious angle. Shikamaru was sitting across from him, his arms loosely folded, and the ever bored expression on his face. She quickly dived for the closest chair, almost decking Mr. Mori with her elbow.
The person sitting at the head of the table gave Sakura a nod.
"Now that everyone is here.."
Sakura had the decency to blush at this.
"..We can get this over with. If you would all please open the written reports in front of you, there will be specifics detailing the nature of the mission we carried out last night. It was a close one though and we can't keep hoping to scrape by with another win all the time. What I have brought you all here for is that I need your expert opinions on how we can stop IKU. We've always been a step ahead of them, but that obviously isn't good enough anymore. Now, all of you have had a considerable amount of experience dealing with IKU agents. You've had to fight them, you've had to outsmart them, and you've lost comrades to them. What we're working for, it is immeasurably important. That is why we need to stop the IKU before they jeopardize everything."
Sakura's breath hitched in her throat at the words.
You've lost comrades to them…
Her fists clenched as her mind began to wander, reliving memories that were now faded at the edges, their coloring bleeding into hazy grey. But the faces were still so clear.
It's already been four years.
"Perhaps we need to send one of our own in?"
Sakura came to and found the discussion had already taken a turn. They were now discussing the possibility of bringing down IKU.
"It would be extremely difficult, to the point it would be almost infeasible. We have no "in" to the organization; they ensure all their agents are extremely loyal and well-paid for their troubles. If we could get one of our own in, it would give us access to so much information. It'd help us understand how they work, and where we'd need to hit hardest. But any agents we do send in would have considerable trouble assimilating themselves into the outfit. And there is a high chance of casualties. All of you are too valuable to be placed in such an endeavor unless careful thought is given to the situation."
"How about an external – "
Sakura tuned out again. Her eyes were heavy and the pain in her head had become a dull ache. She packed up with everyone else when the meeting was over, declined Naruto's dinner invitation on the grounds that she already had another engagement, and shuffled her way out of the office. Her boss caught her eye just before she left, and raised a knowing eyebrow at Sakura's unusually quiet behavior during the meeting. Sakura inwardly groaned.
She took the elevator down 18 floors and practically leaped out the doors into the cool air outside. The sun was low in the sky and swarms of people were getting off work, suitcases or purses in hand and tired expressions on their faces. Feeling suddenly quite awake, Sakura decided she'd walk the 6 city blocks to the restaurant where she had agreed to meet Ino and Chouji. She set off, her stride purposeful and quick.
After about the 3rd block, Sakura was cursing the individual who had the brain fart to invent heels and the headache that was coming back. By the time she had gotten to the street across from the restaurant, she was holding her shoes in hand and stomping angrily down the concrete sidewalk in her stocking feet. Her headache had returned with a vengeance and she could barely concentrate on where she was going. She saw Ino and Chouji seated right up against the restaurant's front window and they waved to her cheerfully. Muttering under her breath Sakura stepped out to cross the street, a hand massaging her temples.
She didn't see Chouji and Ino's faces turn to horror.
She didn't notice the blue car -
The one careening straight towards her at a breakneck speed.
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He had been hungry. It was only natural, he supposed. He'd suffered through a long day of following orders and giving orders. He'd taken heat from his boss, and had his computer die on him.
Access denied, his butt. Cursed IT guys.
Sasuke hadn't talked to him after their chat in the conference room, and had opted for the classic cold shoulder. That guy was really beginning to irk him.
It was enough to make Hyuuga Neji wonder why he had gotten this job in the first place. It wasn't like he wasn't ambitious. His goal in life was, in short, to save the world. As presumptuous as that sounded, Neji had grown up his whole life in a family that had always stressed following the rules and doing what was right. He had lawyers for aunts, secret agents for uncles, soldiers for cousins and policemen for a grandfather and a father. His family had lived to serve, and he was determined he would follow in their footsteps. He knew nothing else.
In the year he had been with IKU, he had made his way up from being a great rookie to an exceptional agent. He was key, elite, and that was something that did more for him than the assurance of job security. It was a purpose.
But right now, he was hungry and he decided that was a good enough reason to pack up and head home.
Making his way down the winding streets of the city, Neji's blank face belayed nothing as he observed the people around him with keen eyes.
A frazzled mother, probably working three jobs to make ends meet. A nervous young girl sitting on a bench, probably waiting for her boyfriend. A businessman talking loudly on his cell phone, probably a workaholic who didn't spend enough time with his family.
He crossed the street and came to a light. His eyes noticed a rather pretty young woman with pink hair holding her shoes in hand. She was rubbing her temples, and her entire being radiated pain. He watched as she waved to her friends at a restaurant across the street. He watched her cross the street without looking, and then he saw the car.
It was like time slowed down to a crucial crawl. All sound faded away, just a silent video and dawning comprehension.
Without a moment's hesistation, he ran at the woman, a sense of panic adding fuel to his already superlative speed. He saw the woman finally turn and watched the realization cross her face before he slammed into her. He wrapped his arms around her slight form and threw them both to the other side of the street. Cradling her with his body, he tried not to wince at the force of their landing.
The car screeched past, tires screeching, horn blaring. Sound returned to the living world and he could hear the shockwaves of confusion, ripples of panic and chatter bouncing off the crowd that was quickly gathering.
He was half supporting his body, hovering over her. The woman underneath him turned her head and looked at him, shock in her brilliant green eyes.
"OH MY GOD! SAKURA! SAKURA!"
Neji turned on his side, and saw a blonde girl, tears running down her face sprinting towards them. A man with brown hair and worried eyes hurried after her.
He closed his eyes and let out a relieved sigh.
Maybe he had a savior complex.
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The next thing Sakura realized after she had turned and saw the blinding headlights of the car speeding towards her was that she was being grabbed and hurled through the air, before landing painfully against the sidewalk, someone's arm cushioning her fall.
Her mind whirled, shock running down her body, and sharp shards of understanding falling into place. Her heart was racing so fast she thought she was going to die.
She heard labored breathing and realized there was someone who was basically lying over her.
They saved me.
She turned her head around, ignoring the pain shooting up her neck and met the eyes of her savior.
Her emerald eyes widened and the world spun around her again, although for an entirely different reason now. More shards began to fall into place.
White.
His eyes are white.