Sakura and Sasuke brought the food into the dining room area just off the living room and called Naruto and Yuki in. The blonde and the rat both entered smiling, though Naruto's was much larger and had a triumphant smirk hidden in it. Moments later, they were joined by a blushing Tohru and Kyo, who said nothing, but sat down next to each other. Sakura looked at them with a small smile- one that Sasuke did not fail to catch.
His mind began to whir as he flashed back to what had happened only moments ago in the kitchen.
'No.' He told himself. 'This is not the time.'
The Uchiha decided to focus on the present, and pushed the strange kitchen experience to the back of his mind. He tuned into the tense conversation that was happening between the two groups.
"- but I'm sure we could have found a better one if we had gotten a little bit more time to look." Naruto was saying with a casual shrug. Sasuke gathered that he must be talking about their apartment.
"No, I think it's darling!" Tohru said with a smile, and Sakura smiled right back at her.
"So what brought you three to our town anyway?" Yuki asked off-handedly. "I don't think you've ever told us."
"Well you see," Naruto took a bite of his meal and swallowed. "My grandmother inherited all of this money and land when her father died, and she, among others, raised me. Sakura and Sasuke lived nearby, so we went to school together and became close friends. Then this year Baa-chan decided to send me out to see other parts of Japan to gain 'life experience'. I asked if I could bring Sakura-chan and Sasuke-teme with me, and here we are." The blonde smiled disarmingly.
Okay, so it was pretty generic and didn't answer very much, but it wasn't exactly lies either. It was always easier for a shinobi to simply alter the truth instead of making something up completely- especially when on a mission that didn't include others who would be able to figure out the truth through background information. This helped the shinobi adapt to the fake situation faster, as well as make their reactions more natural.
Yuki seemed to notice this, but chose to remain silent. Kyo noticed something off with Yuki, and the tension in the room escalated. The group chatted about random things for a few moments, until Sakura caught a look pass between the two Sohma cousins.
'They don't believe us.' She thought. 'Something's preventing them from trusting us.'
"So Yuki, did you ever go visit Haru like you were going to?" Naruto asked.
"No, actually. The main house has been on lockdown since last night."
"What?" The three shinobi tensed, and Sakura and Sasuke resisted the urge to glance at each other. Had their presence caused this?
"Someone snuck in and tried to attack Akito-san. Luckily, Akito wasn't in his room- he had gone to Hatori for a late night emergency doctor's appointment. But Kureno was still in the room waiting for him to come back, so the attacker, thinking he was Akito, got him instead." Yuki related in a monotone, refusing to look any of the shinobi in the eye.
"Is he…?" Naruto prompted.
"No- he was lucky enough that some people heard a ruckus from Akito's room, and the attacker fled before he could finish him off. But he's sustained serious injuries, and is in the hospital." The rat finally looked up, barely concealed anger in his eyes. "Would any of you happen to anything about the situation?"
"What?" Naruto pulled a bamboozled expression onto his face just in time.
"We know you're hiding something!" Kyo stood up and slammed his hands down on the table, causing Tohru to squeak. "So quit running around and tell us what the hell is going on!"
Suddenly, Sakura flipped the table.
Glasses, plates and silverware flew towards the Sohmas. Kyo jumped in front of Tohru so as to shield her from the onslaught of food.
"Sakura, what are you doing!" Naruto yelled frantically.
"What I should have done a long time ago!" The rosette answered, pulling a kunai out of a thigh holster that had been hidden beneath her dress. She threw it with deadly accuracy, and Naruto was barely able to dodge in time.
"Have you gone nuts?" The blonde yelled frantically, tearing at his hair- only to be stopped when another kunai came flying in his direction. The teen yelped and jumped to relative safety behind the sideways table, where the Sohmas and Tohru hid.
"Sakura, stop!" Sasuke yelled at the crazed medic nin, trying to get close enough to grab her.
"No! I'm gonna finish what I came here to do!" The rosette screeched, slashing a defenseless Sasuke across the chest with a mad look in her eye. Sasuke stumbled back and fell to the ground, blood already seeping through his nice shirt. With the Uchiha down, Sakura turned her attention hungrily to the group huddled behind the table.
"Oh no you don't!" Suddenly, she felt her arms thrust behind her and lock in place by a set of warm hands. Tohru watched from behind the table with fear in her eyes as Kyo attempted to hold back the bloodstained, crazed kunoichi.
Unfortunately for Kyo, he was still cursed, and all Sakura had to do was lean her weight backwards into his chest for a loud POP to occur and the weight on her hands to dissipate. She then turned around to kick the orange cat into the nearby table, rendering him unconscious. Immediately moving towards the table, she wasted no time in disposing of Yuki in a similar way- a well placed fall and pressure point helped that. The only two victims left had scrambled to their feet and backed away, Naruto placing himself between the crazed Sakura and hysterical Tohru.
"I don't know what's happening, but you don't want to do this, Sakura!" Naruto yelled, putting up his fists like a boxer. His fellow nin merely smirked at him, running her tongue along her bottom lip to lick some of the blood off. Holding up two kunai (which she seemingly pulled out of nowhere), she chuckled slightly as she took lazy steps forward.
"You're done for."
Suddenly, a piercing ring cut through the air. Sakura turned to the nearby window and cursed to herself before turning her attention back to the two teens before her.
"This isn't over." She hissed menacingly, before turning around and running towards the window. She crossed her arms with the two kunai in hand and jumped through the glass, shattering it upon contact, before disappearing into the night.
XXXXX
Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, a familiar bouncy blonde was walking home from yet another evening spent at his father's office building to secretly view his beloved mother and sister.
'Momo-chan sure is getting big!' He thought happily, looking to the clouded sky as he shoved his hands in his pockets. 'I wonder if Mama has as much fun clothes shopping for her as I do for myself?'
Lost in his thoughts, the young blonde didn't take notice of the man walking towards him until they impacted. Momiji went flying backwards to the ground, wincing as he hit the cold concrete sidewalk.
"Ah, daijoubu, yeah?" A smooth baritone asked, and Momiji rubbed his head once before looking up to see a man in a long coat and a hood sticking out a hand. He smiled and reached up to take it, before seeing something flicker near it. Was that… a tongue?
"Deidara." A quiet voice spoke up, and the young rabbit tried to scurry away from the figure he hadn't even seen approach. The first figure turned, and Momiji caught a flash of blonde hair.
"Hai, Danna?"
"You're an idiot." The second figure turned his attention to the boy on the ground. "Well, looks like we've caught a little rabbit."
"Wha…?" Momiji breathed, eyes widening in fear. The two cloaked men seemed to loom over him, and suddenly, the world went black.
XXXXX
"Did you acquire one of the cursed ones?" The crackling voice coming from Sasori's ring asked.
"Hai, Pein-sama- we got the little rabbit gaki, yeah." Deidara reported.
"Except Deidara almost gave us away completely." His partner rolled his eyes next to him.
"What? What did I do, yeah?"
"You stuck your hand out to the kid to help him up off the ground."
"So what?"
"Normal people don't normally have mouths on their palms."
"Hey, I happen to like my hands, yeah! They make my art EXPLOSIVE!"
"SILENCE!" Pein's voice commanded, and the dysfunctional duo shut up. "If this plan is going to work then there can be NOTHING that gives you away, do you understand? Deidara, your hands are a defining factor- cover them with something next time."
"But I hate gloves!" The blonde whined. "They're constricting, and my hands can't breathe, then, yeah!"
"… are you questioning me?" The blonde shivered at his superior's tone, and didn't answer. "That's what I thought. Now finish the job, otherwise I'll send Itachi and Kisame to take over."
"Hai, Pein-sama." Sasori and Deidara said in unison. There was a moment of crackling on the other end of the communicator placed in the Akatsuki ring, before the transmission was cut off.
XXXXX
Betcha didn't see that coming.
I originally planned for this chapter to go in a completely different direction, but after a few months of writer's block and finding myself bored with the material, I decided to do something so unexpected that even I didn't know it was happening. I'll be moving this fic to the Naruto and Fruit's Basket crossover section, because it's lingered in the Naruto section for long enough.
Please see my profile for information on my long absence from FF, as well as plans for upcoming plans and projects.
