Chapter 2

Sasuke

He could feel Sakura's stare boring a hole through his back as they made their way out of Kakashi's quarters. She had gaped at him like a fish when Kakashi started to rant about how Orochimaru wanted him, and although her mouth had since closed, she hadn't taken her eyes off him.

"What was all of that about?" she whispered urgently the moment the door closed behind them.

"All of what?" Sasuke asked, pinching the bridge of his nose. He could feel the beginnings of a headache.

"That," Sakura hissed, gesturing wildly behind her and running to catch up with him. "Why does Orochimaru want you?"

Annoying.

"Quit hissing," Sasuke snarled through gritted teeth. "You're such an annoying little whelp." And then, because he knew how relentless and irritating Sakura could be when she didn't get her answers, he added, "I don't know why Orochimaru wants me, do I? Kakashi probably just said that to shut us up."

Sakura seemed satisfied with his answer, if the fact that she stopped hissing questions at him was any indication. Thankfully, she kept quiet the rest of the way down the corridor, and then she turned right and he turned left, heading for the north wing where his room was.

It hadn't been a complete lie that he told Sakura; he did not know why Orochimaru was asking for his head, although he had some inkling of what it could be.

Power.

Sasuke was no narcissist, but he knew what he was worth. He knew why he was kept under the watchful eye of Hatake Kakashi in one of the most reclusive and well protected forts in the kingdom. He was the last of an ancient clan; one whose eyes held the most destructive and powerful magic known to mankind, one whose magic had survived when all other magic had disappeared. He had the Sharingan; the cursed eyes of the Uchiha clan.

Sasuke gritted his teeth. He would be damned if he let Orochimaru get his eyes. He would be damned him all his training and hours of hard work for the past four eyes went down the drain and he allowed himself to be killed before he sought his vengeance.

Itachi.

Even the name made him angry, even the fact that his brain had somehow brought up that name made him furious. Sasuke slammed open the door to his rooms and stormed in, startling the maid who was in the middle of putting folded clothes into a rucksack. She made haste to leave when he glared at her, and the moment the door shut behind her, Sasuke grabbed the brass candle-holder from the nearby table and threw it against the wall. It hit the wall with a thud and clattered to the floor, which made Sasuke even angrier. He grabbed a ceramic vase and hurled it too, and when it splintered and shattered onto the floor, he threw the next breakable object he could find, then the next.

Perfect, admirable, kind, smart. He picked up another glass and flung it.

Gallant. Loyal.

Big brother.

The statue of the dragon that sat on his writing desk met the wall and broke into several pieces.

"Why? Why big brother?"

"To test my limits, little brother."

He seemed to have cleared the table. Dammit.

"Run and run, foolish little brother."

Sasuke kicked the table with his foot for good measure, and when it didn't break as he wanted it to, he kicked it again and again. And again.

And just as suddenly as the rage had come, it left. Sasuke sank to the floor, suddenly exhausted.

Fuck Kakshi. Fuck Orochimaru.

Fuck everyone.

That was how Kakashi found him ten minutes later.

"Get up. We need to leave," was all he said, and Sasuke found himself being pulled to his feet and handed the pack the maid had been packing. Kakashi made no remarks about the state of the room, or the fact that Sasuke had been sitting on the floor listlessly staring at the table that had refused to break. Sasuke was glad for his silence, and followed him out of the room.

They headed back to Kakshi's quarters, where both Naruto and Sakura were waiting. Sakura was sitting crosslegged on the floor, examining a wooden bow with several arrows. Naruto stood brandishing a shiny silver sword that glinted in the late afternoon sunlight.

"Put that away before you take out your own eyes, both of you," Kakashi drawled, having walked into the room after Sasuke and now rummaging through one of his drawers. Sakura rather hastily started stuffing her arrows back into their pouch, while Naruto bristled and glared at Kakashi, about to say something stupid and loud.

And sure enough, he did. "I am way better at this than you, old man-"

And Kakashi ignored him, instead, throwing what seemed to be a bunch of rags in Sasuke's direction and grunting, "put them on" without any explanation whatsoever, before drawing a sword from another one of his drawers and lunging at a very surprised Naruto, who stopped speaking mid-tirade and yelled loudly as he was disarmed with a sword held at his throat.

"What were you saying about your swordsmanship, Naruto?" Kakshi enquired in that mild, annoying tone he often used with them, withdrawing his sword. It seemed that Naruto couldn't quite figure out what to say, or he seemed to think better of it, because he closed his mouth, picked up his sword and tucked it back into its sheath.

Sasuke smirked, and turned back to the rags he had been given. They were rather worn out clothes, with patches and holes and old stains on them, even worse for wear than what the servants wore. His brows furrowed and he looked to Kakashi– who was still going through his drawers and stuffing different objects into pockets – , and then at both Naruto and Sakura and realized that all three of them were dressed in rags…

Which, he supposed, made sense.

If they were to be running from the castle, they had to keep a low profile. And their clothes weren't exactly cut-out for low profile. So it would make more sense to be dresses in clothes that were less noticeable than the colourful velvets.

Before Kakashi had a chance to turn back and start at Sasuke, he stripped off the jacket he was wearing and pulled the drab grey tunic over his head. He left his breeches as they were because they were a muddy sort of brown that would not stand out as much, and fastened the threadbare cloak around his shoulders.

He was pulling on his gloves when Kakashi threw something at him, and Sasuke only just managed to catch it before it hit him squarely on the head. He glared at Kakashi, who raised an eyebrow as if to say "what?". The offending object was a sword, much like the one Naruto had. Both the hilt and sheath were rather plain, but when he pulled the blade free, the edges of it gleamed, just like Naruto had, and unlike the swords they used to practice with, it was light in his hands.

"Alright," Kakashi said, finally having found whatever he was searching for. "Lets get going kids. Sakura and Naruto, cover your hair. "

They left in pairs; Kakashi had Sakura and Sasuke go first( "Go through the west wing and then take the servent's stairs down to the lower kitchen's. We'll meet you there," was what Kakashi had said), and Sasuke assumed Kakashi would follow with Naruto.

The walk to the kitchens was uneventful and they did not pass anyone, perhaps because the upper floors of the west wing was rarely used. Kakashi had picked their path carefully.

When they reached the top-most floor of the west wing, Sakura stopped suddenly. Sasuke rolled his eyes, inwardly sighing as he opened his mouth to tell her to get a move on, they hadn't got all day incase she hadn't realized, when his gaze wandered to the window.

The west tower was the tallest tower in Rasengan, part of the reason why its top towers were mostly unused. You could see the courtyard of the castle and the land extending beyond the castle and the top of the forest that was south of the castle from the west wing. And right now, he could see the platoon of standing outside the walls of the castle. There were atleast a few hundred, maybe a thousand soldiers standing around the southern gate.

Sasuke did not want to think about the situation at the main gate on the other side of the castle. But it was not as if standing in the tower, panicking about the situation was going to do them any good. If anything, they should be doubling their efforts to get out of the castle, and out of the range of Orochimaru's armies.

Sasuke nudged Sakura on the shoulder. "Let's go."

Sakura was unusually quiet the rest of the way.

Naruto and Kakashi were already there when Sasuke arrived with Sakura in tow. Naruto was busily stuffing food into a bag from the kitchen shelves and Kakashi was looking at a map he had spread over one of the kitchen counters. The kitchen itself was empty except for a scullery maid who was feeding wood into the fire at the far end of the room.

"Kakashi-sensei," Said Sakura in a quiet voice, "There are armed horsemen surrounding the castle. The gate.. its.."

Kakashi looked up then, and his lone eye crinkled in a smile as he reached to pat Sakura's head. "It's going to be fine, Sakura. Don't worry."

"Yeah Sakura-chan," Naruto chirped in, "I'm here to protect you. "

Sasuke snorted. Protect her. As if the stupid little runt could actually hold his own against a soldier, much less protect someone. He watched as Naruto tried to unsuccessfully stuff several oranges into his already over-flowing pack.

"Gimme your bag, you bastard," Naruto yelled over his shoulder. Sasuke resisted the urge to roll his eyes and instead glared at the idiot, and said, "I'm not going to carry your stupid food." Naruto glared right back at him and stood up, but his tirade was interrupted by Kakashi, who had rolled up the map.

"Get ready to head out, you three. Stop bickering like old men," and then, much to Sasuke's surprise, he addressed the woman who was sitting near the fire. "Is it done?"

"Yes," replied the woman, and she stood up, carrying a small black cauldron which had been sitting on the fire. Sasuke watched with mild curiousity as she poured a thick black paste into a bottle and handed it to Kakashi.

"Use it before it dries out Kakashi."

"Thankyou," his sensei replied. "Stay safe Anko. Don't do anything stupid."

Soon, Kakashi called them to follow him and led them down to the kitchen celler which served as a food store during the winter. There, hidden behind a shelf of jars, was a small tunnel through which they had to crawl. It was especially difficult on Sakura and Naruto, each hauling an extra bag of food behind them, and Naruto complained loudly. Sasuke could barely see with what little light came from the rear of the group where Kakashi was holding a lantern, but after several long minutes, or maybe half of an hour, the tunnel began to widen until he only had to crouch and then widen some more, until Sasuke could finally stand on his feet.

They continued on foot for what seemed like an hour or maybe more before Kakashi called for them to stop. He put his lantern on the ground and drew a small bottle from his pocket. In the dim light, Sasuke saw that it was the same one the maid had given him.

"We're going to stay here a while. Naruto, Sakura, we need to put this on your hair and make it darker. Running is no use unless we can blend in."

"What are you on about sensei?" Naruto asked, scratching his head, a frown on his face.

"This is a black dye. It will make your hair dark. "

Sasuke sat down on the ground while first Naruto, then Sakura each took a bottle from Kakashi and applied it to their hair. After Kakashi inspected their hair and made sure every strand was stained black, they once again resumed their journey.

It was a long walk, and it was especially tiring with Naruto's constant chatting. Sakura, atleast, was somewhat somber, and she was sticking to Kakashi's side for a change, which made it a bit more bearable. But a while after, even Naruto quietened, and Sasuke noticed the growing weariness of his feet and the increasing weight on his shoulders. On his left, Naruto had begun dragging his feet, and sighing every now and then. But neither of them wanted to be the first to give in and ask for a rest. Eventually, it was Sakura who did.

They spent the night in the tunnel, sleeping on thin blankets spread over hard rocks.