A\N: I do not own Naruto or any of the beautiful fiction that inspired this AU setting.
Beta-readers: Duesal Bladesinger, PyrothTenka, Ser Serendipity, AlmostElectric and Zenthisoror.
Run, jump, land—
Pipe!
Roll, scramble, stumble—
Sprint.
Naruto had not dared to stop since the mess in the alley, nearly half an hour ago.
"You're almost there," Shikamaru said in his earpiece. "The UPP are patrolling the main streets with security drones, though. Getting you out will be tricky."
"Next time I talk to you about a milk run… stop me," he muttered as he arrived at an intersection in the narrow back street.
"Oh, I will. Turn left!"
Following the decker's instructions, the blond runner-turned-fugitive arrived in a small courtyard, hidden between the passageways of the district.
It was closed off, dirty, almost claustrophobic, paved with broken cobblestones and close to one of the support beams that sustained the upper level, blocking the sky from Naruto's view.
Just like home.
"Where now?" he asked.
"Give me a minute. I have to check something. Take advantage of this pause to rest. The security drones can't see you from there."
"I don't need to rest," the blond said. "Not after a short run like that."
"You're kidding me, right? I've seen you! You hardly ever move from your couch! You're not even winded? That's crazy."
That was one way to describe Naruto's… condition. True, his body was capable of sustaining a lot of strain, much more than a simple jog through some back alleys.
The problem was, none of his friends knew about it. And they didn't need to know, thank you very much.
He was immensely grateful that Shika hadn't found out already.
Speaking of which… better change the subject, or the cogs inside the decker's head would start to turn, and fast.
"Hey, man… how's Ten?" he asked, with real concern in his voice. "Was she able to get away?"
"She's fine. You should worry about yourself."
"Well, you're the guy connected to the 'net. What's the plan? … Please tell me you have a plan," he added hurriedly at the end.
"I may have something, troublesome," his friend said on the other side of the earpiece, with an exasperated tone.
"I knew I could count on you, Shika! What is it?"
"Alongside some of the pylons that keep the city standing, there are several service elevators used by the maintenance personnel. You could use one of those to go down a few levels—"
"But?" Naruto asked. There was always a but.
"But it's MegaCorp private property."
"... You want me to escape the UPP, by trespassing on MegaCorp turf?" the blond asked incredulously.
"And defeating their security. Don't forget about the security," Shikamaru stated, matter-of-factly.
"Shika… you're nuts!"
"Yeah, it's an awful plan, but it's the best I could come up with on such a short notice. If you want, there's always plan B."
"And that would be...?"
"Call the cavalry. Hide, wait it out for a few hours or so, until one of our own can give you a ride and then try to bypass the UPP patrols."
"I don't have a few hours! I need to take the package to the client in—"
"And that's why the MegaCorp elevator is the best shot we have to save this job."
"Seriously… my life sucks."
How true that statement was. Sadly it was lost on the lazy decker.
"On the plus side, there isn't much surveillance on that elevator. Just a few cameras and a maybe some 'bots, from what I can see."
"Still better than running from the UPP..."
"That's the spirit. Now, can you see the pylon from the place you're at?"
"Yeah...it's pretty hard to miss, Shika," he deadpanned, while gazing in its direction..
"Good. The elevator is nearby then. Wait, I'm pulling up directions..."
"Just tell me where I have to go to avoid the patrols."
"You say that like it's easy…" Shika sighed. "But for now the coast is clear. Just keep moving towards the pylon and stay sharp. I've got to go ahead."
"Ahead? What do you mean?" Naruto asked as he started to run again towards his new destination, avoiding or jumping over any obstacles he found.
"To deactivate the security around the elevator. What did you think?"
The forest was lit by faint light emanating from the bright lines that outlined the polygonal objects scattered throughout the landscape.
Everything, from the the grass to the leaves of the highest tree, were detailed in the same monochromatic glowing vectors that made up the cyberspace around him.
And Shikamaru, his virtual persona represented in a similar way, was running through it.
The great thing about being a decker was that you didn't need a screen, you could access the 'net with your own mind. With the help of a good deck and a suitable connection, of course.
Normally, cyberspace would not look like a flourishing forest. It was just his own personal preference.
A lot of people preferred to see the digital world like a city, or an otherwise artificial structure. He had opted for a lot of trees, rocks and bushes.
One day, while he was bored, he had customized how he perceived the data around him to look like a thick woodland, just like he had given deer antlers to his virtual body.
Of course, his preferred ambience meant something only when he was in a public area of the 'net. Private places, like archives and such, maintained the settings of the programmer that had created them.
The decker looked around, starting a search for his destination with a simple movement of his hand and his mental command.
He ignored the high hill with the circle of stones on the top. It was probably some kind of public chat or social network, judging by the number of people he could see from this distance.
The place he had to enter had no people, just programs. He started to walk a narrow path almost hidden by the virtual vegetation that marked the route his search bot had found.
He was not disappointed when he came in sight of a small clearing, with a dolmen-like structure at the very center of it.
The entrance for the pylon's local security systems. It probably looked like that because this backdoor was hidden in a public space yet probably still protected.
Right on cue, he spotted a pair of figures stalking around the dolmen.
Roughly the shape of two big wolves with white bodies and red lines outlining their figures. With their size and looks, they were even scarier than Akamaru.
Not that he would tell that to Kiba. In the eyes of his feral friend, Akamaru was the scariest, most badass animal that ever lived. Which was nonsense in Shikamaru's opinion.
After all, he had met Kuromaru.
The "wolves" seemed relaxed though, meaning that they had either not detected him or were programmed to ignore everything that didn't try to approach the backdoor.
Without entering the clearing, Shika did a quick stealth scan on the two programs.
As he thought, they were some standard sentry system. Had he approached further, they would have sniffed him out and probably given a warning before attacking him.
At least they seemed to be White ICE instead of the more lethal Black ones, which were capable of frying a decker's brain.
That would have been troublesome.
And for good measure, someone had put a nice firewall on the entrance. MegaCorps didn't do things half-assed.
Now, to figure out how to get past them and enter unnoticed…
"Hey, Shika," Naruto's voice sounded in his ear.
Of course, the blonde knucklehead would interrupt him at the most difficult part. The fact that only he could hear him was a small grace.
"What is it, Naruto?" he said, starting to look around and beginning another stealth scan, just to be sure that there were no other guardians hidden in the area.
"I think I see the elevator entrance. There is a fence and a lot of cameras around. But I was wondering…"
"Yeah?" Shikamaru asked, multi-tasking as he tried to find a way to enter and deal with the blond simultaneously.
"Since I have to step on some Corp's toes, who owns this place?"
"Let me check, just to be sure…" he mumbled as he called a small flat screen of light in front of him and started to scroll through a flux of data. "Apparently it was built almost a century ago by the SenjuCorp. But after their decline it was bought by Sarutobi Enterprises."
"Uh. Where have I heard that…?"
"They own the majority of the city's infrastructure, I would be surprised if you hadn't heard the name at least once."
"So I'm going to trespass on one of the city's most powerful company's property. Wonderful."
"Stop being troublesome and wait for my signal. I'm trying to work here," Shika replied, ignoring the blond's complaints.
Time to start this show.
Shika moved his hands, creating and manipulating data he had stored in his deck, loading it into cyberspace through his virtual persona.
Polygons started to form beside him, taking the shape of a doe. Its figure was a little rough around the edges, a sign that it wasn't a very advanced program.
But it was advanced enough for his purpose.
At his signal, the doe jumped in the clearing, passing right in front of the two wolves, causing them to enter a state of pre-alert, examining the intruder.
The doe kept jumping around the dolmen, as if it was challenging the two other programs. Then, it made a feint towards the backdoor, which finally caused a reaction.
The wolves attacked the much smaller doe, that swiftly dodged before sprinting towards the forest. Taking the bait, the two sentries followed it.
Shika moved immediately towards the the center of the clearing with long strides. In a matter of minutes the doe would have either ceased to exist or been caught by the White ICE wolves.
He had to act quickly.
As he came closer to the entrance, represented by the space between the vertical supports of the dolmen, a screen opened in front of him, blocking his way.
It was asking for his employee ID and password.
Cracking a MegaCorp site just to let Naruto get into an elevator, while two White ICE programs could come back at any moment?
Sometimes, he loved his job.
Naruto decided that he had waited in the wet alley, standing like an idiot, for long enough.
He sat against one of the pipes, the one that was not leaking, since Shika had not called him yet.
He sighed. The day had started out so well. Besides the fact that he'd had to wake up hours before dawn just to be on time for the job.
Just an hour and something earlier, everything had been utterly fucked up.
And some people had been wounded. Or had died.
He hadn't had the time to check, back in the alley where he had met with Mr. Suit. Not with the police on his tail.
It wasn't his fault.
Naruto knew this.
He hadn't taken the gangbangers to the meeting, he hadn't hired junkies and he hadn't pulled the trigger.
It wasn't his fault.
That didn't change the fact that he felt like shit.
"It's done," Shika said, interrupting his little guilt-trip.
Naruto perked up, looking towards the base of the massive pylon that stood behind the tall fence.
"What do you mean, 'it's done'? Nothing changed."
"I've put the security cameras on loop. They'll be seeing the last five minutes of footage instead of you."
"You can do that?" the blond asked in awe. "That's so cool!"
"Yes, well, you better hurry. The UPP has started sending drones into the secondary streets, too."
"Fine, fine. Just tell me what I need to do."
"There should be an entrance on the other side of the pylon. I will call the elevator from here, and you'll be able to use it to go down a few levels."
"Can't I use it to go down more?"
"Not enough time for that: if I tinker too much in this system, my presence will be traced."
"And that would be bad," Naruto said sagely.
"Just hurry up towards the elevator, Naruto."
The blond didn't need to be told twice.
From the inside of the virtual room, Shika was able to see Naruto's progress. His presence was not being registered by the cameras, since Shika was feeding them their own previous footage simply niggling with their data node. Also, keeping the blond in his sight was handy.
You never knew what disasters could happen around him.
"Alright, man. I'm in front of the elevator's entrance. At least, I think it's the elevator…"
"If there is a 'Maintenance—Only Authorized Personnel' sign, then it is the elevator," Shika replied, examining the flux of data around him.
The room had been built like an abstract thing, a big empty space with a constant flow of data feed all flowing into the system node in front of him, be it from the cameras or the motion sensors around the pylon.
Tricking those had been more difficult than tricking the cameras, but no need to tell Naruto that.
He liked being modest, most of the time. Bragging about his skills was just too troublesome.
And it invited trouble in his line of work.
The only thing that mattered now was keeping Naruto out of the programs' eyes, so that the security 'bots remained in stand-by inside their holding area.
"Alright, how do I open it? There are no buttons!"
"It's normally operated through a facial recognition software and a vocal command—"
"What? Why would someone use this kind of security on this?"
"Because it is one of the supports for the upper levels. I'm surprised that they didn't put a minefield around it, just to be sure nobody tried anything stupid."
"Right, because a field of hidden explosives is exactly what we need right now," the blond lamented. "But how am I going to use it?"
"I'm telling the subroutines that controls the elevator that your face is authorized, even if the cameras are not really registering your presence," the decker explained as he placed a few inputs in the system. "There, it's done."
"That's great! I could even offer you ramen, right now!"
"Please, don't," Shika smirked. "And don't make that face."
"I thought you said that the cameras can't see me?" Naruto pouted.
"The cameras can't. I can. Now just stand there and wait a few minutes, the elevator will arrive soon. I'm going to delete any trace of our little stunt."
"Alright, Shika. Take care."
"Just don't wander around," the decker said, as he turned his attention towards the data that composed the "room" around him, mostly to distract himself.
The programs were doing their jobs on their own now, there was no need for him to check them.
But he wanted to wait until Naruto was safe in the elevator before leaving.
This time, tricking those White ICE would not be been so simple.
His thoughts were abruptly interrupted when he heard the sounds of someone clapping, right behind him.
Naruto, holding true to Shika's advice for once, just remained in front of the metal doors.
He got bored after the first two minutes.
How slow was the damn thing?!
With his luck, it had probably been all the way at the top of the pylon.
This was going to be a long wait.
Shika stared at the newcomer.
It was not a program. No way it was one.
It was another decker.
His—or her—persona looked like a slim man in a three-piece suit, complete with a matching tie. All formed by polygons and outlines.
But the head of the person that was clapping derisively at him was not shaped like a human head.
It was the head of a pale, almost white snake, sporting a pair of round glasses.
"My compliments, little runner. You are quite talented," he—for the sake of his sanity, Shika decided to treat him as a male, as his voice sounded—hissed.
"Who are you?" he demanded, preparing to defend himself. He doubted that snake-face would have replied to him, but he had to take time.
"Me?" he asked while starting to move around him. Shikamaru shielded his programs from the stranger's view. "I'm someone that normally doesn't bother with small fries like you. However, your… tinkering with the local software is putting my own goal at risk. Do you realize that you were almost detected entering here?"
"Well, it's not like I planned to do this. I'm not looking for trouble."
"Too bad. In half a day's work, you've almost ruined what I've planned for months," the snake-man said, sounding utterly pissed. "I must admit, I'm a bit disappointed. You sneak in here completely undetected, dodging every firewall like an expert, and you're doing this on a whim?!"
"Look, I just need a few more minutes. Then I'll be gone."
"I'm sorry to say that I can't allow that. Your very presence jeopardizes my operation. You are a wild element, and I can't afford to let you go."
The virtual place shifted, and instead of the continuous stream of chaotic data that Shika had seen until now, it became a clean, spotless and glowing room without exits.
All had happened in the blink of an eye. The only things that didn't change was the system node, that had remained in the middle of the virtual construct.
Shika's blood had probably frozen in his real body, but he couldn't feel it thanks to the change of sensorial feedback caused by being in the cyberspace.
This guy was dangerous, he just felt it. He was not an amateur that was breaking into a place for a thrill.
This was a professional.
Then why was he in such a unimportant system?
Unless...
"You were modifying the place, weren't you? You wanted to turn it into your own data cache."
"Almost, but not quite. You see, you're good. Very good. But I'm better. I can't afford to have some amateur risking my mission when I'm so close to completing it," the snake-man said.
Mission?
Of course.
"You work for another Corp." Shika smirked. The snake's face remained impassible. "You're trying to gain access to the main archives of Sarutobi Enterprises. What is it? Corporate espionage?"
The other decker just watched him for a few seconds, before shrugging.
"You're very perceptive," the suited snake snorted. Good, keep talking. "I suppose you would not be interested in a job interview?"
"People like us don't do interviews, Scaly," he rebutted. Why was that elevator so damn slow?
"True, but I had hoped to let your guard down. Pity it didn't work," the spectacled snake sighed, before locking his gaze on him. "But what happens if I reactivate the security programs while your little friend is out there?"
Shit.
For just a blink of a second, Shika's concentration slipped towards the interface of the node besides him.
It was enough for the other decker.
After quickly creating a ball of raw, corrupt data, he threw it at Shika at an impossible speed.
Naruto was starting to show a facial tic from how bored he was.
He could hear the muffled sound of the elevator moving now, so at least it was moving closer to his level.
Maybe it was just not made for speed. After all, it was a maintenance elevator, they had to use them to move around big loads of stuff, right?
He grumbled, turning away from the two metal doors. He was too tired to watch them.
It was just by chance that he caught sight of a camera turning towards him with a whirring sound.
And lingering on him.
That made him a little nervous, he knew it was crazy because Shika was handling it, but—
Was that light on the camera red? Why was it red?
Wasn't red a bad color?
He heard a popping noise, and two narrow niches opened beside the elevator's door with a hiss, dark and menacing.
That was not a good sign.
"Shika?" he asked, while taking a step back. "What's going on?"
Then he heard the sound of something powering up, followed by a racket of machinery, whirring gears and loud metallic thuds.
A message started to flash in the lower corner of his HUD.
Alert. Potential Threat.
Before he could even ask himself what had triggered that system, he found himself under the scrutiny of two heavy combat rifles.
Said rifles were in the shiny, metallic hands of two security robots, lacquered with the colors of the Sarutobi Enterprises who were emerging from the dark compartments.
"Trespasser, you're intruding on private property," one of them said in a cold, artificial voice. "Identify or surrender. Otherwise lethal force will be used."
Naruto slowly raised his empty hands, hoping to look as unthreatening as possible to the little, not really bright AI that was controlling the 'bots.
"Shika," he whispered, opening the channel again. "Shika, respond you useless, lazy—"
"Naruto, get out—SHIT!"
The communication was abruptly interrupted. If Shika had started to swear, things were really bad.
Like the muzzles pointed at his torso
He had to fight the instinct to call loudly his friend, because he was afraid that a sudden outburst would trigger the 'bots programming.
And he didn't know if he could survive two bursts of military-grade ammo at close range.
"Hey guys, it's me, uh, Jacky!" he said quickly, while checking his surroundings. "I've come here for the usual inspection to the elevator, and—"
"Subject 'Jacky' not found. ID not found. Lay down, or be terminated."
Alright, this was bad. Maybe if he could at least reach—
"Weapon detected. Intruder is armed."
Oh shit.
"Engaging," the second one simply stated, opening fire.
Shika had to abstain from cursing, because all his concentration was now dedicated to the firewall shield he had created between him and his opponent.
That gave him a little breathing room.
Now, what to do?
The snake in a suit had closed the exit; he couldn't leave.
Not even with an emergency disconnection.
Alright, he could work with that.
The elevator was still arriving, he just had to tell Naruto to wait for the right time and-
"Why are you standing there, doing nothing?" the reptile man asked, smugly.
Shika's attention went back to the second decker. He had finished moving his hands in a particular pattern, like-
He had loaded an attack program? But why? He was behind a firewall—
"Behind you," he mocked.
What—?
Something hissed behind him.
He dodged without looking, using a simple side-step and data combo to move faster.
A giant, vicious-looking red snake had just crashed on his firewall, right where he was standing a moment before.
And it had materialized behind him.
"How—?"
"I'm currently an administrator of this sub-system, thanks to my own tinkering before your arrival. Your firewall, for me… it means nothing."
Alright, that was a lie. Shika knew it.
The snake-man may have been able to load programs from his deck even behind his firewall. but no way he was able to go through it with other stuff.
Which would mean that he just had to dispose of such things as attack programs and ICE.
The horned decker started to move his fingers on the compact keyboard of light that appeared with a simple thought in front of his hand.
The snake, damaged but not stopped from the impact with the firewall, was turning towards him.
"Naruto," he called, opening a channel while still loading data patterns. "Can you hear me?"
No answer. Well, one problem at a time.
"Don't think about your little runner friend, think about yourself."
"Why did you sic the security robots on him?" Shikamaru asked, finishing pushing the buttons made of light that promptly disappeared. "He was not aware of your presence."
The snake was slowly advancing, studying him.
"Oh, but knowing that he's in danger puts some pressure on you, doesn't it?"
The snake lunged.
"Meh," Shika shrugged. "He can handle himself."
Without forewarning, black tendrils of corrupted data erupted from the floor of the virtual room, enthralling the attacking snake and immobilizing him with surprising strength.
Shika didn't even blink at the sight.
"What is that?" the other decked asked, with mild curiosity.
"It's my little virus. I call it Shadow Ripper."
As soon as the name of Shika's creation was said, the snake was ripped in half, straight down the middle.
It was still trying to reach the antlered decker. But it was futile.
Its body was broken, and its data was flowing. Just a few more spasms caused by the original intent of the small, terribly simple AI, and the virtual being started to lose consistency, its form being deleted byte after byte from the damage it had sustained.
"Now, that's impressive," the snake man grinned.
"Thanks," Shika answered, without really meaning that.
Now, he just had to find a way to contact Naruto, open an exit for himself so he could leave—or even disconnect if it was necessary—just in case, and put this buffoon in his place.
Just another day on the job.
"HOLY SHIT!"
Just above his head, another heavy-caliber cartridge impacted on the reinforced concrete, leaving a hole the size of Naruto's knuckles.
The blond had, for the life of him, no idea how he had survived that first attack.
He had just started running when he had seen the rifles moving and somehow he had dodged the fire.
Maybe those buckets were not really good at aiming at a moving target.
But now he was stuck behind his current cover, one of the support pillars for the pylon.
He was not a moving target anymore and he couldn't afford to be, judging by all the rounds flying all around his pillar.
Which had not been designed to offer a cover in a firefight.
The only thing that Naruto was able to do was waiting for the right time to take a peek and fire one or two shots from his own pistol, just to keep them at bay.
"Additional units arriving in 43 seconds," one of the metal boxes said. Somehow the blond was able to hear it even among the loud gunfire bursts.
Why was he saying that, anyway? Who the heck programmed his robots to say stuff like that?!
"Initiating flanking maneuver as soon as the additional units arrive," the second one replied without ceasing fire.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," the blond lamented as he ejected the empty magazine of his weapon.
Only two left.
Two magazines for two security 'bots, plus the 'additional units'...
Yeah, no good at all.
Forget the elevator, he just wanted to get out alive.
If he survived this, he would buy a better gun as soon as he had enough money for one.
"—ruto? Naruto? You there?!"
Oh, finally good news.
Never before had Naruto thought that the voice of another man was so beautiful.
"Shika! Where the fuck were you?!"
"I'm having my own party, here. We're having tea and pastries."
"Yeah, well, my own guests are a little too loud," Naruto yelled, to be heard even with the sound of the firefight. "Can you turn them off?"
"I can't do that, sorry. There is—"
"I don't need your life history, I just need to know how to get out of here!"
"Alright, look. I can't see the camera feed right now, but the elevator is still on its way. It should not take too long now."
"Wait, you can't see me?" Naruto asked, puzzled.
"Yes, I can't see you now. Look, just give me enough time to finish this thing here, and—"
Geez, why didn't he say so immediately?
"Alright Shika, take care," the blond simply said.
"Wait, Naruto! What are you do—"
Naruto switched off the communication.
If Shika was not able to see him, he had a chance to do this.
After all, wrecked robots couldn't talk.
Showtime.
Why had that troublesome guy closed the call?!
After all the trouble he had gone through to finally contact him, by moving his firewall along the room...
The space around the system node was a complete wreck.
The snake decker had been somehow impressed from the way he had managed to open a channel to call Naruto and had started to use more creative ways to attack him.
His firewall had been breached a few times. Small holes were present along its surface, which allowed his enemy more margin of maneuver.
To boot, the other decker who had decided to graduate him from "attack program" to "White ICE".
That were now almost surrounding him, barely contained by the Shadow Ripper and a few of his other tricks.
It was not a good situation, but it had not been good since he had entered in the node.
Well, he had managed to tell Naru that the elevator was still coming.
Time to find a way for him to get out of there.
Shika gave a few final commands on the node's interface, injecting a virus in the data cache that maybe would have at least thrown a wrench in the bespectacled snake's plans.
Now it was just a matter of good timing.
He gave order to the firewall to overload itself.
The barrier lit up rapidly, gaining a red-orange hue before exploding in thousands of shards that moved in every direction, yet somehow managed to miss him entirely.
The fragments damaged the ICEs, forcing them to back off, while the snake decker had to create a physical barrier to stop them.
"Nice trick," the reptile's voice said from behind the cover made of polygons. "I'll have to remember to copy it, after I'll have dealt with you."
"Copy this," Shika stated without looking in his direction.
Where before the barrier of light had stood, was not rapidly forming Shikamaru's own White ICE.
It took the shape of a grotesque, monstrosity with a stylized, muscular body with fists big as anvils, and the head of a deer with majestic antlers attached to its bull-like neck.
The new fighter in the room was towering on everyone present, its creator or their enemies alike.
As the massive program's body finally formed, it started to slam his oversized fists around, making a great havoc while grunting in rage.
But it was not aiming to the snake ICEs.
It was hitting all around the virtual room, destabilizing data as he did so.
Obviously the snake-man seemed quite shocked by this.
"What are you doing?!
"I am wrecking this place, thanks to my heavy-duty ICE. I bet that in a few minutes this place will be swarming with Sarutobi's cyberspace security squad."
The snake's eyes widened slightly.
"If you don't want to get caught, you'll have to undo what you did and open the exit. You open the door, I leave," Shika continued. "And even if they arrive too late, they'll know that a decker was here and the whole system will be checked for intrusion. I win."
As to make a point of Shikamaru's last statement, various alarm signs started to flash around the data node, that was shaking because of the horned colossus's blows.
It was just a matter of time.
The snake-headed man gritted his teeth, seething.
Shikamaru could feel the rage of the other decker, even if his body was just a virtual construct.
He wanted to attack, to kill him.
But he had no choice and both knew this.
In the end, the man relented. With a gesture of his hand, his own ICEs stood down.
And with a few precise commands, he modified the gateway once again, opening it.
The two decker stared at each other, ignoring the tell-signs of the incoming security squad. They both were well aware that the ones that moved first, would have probably been stabbed in the back.
Or at least, that was Shika would have expected by a worm like his attacker.
"So, how do you want to do this?" the snake-headed man hissed.
"You dismiss your ICEs and disconnect now. I will leave after you've done that."
"As you wish," the man hissed. The snake-shaped White ICEs started immediately to fade from existence, having been sent away by their master.
Their data flowed into the snake-man once again.
"So, this is a goodbye," Shikamaru said smirking as the other decker started to walk into the exit.
"Oh yes," the other man said, turning towards him. "This is a goodbye."
A single finger was passed on a command interface that appeared on the man's suit.
Four dark spheres, with spikes protruding from them, appeared around Shikamaru.
Shika's deer-man attacked them immediately, but as he hit one of them with his huge punches, his whole arm was ripped by a corrupt flow of data unleashed by one of the spheres.
Shika recognized the pattern immediately, as his White ICE spasmed around, being consumed.
Black ICE.
"You snake-faced son of a b—"
"Have a nice death, small fry," the other decked waved, without looking back.
The spheres started to spin and moving closer to him.
He had few time, and no choice.
Shikamaru moved his hand, his real hand, on the surface of his deck, and pressed the emergency switch.
His consciousness was forcefully pulled away from the cyberspace, and pushed into his meat-sack of a body.
It was quick. It was intense. And it was terribly stressful for the mind and body of a decker.
The backlash was immediate.
He screamed, confused by the sudden sensorial feedback and the pain for the forced procedure he had just undergone.
He thrashed on his soft recliner chair, feeling blood coming out of his nose.
And then, he fell down on the floor, looking like he was having a seizure, while it was just his body having trouble to move his muscles correctly.
It would last only a few minutes, then the nausea would arrive. And the migraine.
It was still a long way better than having his brain fried by a Black ICE, but it was still troublesome.
Sasuke let out a raging grunt, suppressing the urge to punch the screen of his bike's computer. Again.
He had lost trace of the suspect. All the sightings, even the ones from the flying drones, had been decoys.
Now the trail was cold, the blond runner had probably gone under, waiting for things to settle down.
He had hoped to cut off the fugitive's way but he had lost it.
Dammit.
The UPP officer was moving along the outskirts of Little Chiwa, where the poorer buildings and the support pylons lay.
His thoughts started to run wild, which was never a good thing.
They always got back to that man. And what he had done.
Sadly, he had vanished without a trace years ago, disappearing in the shady underbelly of the city.
The place where runners lived.
Along with gangs, cartels, other criminals and millions of people just trapped in between.
No way to find him without inside help.
The blond he had been chasing, Naruto Uzumaki, was one of the few runners whose identity was well known to most authorities, UPP included.
Somehow, he had managed to avoid capture, unlike the ones which had been identified so far.
Had he been able to capture him, maybe he could have interrogated him on how the runners find contracts. It was a long shot, but it would have given him a chance to track down It—
Gunfire, loud.
Multiple shots.
A firefight, close to his position.
He snapped into focus, forgetting his thoughts.
"Dispatch, there is a shooting in the area I'm in. I'm going to check it out."
"Understood, Unit 7. What about the suspect?"
"He...he got away. The one I was following was a decoy."
"Copy that, 7. Good luck out there."
Obviously, he was not offered back-up.
Typical.
He slammed his foot down on the pedal, forcing his bike to accelerate.
With a simple thought, his artificial eyes activated the Sharingan implant.
It started immediately to analyze his surroundings, or at least what his eyes were seeing. It took an impressive amount of data by video feed only and calculated the vectors of vehicles, people and other moving objects.
Such as bullets.
Along with the enhanced reflexes, it was a perfect tool to have during a firefight.
Or to slalom in the traffic like he was doing right now.
It seemed that following the sounds of gunfire was taking him closer to the pylon.
Who would start a fight around such a place?
As he turned in a side road, he saw that the firefight was actually taking place around the pylon
In front of the main entrance in the middle of the fence, with the logo that showed clearly which 'Corp owned this spot, was lined up a small number of security robots.
Mark 3 models, from what he could see. Not the top of the line anymore, but still amply used.
Strangely, they seemed to be watching the inside of the fenced area, not the road in front of it.
What was going on?
He pulled the brakes slightly, cutting the engines as he was close enough that the machines actually felt his presence thanks to their ambiental sensors.
Which was a over-complicate way to say that they heard him.
"Halt, Officer," one of them said, having turned around and seen him. "Please state your business."
"I was patrolling the area, as specified from my company's contract, when I heard the sound of gunfire. Do you require assistance?" Sasuke asked, knowing well that he would receive a refusal.
After all, corporations had a strict policy about these stuff.
"We thank you for your offer but our security forces will be able to deal with these on their own," the robot said, in what seemed to be a standard, pre-recorded message. "Have a nice day."
Which was corporate for a middle finger.
Sasuke grunted.
He had suspected that this would be a waste of his time since he had understood that the firefight was taking place in a MegaCorp's territory.
He would have fared better trying to still look for—
Wait, what was that?
He had been on the point to turn around his bike, when his Sharingan had seen something moving behind the fence, in the distance.
He asked for his eyes to show him the frame where they had detected the movement.
There.
Sasuke could have dropped his jaw, had he been less in control of his reactions.
The blond runner he had been searching for was inside the fence, involved in the shooting.
The Uchiha quickly spun around his bike and gave gas to the engine, facing again the row of Mark 3, who were now all watching him.
Well, at least they hadn't raised their rifles yet.
"Let me pass, you stupid tincans," he ordered. "A suspect is inside the area, and I need to capture him."
"Officer, I must remind you that this is Sarutobi Enterprises' property. Your jurisdiction for the purpose of—"
"GET OUT OF MY WAY!" Sasuke yelled, running right through them at top speed, ignoring the various warnings.
He had enough.
He would not let his only link to Itachi escape or be killed before he could interrogate him just because a robot had been in his way.
He finally arrived on the scene of the firefight, and he had to stop his bike at the sight.
He had not expected this.
"You are forbidden to touch Sarutobi Enterprises' property," the robot cold voice said as it stopped firing, its weapon empty.
Naruto let go of the useless metal body, now riddled with holes, as its still active colleague immediately started to reload the heavy-duty combat rifle.
He sprinted, moving directly against it. As he got close enough, he ducked under the weapon that was being already aimed at him, lock and loaded.
Damn, these toasters reloaded fast.
His first punch was an uppercut to the machine's chin, with all his strength behind it.
It smashed is chatter-box, sending pieces of metal and hardened plastic everywhere. At least it would stop complaining about Naruto's lack of cooperation in his summary execution.
Even then, the machine build and programmed to protect the perimeter from intruders tried to aim his weapon towards the young runner.
Backflipping off his right hand, Naruto slapped the weapon away.
Had it been in the hand of a normal opponent, it would have probably flown away, or at least fallen to the ground. But a robot had no things like reflexes or spasms caused by a strong hit.
Still, it was enough to make it point the rifle away from him, which was good enough in his opinion.
He closed his fingers, and punched the security 'bot in the head with a quick jab, which dented the metal plate and cracked the plexiglass protection of its sensors.
That was enough to send the already unstably footed automaton tumbling to the ground.
Naruto was immediately on it, sitting on it, blocking its armed arm with one of his legs.
Then he grabbed the damn thing's head with both of his hands, and started to twist.
Alert, compromising pressure in the parts between—
"Shut up and just go all-strength!" he argued, not caring if he was above the limits normally allowed to his limbs.
Under the pressure of his hands, the metal dented a little more, and sparks started to fly around, bursting from the joints at the base of its neck.
The head came off with loud, metallic snap, followed by one last burst of electrical sparkles a few hanging cables. The body went limp and, while still active, stopped moving.
Thank goodness to whoever decided that robot's heads had to contain their core processor.
Naruto relaxed, and got up, still clasping the damaged, almost smashed head in his hand. His muscles—the ones he still had, at least—were really sore, and sure as hell he would feel this in the morning.
Then he let it go of the head and kicked it, watching it as it soared for something like a dozen meters, passing above the other five robots he had destroyed in very creative means.
"YES! I'M AWESOME!" he yelled, euphoric.
He noticed the lonely UPP agent that was looking at him, stunned, only when the tin head landed with a metallic sound.
How had the blond runner not noticed the other man approaching was beyond his comprehension, since it had a still-running bike. Maybe he had just been too focused by the whole breaking robots thing.
Still, he was under a shock of equal magnitude. Someone had seen him using his—
Right as the two of them met each other's gaze, the elevator's door opened, announcing its arrival with a hiss of sliding metal.
Naruto immediately ran for it.
As Shikamaru had told him, the elevator was quite big, industrial-grade big.
Not that he cared right now as he all but leaped inside it.
He immediately reached the panel of the controls. At least that didn't need a ID scan, it was based on old-fashioned buttons.
Which one was the one for the level he needed to—oh, there it was.
He promptly pushed it and the doors started to close.
At a terribly slow speed.
The loud roaring of a engine could be heard coming from outside.
Naruto started pushing the button more energetically. Still, the damn slabs of metal refused to move faster.
They had closed half-way when something forcefully jammed into them, with a loud slam.
It was the cop's bike. Its front part had got stuck and the wheel was now fuming on the ground and the biker was doing its best to get inside it, doors or not.
Naruto acted, going right in front of the stuck vehicle.
Once again, their eyes met, blue against red.
Then Naruto kicked the bike away, shattering the fork and freeing it from the doors' grasps.
A few warning lights turned on in his HUD. He didn't care, they would have turned off in a few seconds anyway.
The UPP cop had seen his intentions, though. Probably thanks to those freaky eyes, like the one Kakashi had.
After grabbing a compact shotgun from the bike's side, the policeman had just stood on the top of the bike's seat, and jumped.
He landed, rolled, tumbled and turned towards Naruto, pointing the weapon towards his head.
Naruto had just the time to do the same, retrieving his own pistol.
Neither of them pulled the trigger.
Shit.
A Kiri stand-off.
The elevator started its slow descent.
A\N: Don't worry, I have not forgotten this AU of mine.
I was just busy with my other stories.
So? Like it, dislike it? What do you think of my rendition of cyberspace? And what's up with Naruto?
Let me know with a review!