I don't own Naruto. And neither do you. Probably.
Beta Readers: PyrothTenka, Ser Serendipity, Duesal Bladesinger, AlmostElectric.
They were walking through yet another one of the tunnels, wary of any sound they heard.
Which was actually a lot, deep in the dark bellows of the sprawl above.
Distant noises of machinery, water dripping from leaking pipes, the echo of their own steps and other unknown sources seemed to work along with the shadows projected by the flashlight's beam with the only aim of unnerving them.
It had been a long and nerve-wracking walk after leaving that room, but ironically they had found what they needed.
A way out.
Or at least, a way to find a way out.
"No wait," Naruto said, turning the large piece of paper in his hands. Its worn edges fluttered softly as he did so. "Maybe we should've turned left?"
"You're reading it upside-down. Again," Sasuke said in annoyance.
"Hey, who's the one with the freaking map?"
"I read the map before giving it to you. We have to follow those," Sasuke said, indicating a pair of red pipes, "to reach the closest exit from these tunnels."
"Don't know why you gave it to me then," the blond grumbled, eye twitching in annoyance.
Sasuke just smiled mockingly for a second, but whatever reply he may have had was lost as a metallic creak echoed through the darkness.
Both swung around, startled by the sudden sound coming from the darkness behind them. Naruto pointing the flashlight, Sasuke his sidearm.
"You heard that?" the runner asked, whispering.
"It's just your imagination," the Uchiha replied, although he didn't look very convincing since he was still pointing the gun at the darkness.
"Yeah, right... bet those workers thought so too," Naruto muttered.
"Just keep walking," Sasuke growled, looking at him with his red eyes.
Their steps echoed through the tunnel, faster than they'd been moments before. The truth was that they were both on alert, glancing over their shoulders as they advanced assisted by the pale light of the flashlight.
Naruto had no idea how much time had passed but he still hoped to have enough time to ditch the cop, retrieve the package—somehow—and finish the job.
The fact that all the tunnels they had passed through so far were more or less the same and the pitch-black darkness around them didn't really help.
Even he began to notice a few differences though. For starters, there were less cables running on the walls and the ceiling, bigger pipes had taken their place.
Some of said pipes were actually leaking, and the sound of dripping water could be heard around them. The air was much more humid because of this, and there were even a few puddles here and there.
Whatever the city used their taxpayers' money for, it obviously wasn't to repair this part of its infrastructure.
Then the tubes they were following ended abruptly. Naruto was on the verge of expressing his disappointment—loudly—when he saw it. On the left side of the tunnel, in a small niche, a watertight door. Two inches of solid steel, covered in bumps and plates in a circular form, surrounding a large wheel of a handle.
"Here's your exit from this place," Sasuke said.
"How do you figure? There are no markings or signs."
"I saw the—"
"Yes, yes. You saw the map. Fine."
"Open it then."
Naruto gruffly obliged, turning the circular wheel with both his hands, after using his neck and shoulder to hold the flashlight. He gave it a big push, and the metal door slowly opened.
First difference he felt was the muffled roar in the distance, but for the life of him he couldn't understand what its origin was. Then there was the air, humid, almost wet air that flooded the maintenance tunnel, carrying a moldy scent with it.
A narrow scaffolding-like passage was right in front of him, right in front of a blackness void that his flashlight wasn't able to purge through.
"What is this place?" the blond asked as he took a peek inside, noticing the featureless concrete walls that seemed to give the place a cylindrical form.
"It's an underground reservoir," Sasuke replied, still in the tunnel. "The excess water is sent here in case of a flood."
"How is entering the sewers going to help us?"
"Drainage, not sewers. If we keep going up, we'll find an exit sooner or later. A grate, or a manhole."
"Great. I hope we won't have to walk through sewage," Naruto said as he took a step through the door, only to suddenly realize something.
The door was a thick layer of steel. He could try to quickly close it right in the Uchiha's face and go on his merry way as the cop shot at it. It wouldn't have been a difficult task with his augs.
There was only the problem of the bag. He needed that bag and there was no way that he would've been able to snatch it before the Uchiha opened fire on him and close the door in time.
With a quick glance he saw Sasuke grinning smugly. He still had the advantage and he knew it.
Worse, he knew that Naruto knew that he knew he knew.
Bastard.
He was really tempted to try it anyway just to give the brass a metaphorical middle finger—
His mutinous line of thought came to a full stop when he heard the echo of feet running on a wet floor, coming from the maintenance's tunnel depths.
Sasuke heard it as well, and he turned just enough to take a brief look of the darkness they had come from with his Sharingan.
His eyes immediately widened in shock.
A fraction of second later, the gun was no longer pointed at Naruto and a loud blast rang through the tunnel as he opened fire.
It had been so unexpected that Naruto instinctively stumbled forward, clashing against the railing. He grabbed the metal rail to regain his lost balance, staring at the map that had fell out of his hands as it slowly plunged into the darkness.
Another shot was heard, resounding in the colossal room.
Naruto turned towards the door just in time to see the Uchiha dash through it, pistol still smoking.
"Close the door!" Sasuke yelled, moving to the side in the little space he could, so to not be in the way.
The blond did as he was asked immediately, but it wasn't because the cop had ordered him to. It was because of the utter terror he could see in his eyes.
Pushing, he forced the metal door back in place. He caught a glimpse of a hulking figure with feral eyes right before shutting and locking it with a quick turn.
He had just let go of the handle when the banging started. It was a continuous flurry of slow blows… each powerful enough to bend the thick steel door outwards.
Following inhuman roars and sounds made the blond feel a shiver down Naruto's spine as he backed away from the door.
Naruto had no idea how long he remained there besides Sasuke, pressed against the railing to distance himself from the door—the only obstacle between this… whatever it was and them—and yet being unable to look away, or move.
Then, the attacks on the door ceased all of sudden, just as they had started. The only audible sounds were Naruto and Sasukes' breathing and the roaring water at the bottom of the cistern.
"What the hell was that?!" Naruto finally asked, turning towards Sasuke.
"I—I have no idea," the Uchiha admitted. "Some kind of animal. It moved like an animal—"
"Well, we should be safe here. Right?" he asked in a doubtful tone.
"If it doesn't find another way to follow us."
"Can I have my gun back?" the blond dared to ask, being actually hopeful.
"No," Sasuke replied, scowling.
"Oh, come on!"
"Let's just keep going. Where is the map?"
"I—I lost it," he admitted, scratching the back of his head.
"You lost it? How—nevermind. Let's follow the walkway, it should lead us somewhere."
"Right. So… this way?" Naruto asked, indicating towards his left.
"Yes. After you," Sasuke said, gesturing him to go on.
It was nice seeing how their relationship was improving. Five minutes ago Sasuke would've used his gun to tell him to move along.
Luckily the walk was not very long this time. They quickly found a metal staircase that looked like it hadn't been used for years. Probably decades, judging by all the rust and the ruined paintjob.
It also kept going for quite some stories, each with its own walkway. How many, Naruto couldn't tell. The flashlight's beam didn't go that far.
In his opinion though, it was a miracle the whole structure hadn't collapsed under its own weight, really.
He gave an obvious look at the Uchiha, who sent him a glare in return.
With a sigh, Naruto tested the first step hoping that it wouldn't tear away like in those movies that Kiba enjoyed to watch.
Seeing that he wasn't falling to his doom and Sasuke seemed to be getting impatient, he started to go on. The sooner they got off this stairs, the better.
"So... why are you so obsessed with catching me?"
"Why are you so noisy? Shut up and climb."
"As if saying that worked before, Sasuke."
"I bet a bullet in your brainpan might."
"Oh my. That would be murder. I didn't imagine you as a dirty cop, Sasuke!"
"I wish you wouldn't imagine me as anything," Sasuke replied in disgust, before narrowing his eyes suspiciously. "And what do you know about dirty cops?"
"Well, duh. The city is full of them, no matter what company they work for."
"Says the crim—"
The cop was cut off as a figure landed in front of them on all fours, causing the whole stairway to vibrate and creak.
Its naked form was covered in grime and filth, and it could've looked almost human at first glance. Then Naruto noticed the spikes protruding randomly from its unnaturally pale skin and the yellow eyes.
Adding the fact that it started to sniff and hiss at him was a give deadway that this was far from normal. The fact that it didn't have any visible junk confirmed it.
"Is this what you shot at?" Naruto asked, not taking his eyes away from the thing.
"No," was the short and dry reply. The white creature slowly moved closer, descending the steps in front of them, still moving on his fours.
"Sasuke," he said, looking at the monster's limbs. "It's... it's like the arm we found in that room."
"I know," Sasuke replied, harsher than before.
"Sasuke, shoot him. Why haven't you shot him yet, Sasu—" Naruto said quickly, only to stop as he heard the Uchiha shuffling his weight and sounds of steps coming closer. "There are more coming from behind us, right?"
"Hn," Sasuke mumbled, taking aim.
Inwardly sighing at his rotten luck, the blond did what looked the best course of action.
He charged the hissing creature on the stairs, tackling it the best he could with only one free hand.
The thing was surprised at first but promptly reacted trying to claw at Naruto's face.
The blond slammed his flashlight on its face hard enough to daze it, just for an instant.
An instant was all Naruto needed to toss it off the railing with a yell.
At the same time, the loud boom of Sasuke's pistol resounded through the place once again.
"RUN!" the Uchiha yelled, and Naruto didn't have to be told twice.
The monsters didn't need an invitation to follow them in a cacophony of steps, howling shrieks and squeaking metal.
"What's your plan, red eyes?" he asked as he flew up the stairs, skipping steps in his hurry.
"We get through the first door we find and we shut it!" Sasuke said before pulling the trigger once again.
"I like this plan!" Naruto agreed enthusiastically, dashing upwards.
As soon as they reached another walkway, they tried to go for it but the passage was quickly blocked as a new group of the white humanoids emerged from the darkness above them, climbing on it like spiders on a wall or landing with a cat-like grace.
Naruto dared to take a look back to the stairwell as alert signs started to show up in front of his eyes. A lot of them. It seemed that his systems had finally recognized these things as a threat.
Better late than never.
"Just how many of them are there?!" he yelled in frustration. They were surrounded and the things were closing in.
"Quit wasting your breath and defend yourself!" Sasuke replied, and Naruto felt something being forcefully placed in his free hand.
He adjusted the grip against his pistol's handle and didn't waste time before putting it to good use.
The bullet hit the closest beast right in the middle of the chest, but it seemed to only be staggered by its blunt force and kept advancing, not minding the wound at all.
Naruto fired again, and again the only result was an oozing hole dripping whitish pus-like blood on the creature's wake.
"Why don't you die, ass—" he started to yell, being interrupted by the sound of thunder ringing in his ears as the creature's head exploded in a shower of pale goo, the body falling like a puppet with severed strings.
"Aim for their head," Sasuke calmly said, turning to face his own aggressors with precise and called shots.
"You've got to be kidding me…" Naruto muttered as he did as he was told, popping the head of one more white freak, killing it instantly. Now he felt like he had fallen in one of Shino's favourite movies.
Turned out, watching those movies and actually living a similar situation were two very different things.
Fighting back to back in the dark against monsters that just kept coming at you, no matter how many you killed, sucked. There was also another problem that the movies—well, most of them—got wrong.
"How much ammo you got?" Naruto asked to the cop, issuing said problem.
"One more mag," Sasuke replied as he quickly replaced the spent magazine. "You?"
"Half. Maybe. Not enough for all of them."
"We have to make a break for it or we'll get swarmed," Sasuke reasoned, quickly retrieving his nightstick and using it to bash the cranium of a freak that had come too close.
"The door, or the stairs?" the blond asked.
"The stairs, there are less that way."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Naruto said as he activated the Kage Bunshin, sending the holograms charging into the horde in front of him. The monsters promptly attacked them, screeching in confusion as the holographic constructs dissolved in a drizzle of white hot sparks.
"Go, go go!" he cried out, dispatching another of the white humanoids before turning tail and running a little behind the Uchiha.
Sasuke was sprinting right into the monsters' ranks, dodging attacks with apparent ease and firing on the run. Each time he pulled the trigger, a bullet found its target in a highly efficient and bloody way. What he didn't shoot at, he hit with his nightstick, creating a path splattered with white goop that passed straight in the middle of pissed off, hungry-looking monsters.
Not having the Uchiha's targeting-boosting eyes but having to follow in his steps, Naruto was much less graceful, shooting on the mob hoping to find a good target or at least stagger them enough to be able to pass through.
All this, while having to spam the holograms on the horde that was chasing him, each one not surviving more than a second—but it was a second that the horde didn't spend trying to catch him.
He could see the stairway now, its rusted form barely reflecting the torch's light but in his eyes it could've been shining with the promise of salvation.
It was just a little ahead, but the forest of arms and screaming mouths around them had started to slow down their momentum just by sheer numbers.
Cursing loudly, he stopped to aim at one of the white guys close to Sasuke, hoping that the Uchiha could take care of the others and that the ones behind him were too distracted by his holograms to catch up.
Naruto found his target, pressed the trigger… and nothing happened besides a pathetic, metallic click.
"Fuck," he hissed, just before being startled by a howling shriek right behind him. He spun around, raising his left arm above his head, managing to block the incoming attack just by pure luck.
Now though, he was struggling to keep one of the monsters from tearing his face off with its teeth, and its friends seemed eager to join. His flashlight, held in his left hand, cast crazed shadows across the things pale face as it struggled to bite Naruto's nose off. The only clear thing were the hungry eyes of his attacker, two flat and malicious pools of yellow in its colorless face.
Naruto roared and whacked the creature's face with the now empty gun, enjoying the pained expression grunt he received. Naruto let his pistol go, grabbing the thing by its throat as his weapon cluttered somewhere on the walkway.
"Sasuke, get down!" he ordered as he turned to run towards his unwilling partner, carrying the struggling humanoid like a makeshift shield.
Then, he adjusted his grip on the monster and threw it.
The Uchiha's eyes widened but he did as he was told, ducking as Naruto's improvised weapon passed above him and scattering its brethren like bowling pins, either by knocking them on the ground or by startling them enough to make them back away.
The blond grabbed the policeman by his armpit and pulled him on his feet without stopping, running straight down the middle of path he had just created, kicking a white freak that was trying to get back on his feet on the chin just for good measure.
Only when they were running on the stairs again did Naruto let go of Sasuke, but not before giving the bewildered cop a smug grin.
As Sasuke fired his pistol at their closest chaser though—and scoring a kill shot, damn his eyes!—he started to inwardly grieving for the loss of his gun. Iruka had given it to him, after all.
"How many bullets left?" he asked, deciding to postpone the grief for a later date.
"Only three," was Sasuke's toneless reply. "You?"
"Lost my gun," Naruto admitted. If they had been in a less dangerous situation, he would have tried to look sheepish but somehow it didn't seem appropriate right now.
"You lost your gun?!" the cop asked, incredulous.
"I was out of bullets anyway!" he protested, following the stair's sudden turn.
"Just keep running!" Sasuke ordered, firing once more, this time to a closer target.
The body rolled down the steps, impairing or tripping some of the white freaks. Not that it mattered since they were gaining ground as a whole.
Only two bullets left.
If they were surrounded again, Naruto was sure that they were screwed. And Naruto didn't want to be devoured by probably flesh-eating mutants in a sewer!
He inwardly promised to give an offer to whatever god out there would let them find a door—
"There's the door!" Sasuke said, indicating the level just above them. It wasn't very visible because of the grate-like walkways, but there was a door there, just like one they had passed through, and it was just a few more flights ahead!
Naruto rejoiced, and hastened his steps while urging the Uchiha to do the same, hoping that his rotten luck didn't ruin everything again—by making the door a broken one for example.
They sprinted up the stairs and moved directly towards the closed watertight exit. He created a few more holograms hoping to gain some time, even if he could feel the subcutaneous implants starting to overheat. The blond ignored it and kept going, the Uchiha right besides him.
Once the two had finally reached the door Naruto didn't waste time and immediately grabbed the handle, turning it as fast as he could. At the same time, another shot was fired from Sasuke's pistol.
Only one bullet left.
As soon as he felt the lock opening, he pushed the door with a yell that overshadowed the monsters screeches, stumbling in the room—only to be blinded by incredibly bright lights.
Naruto tried to shelter his eyes with his free hand, and then chaos ensued.
One moment he was standing, the next he had been tackled from behind and pushed to the ground.
Before he could try to free himself from his attacker, the roar of automatic fire thundered all around, a storm of bullets darting above him followed by the noise of torn flesh.
His "attacker" kept him pressed yet harder to the floor instead of trying to eat him and Naruto realized that Sasuke had just saved his life—then something cold was splattered on his back.
The smell was horrible.
As soon as it had started, the onslaught ceased, the sound of shell casings falling on the ground being the last note of it before the sudden silence.
"Sound One, status?" a mellow and yet cold voice asked after a long and tense pause.
"Sensor shows the hostiles retreating. We're clear. Sir," was the quick reply, although the last word was added with a little hesitation, almost like if the person was reluctant to use it.
Naruto had no idea who these people were, but he didn't want to risk making any sudden movements that could earn a burst of bullets in his general direction. Still, he couldn't resist the idea of taking a peek. Slowly, of course.
He was sure that Sasuke was doing the same thing.
The room—or tunnel, Naruto wasn't sure—was still dark, but the lights attached to the weapons of the six people lined up in front of him and Sasuke were enough to see clearly now that they were not pointed at his face.
They were dressed in gray combat gear, their faces completely hidden by visorless helmets sporting various lens and optics. Most of them had heavy armour and were armed with assault rifles and other specialist equipment. The big one—a hulking man that could probably dwarf Choji—was carrying a machine gun with ease, thanks to the special harness he was wearing.
The blond really doubted that amateurs would carry such toys.
"Sound Two, Sound Four, close that door," the one in the middle said—the same cold and soft voice that had spoken first. The leader—before gesturing towards them. "Sound Five, check them."
The three soldiers on the right walked towards them, avoiding their companions' line of fire, which was still pointed towards Naruto and Sasuke's prone forms.
One of them, the thinner one, stopped besides them and knelt while forcefully placing his weapon's barrel against the base of Naruto's neck. The other two kept walking instead, and disappeared from Naruto's more or less restricted view.
"Try to do anything, trash, I dare ya," the kneeling soldier said, the voice clearly feminine even if muffled by the helmet.
A hand started to search him, but at least this time it was a woman's hand. He was sure that the woman in question would have reacted badly to a mocking answer, so he did his best to keep his mouth shut.
She quickly finished checking him—not surprisingly since he didn't have much on him besides his clothes—and quickly moved over, to do the same to Sasuke.
In the corner of his eye, the blond could see how the Uchiha was quickly disarmed—not that one single bullet would've helped. Then the radio was torn from the cop's uniform, as well as Naruto's bag.
Fuck.
Behind him, he could hear the two other men's grunts and soft thuds as he assumed they cleared the entrance of monsters that had been felled on the door's step. They would've made it difficult to close the door otherwise.
"I killed more than you," one of them snickered in a satisfied tone before another thump was heard, confirming the blond's assumption.
"You wish, Kidomaru—" the other replied with a scoff. Naruto passively noticed that he had a voice eerily similar to the one that had been called 'Sound One' but didn't dwell on it. It wasn't important right now.
"Stick to your callsigns," the leader said, his voice full of reprimand. Naruto could feel the scowl behind the sealed helmet.
"Sure, sure. Whatever," the one named Kidomaru replied as he closed the door. Even without looking at his expressionless helmet Naruto could tell he was rolling his eyes.
"So, are these freaks what we're looking for?" the one behind them asked, letting go of the remains he had just moved, which landed right besides of Naruto with a weak plopping sound. It was a mass of whitish meat and torn muscles, mangled to the point that it was barely recognizable as a humanoid figure.
As it landed, it sprayed a little of its blood on the runner's already defiled clothes. He really hoped this stuff washed out. In case he survived, of course.
The leader came closer and examined it for a brief moment before slowly shaking his head. "No, these things have nothing to do with our target."
Naruto noticed a symbol sewn on the figure's attire: a single musical note. Weird choice for what looked like a paramilitary unit but who was he to judge?
"Where did they come from then?" the big one, the heavy weapon guy asked.
"Who cares?. More target practice," Kidomaru snickered cruelly, already enjoying the idea.
"What do we do with these two fuckers?" the woman asked, as she examined the bag.
Naruto exchanged a quick glance with Sasuke, hoping that the cop had some bright idea to get out there in one piece. Sadly, he quickly realized that the Uchiha had thought the same thing. It would've been funny if his life wasn't on the line.
"We could use them for bait—Wait a second," the guy with the sensor, Sound One, said as he looked at Sasuke. "This guy is a cop!"
"Not just a cop," the leader's cold voice said in the stunned silence. "Look at his uniform. He's with the Uchiha Private Police."
At that, the whole group attention's was on Sasuke, who looked at him in a tense silence.
"Shit. Do you think they're on us, sir?" the woman asked.
"Improbable," was the calm reply. "This is a secret operation and—"
"Why bother with that?" one of the soldiers said, sounding bored. "We should kill both of these coppers and get going with the mission."
"Hey, I'm not a cop!" Naruto quickly told them, hoping to not sound too pathetic.
"I don't think they care," the only actual cop in the room said drily.
"Oh shut up Sasuke! I can try!" he said, locking eyes with the Uchiha one more time.
"Sasuke? Sasuke Uchiha?" the boss said, walking right in front of Sasuke and staring at him. "Itachi's brother?"
The question caused an even more tense silence than the previous one.
"Holy shit. He is! He's that psycho's brother!" the machine-gun guy said. The way he said it almost sounded like awe , for some reason.
"Hey, what's so special about Itachi Uchiha? I feel a little out of the loop here!" Naruto asked.
Sasuke looked his way, an expression of disbelief in his still active eyes. It would've been satisfying in different circumstances. Not that he cared about the bastard's famous brother, he just wanted to gain time to find a way out.
"Not sure about the dumb blond," the one that had thrown the corpse said, cleaning its gloves on his pants and completely ignoring Naruto's question. "Still, the boss may be interested in—"
"Sound Two. Be quiet," the leader interrupted his chatty subordinate. "This decision is above our pay pay grade."
"Well then, our mighty leader, what are we supposed to do now?" the woman asked, still struggling with the bag's lock.
Yeah, good luck with that.
"We follow protocol. I'm breaking radio silence," the chief said without hesitation before tapping his helmet where his ear would've been. "HQ, this is Sound Actual from the area of operations. We—"
Whatever he wanted to tell them, it was lost as a loud cry was heard, barely dulled by the thick door.
The soldiers immediately snapped to attention, weapons ready as the sound echoed for a few more seconds.
Naruto's hair suddenly stood on end, his already tense body jerking slightly. He recognized that sound: it was the thing that had been at the head of the whole horde.
"Seems like we finally found Juu—" the big guy chucked, only to be interrupted by the voice of the sensor guy.
"Sir!" sensor guy called, his attention completely on the device in his left hand. "I have movement, fifty meters and closing in."
"Is that our target?" the man with the same voice chimed in.
"No it's not big eno—more contacts. Multiple directions, thirty meters."
It seemed that the horde was back, and judging by the beeps coming from the motion tracker, they had brought friends. Naruto was not worried though. These guys had enough firepower to start a corporate war—at least the part with actual violence. His only concern was how to get back his bag—now strapped around the crude woman's shoulder.
Sasuke was probably doing the same about his radio, which was ironically secured on the bag's straps. After all, if these guys were able to call their bosses, why wouldn't he?
"Aah, great. More stinky mutants." she said, securing her grip on the rifle.
"Let them come. More stuff to kill," the one called Kidomaru said. The more Naruto heard him, the less he liked his attitude.
"Get ready, I want a firing formation on the door," was the order given by the cold commander. Apparently talking with the HQ could wait until later, when there were no monsters around. "Sound Five, watch our sixs."
"What about the prisoners sir?"
"Move them in the back. If they do anything against the squad," he said, looking straight in their eyes and Naruto could swear that his tone had become even more chilling, "act accordingly."
"You heard the man shitheads, move!" she ordered them, gesturing to get up. Naruto could see a pattern in the overall day.
The soldiers started to move back from the door and the blond realized that they were in a tunnel similar to the ones he and Sasuke had spent so much time. While he and the Uchiha were dragged at gunpoint, the soldiers assumed firing positions or covered their comrades.
"Sit there and don't do anything stupid," Sound Five ordered and since she had been given the order to 'act accordingly', Naruto obeyed immediately. Even if he didn't like to. Just to ensure his survival, he dragged Sasuke down by tugging his sleeve.
At least he was smart enough to not protest.
A metallic sound caught his attention and turning towards the squad, he saw some spider-shaped droids detaching themselves from Kidomaru's backpack—which was not a backpack at all, apparently.
The automated weapons, each big as a cat, started to move along the nearby wall and the ceiling, a small gun barrel visible on their 'heads'.
Oh great. More guns to escape from.
"Fifteen meters, right in front of us," sensor guy informed.
"They're right outside of the door—"
"Twelve meters," was the quick update. The soldier looked away from the sensor in his hand, then back at it, looking puzzled.
"What?" the soldier manning the machine gun asked, sounding incredulous. "That can't be right."
"Ten meters... I-I don't get it—"
"Are you blind?" the man that had the same voice of his teammate said. "You're reading it wrong."
"It's what the damn thing is saying!" Sound One replied, shaking the motion sensor like if that was supposed to fix it.
"Give me that—" not-sensor guy said, trying to reach for it.
"Cut it out, you two—"
A clang echoed in the tunnel. All the lights moved towards its origin. All, besides the one on the woman's rifle, which remained pointed at the two captives.
A vent had fallen down the ceiling, quickly followed by one of the monsters—or mutants, if that was what they were—that landed right in the middle of the hallway.
And was promptly turned into white chunks by the concentrated fire.
Then more vents, pipes and grates were opened and they started to come out of the walls.
Total chaos ensued.
The squad had good equipment and good training though, and reacted as people were supposed to when being swarmed by a mass of chunky white mutants: laying down a massive barrage of firepower on the horde.
The machine gun was obviously dominating the field, its bursts passing through multiple freaks and tearing large holes in their bodies.
The spider drones—Naruto couldn't tell if they were being directed by their owner or not—opened fire on the ones moving along the walls instead, while the soldiers took care of the lucky survivors or the ones that were moving on the sides.
They were a little overzealous though, yelling, laughing and using more ammo than was—
"Don't waste ammunition," the leader ordered. Ah good, he had noticed as well. "Shorter bursts."
They all complied—some grudgingly, most reluctantly—and the next targets were eliminated by more precise and coordinated shots.
The tunnel in front of the squad was basically tinted white now, remains in various degrees of wholeness covering it.
Yet more were coming.
"How many of those fuckers are down here?" the woman—Naruto decided to call her Potty Mouth—yelled to nobody specific.
"Funny," the blond snickered. "I asked the same thing."
"Oh shut up you—"
"They're not attacking," Sasuke said from his sitting position. "They're fleeing."
"What?" Naruto and Potty Mouth asked in confusion. Watching more carefully the monsters that kept arriving, he realized that the cop was right.
The beasts were trying to get out of their holes as fast as possible, and most of them were bolting away from the fight. It seemed that the ones that were 'attacking' the squad were actually just moving in their direction by mere chance, or their fight-or-flight instincts kicked in as they realized they were in danger.
What could scare a whole horde of these things that had chased him and Sasuke so—
The furious roar was heard again, closer this time. Then the pounding at the door started.
"He's here," the team leader said and his voice was clearly hearable even in the cacophony of battle.
If the monsters had seemed to move in a panic before, the sudden arrival of the bigger threat sent them in a hysteric frenzy.
The ones still inside the vents or pipes started to carve their own way out, not caring if they were wounding themselves by doing so. The ones already out of them... they charged all at once.
It was then that the heaviest weapon went silent.
"Shit, I'm out!" the machine gunner yelled.
"Oh, fucking great," Potty Mouth grumbled. "Hurry up and reload, fatso!"
"Quit bitching and cover me, Tayuya!" said fatso yelled, detaching his weapon's empty drum. The pounding at the door was louder now that the machine gun was silent.
Oh, so her name was Tayuya. Naruto supposed that the team leader was too busy dealing the crazy monsters to comment about how the big guy didn't use her callsign.
"The team is covering you, don't be a baby just because your toy is out of—"
"Get ready," Sasuke whispered in Naruto's ears.
Another pounding, and this time it sounded like thunder because the door had been ruptured from the wall. Heavy steps reverberated through the tunnel as a massive, hulking beast-like figure with feral eyes and a mane of orange hair entered into it.
"Cripple him. Fire at will," the highest-ranking soldier ordered.
Then, the chaotic scene descended in total anarchy.
The newcomer let out another roar and charged through the white monsters' ranks, as the soldiers shot against it without caring about conserving bullets, opening holes in its limbs.
It didn't care.
The horde was total disarray and the monsters were fleeing in every direction they could, as long as it was away from the giant creature. The stragglers that got too close to the soldiers were put down by the spider drones, who were still firing with cold efficiency.
It was clear that the giant would not be stopped in time.
"OH, SHIT!" Tayuya yelled, forgetting about Sasuke and Naruto and aiming her rifle at the newcomer.
Big mistake.
A mistake upon which Naruto and Sasuke capitalized, springing up at the same time.
The blond tackled her, while the Uchiha grabbed her weapon and elbowed her in the face—well, armored face but still it was a case of police brutality in his eyes—for good measure.
Naruto grabbed his bag by the strap and gave her a not-so-gentle push as he retrieved it, slamming her hard against the opposite wall with a grunt.
Normally such an action would've been suicide. The rest of the soldiers\operatives\mercenaries\whatever would've just turned towards them and gunned them down.
But since a giant juggernaut was being so kind as to body-slam itself against the machine gunner while howling loudly enough to put a crazed gorilla to shame, and the white freaks had finally realized that the tunnel was not a good place to be and were running back to their hideouts or dying trying, said soldiers\operatives\mercenaries\whatever were busy trying not to become lunch. It was now or never.
"Come on Naruto, we're leaving!" Sasuke yelled above the ensuing chaos.
The blond didn't need to be told twice. He didn't care about the shouts, the growls, the fat guy protecting his head from the beating, or his comrades trying to help him.
He did what he had done since the start of this shitty day. He started to run—
In the middle of the pandemonium, the shots didn't surprise him. The stray bullets, far too close for comfort, did.
Glancing back, he saw Tayuya still against the wall. Her helmet had come off, but in the dim light the only thing Naruto noticed was the pistol trained on him.
As Naruto was sure that the next shot wouldn't miss, the woman was hurled against the wall one more time, as one of her teammates collided with her—the blond wasn't sure which soldier it was—thrown by the creature that was venting its rage on the rest of the team.
The shot went wild, not coming anywhere close to him. There were curses and insults while someone yelled for help as he tried to subdue the monster.
It was then that the machine gun started to fire again.
Naruto turned his head towards Sasuke, who was just a little ahead of him in the dark hallway, and kept running.
They both ran, turning at the first intersection not caring about their destination, as long as it was away from there.
They kept running even when the battle had faded to silence behind them.
Finally, they were forced to stop to catch their breath.
They were in a corridor, a smaller one with less signs of decay. Less cables, too.
Sasuke could feel his lungs burning, his muscles aching, his heart pumping like it wanted to burst. He was bruised, soaked in sweat, covered in white goo and the strain of keeping his eye implants active for all so long was giving him a very annoying headache.
And that was just covering the physical part of the whole experience. One had to consider the fall down an elevator shaft, the attack from the security bots, being gassed, being lost in the Underlevels, being attacked by a mutant with a temper, chased by a pack of other mutants, ambushed by what looked to be a black ops cover team and having to escape from the fight between said soldiers, the horde of mutants and the other mutant.
All of this with an incredibly annoying—and dangerous—cyborg with shady connections at best.
Which, in light of certain events and his reaction at hearing that man's name may not have been connected to his case at all. Or at least put in doubt the relation between that man and a runner ring.
Which would mean that he had wasted months of investigations behind the company's back.
To say it simply, Sasuke Uchiha had a hard day's work and he was pissed.
The major cause of his ailment was currently sitting on the ground in front of him, back turned.
The runner—Naruto seemed to be a little less weary than him, but if he was augmented to such extremes like he claimed that was not surprising.
Sasuke had no idea why he had remained with him during their escape. In hindsight, the blond could've tried to run away from him in the ensuing chaos.
It probably was to have a better chance of survival. Strength in numbers and more importantly Sasuke had a rifle. And the flashlight attached to said rifle.
Strangely enough, Naruto seemed to care more about his bag. Sasuke supposed that it made sense. Not because of some sort of professional duty or anything like that.
It was just a matter of payment. No bag, no payment.
"How does this stupid thing even work?" the blond muttered, catching Sasuke's attention.
The Uchiha inwardly cursed himself for getting distracted by his fatigue. He was alone in the company of a criminal that could rip a robot's head with his bare hands, and he took his eyes off of him!
Naruto was still turned away from him, hunched over as if he was examining something and it clearly wasn't the bag.
Warily, Sasuke slowly moved around him, remaining out of the runner's arm reach and keeping the rifle ready, if not pointed directly at him. His eyes widened when he realized what the blond was holding.
It was his radio.
"Give it," he ordered. His voice caused Naruto to freeze like a statue. "Now."
"What? This again?" the blond asked in a bored tone, turning his head towards him. "I swear, this day is repeating itself—"
"You idiot," Sasuke hissed, raising his weapon slightly. "Give me that radio or I will—"
"Fine, fine," Naruto muttered, throwing the device towards the Uchiha, almost carelessly.
Sasuke caught it swiftly, thanks to his enhanced reflexes and the Sharingan eyes predicting the trajectory in real-time. Puzzled, he blinked.
How come Naruto was not trying to resist? How come he hadn't tried to run as he was distracted?
"What's the catch?" he asked suspiciously, putting the radio back on his uniform. If he had been in the runner's shoes, he would've tried to overpower him as soon as he had been able to.
"No catch, I give up," the blond said, taking his bag and pushing it in the space between the two of them. "Here, as evidence. You win. Just get me out of here."
Sasuke wasn't sure what to say, when the Sharingan advised him that the blond's legs were moving, trying to assume a position optimal for a pounce. The Uchiha frowned. This was his attempt.
"Nice try," he said, aiming the assault rifle against the runner's head and switching to auto fire. "Step back towards the wall. Face it. Hands on the head."
Naruto paused, before frowning back as he realized that Sasuke had realized his game. Slowly, he crawled towards the wall before doing as he had been ordered to.
Sasuke's finger had been on the trigger the whole time.
He waited a few seconds, and as the Sharingan assured him that the blond was not trying any movement, he opened a channel.
"Dispatch, this is unit seven, come in," he called. "Dispatch, this is unit seven, I request—"
"Unit seven, this is dispatch," a young voice answered. "Where the hell did you go?"
"Chasing a suspect. I require assistance. I—"
"Unit seven, what's your status?" he was asked.
"In the Underlevels, on foot. Location unknown," Sasuke quickly said.
"What about the suspect?" the voice asked slowly. "Did he escape?"
"No, I managed to capture him." he answered, eyes still pointed on Naruto. "I don't have the means to restrain him adequately though. I require an extraction and assistance in taking the prisoner back to—"
"Roger, unit seven," the dispatcher interrupted him. "We're triangulating your position now. Keep the channel open and stand by for instructions to reach a rendezvous point. Over."
"Copy that, Dispatch," Sasuke breathed in relief. It was almost over. "Unit seven out."
Doing as instructed, Sasuke saw clearly how Naruto was stiff, like he wanted to do something but he couldn't. Smiling smugly, the Uchiha picked up the bag, already thinking forward to interrogating the runner about all his connections and contacts.
Hopefully, he would find something that would get him closer to Itachi.
The bulwark door was pushed open by the inside, throwing away some of the trash that had been accumulated on it.
Naruto walked out of its cellar-like entrance, his hands back behind his head already.
Sasuke was right behind him, the weapon still locked on the blond's back. The runner had not said a word since the contact with the company by radio, not even to protest the orders given to him.
It seemed that when he realized that it was over for him, Naruto had ditched the playful facade.
The Uchiha inhaled deeply, relieved to have finally left that awful place. It reeked of smog and decomposing garbage, but it was the surface. Finally, they had reached the surface. No more mutants hunting them in the dark.
It was a dirty back street, with overflowing or broken dumpsters. Short and stocky buildings were the only visible things, their walls covered by graffiti. The grey and cloudy sky was clearly visible, meaning that it was not close to the multi-leveled downtown districts. Somewhere in the distance, a pair of stray dogs barked.
If Sasuke had to take a guess, it was somewhere in the western side of the sprawl where most of the industries were. Not the best part of the city, but not the worst one either.
He had followed the instructions up until this point, and they had been very precise and efficient so far.
Sasuke was supposed to meet the backup here, Yet, the alley was empty.
There should've been a van. A wagon. A patrol car. An officer. Anything!
"You," he said to Naruto. "Go against the—"
"Yeah, yeah. Go against the wall," the blond interrupted, rolling his eyes as he walked towards the closest defaced surface and leaning against it, face-first. "You've got a thing for those, don't you?"
Sasuke sneered. It seemed that the clown didn't ditch his idiotic antics after all.
"Dispatch, here's unit seven," he said, opening the radio channel. "I've reached the rendezvous point. I can't see the reinforcements, over."
There was no reply though, and the radio remained silent.
"Dispatch, come in. Where is the—" he quickly repeated, only to stop on his tracks when he noticed that Naruto was looking at him with the corner of his eyes, smiling smugly.
Why was he smiling?
Something cluttered down the alley. Sasuke's instinctively turned with the weapon ready, managing to keep Naruto in his field of vision just because his common sense kicked in.
A dog was right in the middle of the street, a few meters from him.
It was standing still, his eyes fixed on Sasuke as if to study the cop's intentions, the body stiff and the tail erected.
Sasuke hesitated. He had always considered himself a cat person, but judging from the bristled fur and what he remembered about the K9 section, the stray dog was not in a friendly mood.
And while he had to keep his eyes on Naruto, he didn't want to startle it.
It was still a predatory animal almost as big as a bike.
Was it even a stray?
The dog suddenly started to bark, the sound echoing in the alley.
Sasuke took a step back, aiming the rifle at the now growling dog. He didn't want to kill it, but if he had to defend himself—
Naruto turned towards him, his hands no longer on the back of his head and a shit-eating smile was plastered on his face.
Alarmed, the Uchiha forgot completely about the dog and quickly changed his target.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" he asked. Where the hell was the pickup?
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," the blond said, gesturing towards the weapon with a eyebrow cocked.
Before Sasuke could answer, there was a blur on his left, followed by a metal clank. His head snapped in that direction, but he kept the rifle on the blond—
And he found himself looking at a young man that was crouched on a dumpster, pointing two submachine guns pointed. While growling.
Two. Not one, two. That was what his mind was trying to wrap around, not the sudden appearance.
Who the hell used two automatic weapons at once, unless their limbs were augmented or—
Black leather jacket. Animal-like movement and behaviour. Dog of unusual size close by. Slitted eyes. Red tattoos on the face.
Inuzuka.
Oh, that explained the two SMGs.
Had they entered his territory or—?
"Naruto," the member of the infamously feral gang said, not looking away from Sasuke's eyes. "You smell like shit."
"Save it, dog-breath," the blond yelled, before grimacing at his clothes, still covered in semi-dried in white patches. "I'm afraid I'll have to burn these..."
Naruto knew the Inuzuka. Great. Just great.
Where the hell where those other cops?!
Sasuke's mind raced for a way out of this. He could duck, avoiding—maybe—the rain of bullets from the gang member, kill him, then roll to shoot at the mutt that would surely try to go for his throat, and then he would've to deal with—
"Hey Sasuke!" Naruto called, catching Sasuke's attention once again. "Before you think of doing anything stupid, look up."
After watching the blond pointing somewhere above them, he did so, unable to not see what else was in store with him.
There was someone sticking out of one of the building's roof.
Sasuke couldn't distinguish the person's features, since he—she?—had positioned himself with the light on his back. He could clearly see the scoped rifle pointed at him, though.
An ambush. Naruto had managed to organize an ambush.
Sighing, he lowered his own weapon and closing his eyes to deactivate his Sharingan. There was no way out of this.
"How—"
"I changed your radio's frequency before giving it back to you," Naruto said, walking slowly towards him. "Lucky me, one of my friends is quick to figure things out."
"You're just lucky that this guy didn't check it before calling," the Inuzuka said, barking a laugh.
"Way to ruin my awesome moment, Kiba! Anyway, I'm gonna need this," Naruto muttered, pouting as he yanked his bag away from Sasuke. He actually pouted. With an armed, potentially hostile person in front of him.
The inspector back at the district was right: runners were crazy. Sasuke was tempted to shoot him just to teach him a lesson. For that, and for having outsmarted him.
"Oh, right. I almost forgot," the blond added, taking the radio off the Uchiha uniform, which disappeared in one of Naruto's pockets. "Can't have you calling your buddies on the right channel, right? At least until we're not away from here."
Sasuke blinked, not sure if he had heard it right.
"Hey man, are you sure about this?" the Inuzuka asked, sounding uncertain. "After all, he's a cop."
Sasuke wanted to groan. The only person that was making sense was a spliced ganger that was gunning at him. Scratch what the inspector said: the world was mad.
"He saved my life," Naruto said, with a sudden serious tone. "And I saved his."
There was a long and tense silent moment as the blond stared at the Inuzuka, his eyes not wavering.
"Fine," the gang member sighed, and Sasuke sighed in relief. Inwardly, of course.
"I'm going to keep this as well, tough!" Naruto yelled suddenly, pulling the assault rifle out of Sasuke's hands, raising up as if to show it to the person on the rooftop for some reason.
The change in the blond's behaviour had been so sudden that Sasuke was starting to wonder if some gear was missing inside his head. Literally.
"Come on, let's go. I'm hungry," Naruto said, patting the Inuzuka on the shoulder and starting to walk away.
"Good idea," the feral man said, jumping off the dumpster, his weapons disappearing into his jacket. The dog followed, jogging behind his master. "You owe me at least a beer for this."
Naruto nodded, but Sasuke was not looking at him. He was looking at the sniper that was still keeping him on his sights, as if daring him to try anything.
"Hey, do you really wanna go around with that in plain view?" the Inuzuka asked, pointing at Naruto's new rifle.
"Of course not!" he answered indignantly. "Do you happen to have a sack, or something where I can—"
"Wait," Sasuke called. The two men and dog trio stopped, and Sasuke didn't need that the Sharingan to notice how the sniper had tensed at the sudden cry.
"What is it?" Naruto asked, sounding genuinely curious. "I'm a little late for my job you know?" he added, patting the bag on his side. "So, if you don't mind…"
"At least tell me what you know about Itachi Uchiha," Sasuke asked.
"Dude," Naruto grimaced a little, "I said that I don't know him to those guys, remember?"
"What guys?" Kiba asked, puzzled.
"Not now, Kiba," the blond muttered, before turning towards the Uchiha again. "I don't know who this Itachi is. Besides that he is your brother, I mean. And I learned that today."
Sasuke could just stare at the blond in silence, unable to formulate a reply. Somehow, deep inside him, he knew that he was not lying.
It had been all for nothing.
"So, uhm… sorry?" Naruto said awkwardly, before turning away and resuming to walk. "See ya!" he called, before disappearing from the alley along his companion and pet.
Sasuke could only stare.
It had been all for nothing.
Months interrogating suspects, asking questions, ignoring orders to stop asking said questions, piecing clues together and confronting them with the data available on the underworld.
Wasted.
He kept staring even after the sniper left, now sure that the cop would've not been able to do anything.
It was only then that Sasuke allowed himself to lose his temper and yell in frustration, while kicking a dumpster.
It had been all for nothing.
A\N: In case you can't tell, I hated the last two chapters. Not because I didn't have fun writing them but only because I started working on them during the holidays and then I suffered a massive writer's block in the middle of them, and wasn't able to write anything for months.
Anyway, I hope you liked it !
Silly, not-part-of-the-story omake:
"No, no no. This is no good at all," the wizened old man said, above the sound of munching mouths.
The wizened man was walking up and down in his sanctuary, down in the darkest levels of the sewers under the massive city.
The fact that he was actually walking may have surprised anyone who would've looked at his frail form. Heck he should've died decades ago, actually. At the very least, for the lack of vitamin D.
Instead, maybe because of all the pieces of technology planted inside his body, maybe because of a few nice genetic procedures he had undergo back in the days, he was still breathing and kicking.
His mind though, wasn't still the same as a time. Too much time spent in the dark, with no human contact, can do this to a man.
"We already talked about this! You're supposed to eat the pizza. The pizza, not the deliveryman!"
One of the chalk-white creatures, the one sporting a roughly cut purple bandana that seemed on the verge of falling at any moment, raised his blood-stained muzzle and screeched at the man that was interrupting his and his brethren's meal.
"Don't talk with your mouth full, Donnie!" the man said in a reprimanding tone.
'Donnie' just ignored him and went back to gorging on the man's guts.
The various pizzas scattered on the floor remained completely ignored.