I am soooooo sorry for taking for~ever to update this. Writer's block is my only excuse, though that's not a very good one...
I really don't mean to have OOCness here. But some things just work better with the way I have the plot developed. Anyways, if anyone spots too much OOCness, then please tell me. It would be much appreciated.
Please read and review!
Disclaimer – I do not own Naruto or the characters in any way. Gaara would have been branded mine long ago if I did.
Hell's Wings – Musicians by day, assassins by night. When two rival bands clash, sparks ignite and tensions fly. Au, modern day.
Chapter Two
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The air seemed thick with tension as Sakura glared at the crimson haired male in front of her. A few emotions vaguely reflected in his jade orbs; anger, surprise, resentment and… Was that amusement?!
The pinkette growled, folding her arms under her chest. Putting two and two together (and still coming up with five), Sakura couldn't for the life of her figure out why he was here of all places. Her team had been on a mission, a mission that Tenten had to complete by herself because of his inconvenient interruption. There were only two explanations she could see that fit his reasons for being there tonight.
One – he had been hired for protection. Usually the target never got wind of any assassinations coming so she immediately threw that one out the window.
Two – he was also an assassin. With what team and why were what troubled her the most.
"Sakura…" Hinata's quiet mummer broke her concentration. Her emerald eyes shifted to the side, not quite letting the redhead out of her sight. Hinata was nervously pressing her index fingers together, pale orbs flickering from the boys to her. "Are they like us?"
The question threw Sakura for a loop for a moment. She had just been thinking the same thing of the redhead and now the dark haired girl was including the other three boys as well. Her eyes flashed back to them, quickly analyzing them with her brows furrowed.
The jade eyed male she had a bone to pick with was in the fore front. The blonde boy was bouncing between his feet behind his left shoulder while the one with pale eyes so similar to Hinata's stood at the right. Mr. Pineapple Head – really, what else would you call his hair do? – was off in the back, yawning hugely.
"I don't know…" She muttered under her breath. Every instinct bred in her screamed for movement. Whether it was throttling the young man in front of her, yelling at her two teammates that had come with the other boys, or whipping out her rapiers and swiftly killing the other group, she needed to do something.
And speaking of weapons…
Her hand clenched around the handle of the sword she had swiped earlier. It was actually a fine piece of work, the sword similar to hers in a way. The blade was pure black, the hilt silver, with gold winding around the handle. She flipped it between her hands expertly, testing the weight and balance. Now it all made sense to her.
Her rapiers were about the same weight but this sword had a better balance ratio. Whoever had crafted this was truly a master. Tenten would probably be very curious about the blacksmith besting her own creations.
"I hate uncomfortable silences. Don't you agree Shikamaru?" Ino's voice sounded slightly amused. Sakura rotated her neck to glance at her blonde friend flicking her long ponytail over her shoulder with a bored expression. No answer broke the already tense atmosphere as the pinkette embedded the sword into the ground beside her.
"Ino, do you know these boys?" Sakura saw the redhead and the pale eyed one grimace at her choice of words. Her inner was doing a mental dance inside her head from their visible discomfort. She heard some shuffling of feet and glanced behind. Ino looked a little sheepish and Hinata had a nervous expression, fingers still pressing together. "Well?" The pinkette growled, impatient at the lack of answers.
Hinata let out a tiny surprised squeak but it was Ino who provided the information. The blonde nodded before raising a hand when she saw Sakura's eye twitch. "Please hear me out. We had just stumbled upon the three that came running with us only a few minutes before we heard a loud noise in this area. They seem to be trained like us."
This did little to calm Sakura's rapidly growing anger. Turning back, she crossed her arms and eyed each of the males. "I don't see why we shouldn't just gut you all right now."
"Because you wouldn't succeed even if you tried." The redhead deadpanned. She believed every word against her will. Her inner chuckled.
'Finally met your match dear Sakura?' She snickered. Sakura's eye twitched in annoyance. Why did she have to have such a meddling inner self anyway?
"So you think you're better than me is that it?" Sakura didn't know why it went from her team being weaker than his to her being weaker than him. Infuriating man! She seethed silently.
He raised a thin eyebrow. "Do I even need to answer that?" It was a rhetorical question. Nevertheless, Sakura ripped his sword out of the ground and flung it at him. He merely caught it in one hand, twirling it around and bringing out the other one. The pinkette ripped her rapiers out and, without warning, lunged at him with a murderous expression. The redhead's jade eyes widen a fraction before narrowing as he side-stepped her attack. Letting out a snarl and some choice words, she flipped backwards before flying at him again.
The more he dodged her attacks, the brighter her rage burned. "Would" stab, twirl "You" swing, block, slash "Just" jump, kick "Fucking" dodge, lunge "Hold" duck, slash, roll "Still?!" Sakura hissed while never letting up the onslaught. Her opponent simply continued to aggravate her by evading. He was making it very difficult for her to stab him and appease her anger.
Her breaths came out in short bursts. She could feel exhaustion creeping inside her bones. Fighting this guy twice in one night with only a five minute break had finally caught up to her. She reluctantly admitted to herself that the redhead was definitely a worthy opponent.
Buuut…
She had to win this.
If not for the sake of proving something to him (which she didn't understand why), then it was for her own pride (how could she face her team after this?). The concept of losing steeled her resolve.
Sweat slowly trickled down the back of her neck. She noticed he wasn't even breathing hard yet. He had only taken a couple of steps to dodge her thrusts while she had been dancing all around him, trying, without much success, to plunge her rapiers in him. Sakura briefly wondered if he was purposing annoying her. His face was blank, eyes showing no emotions, so she couldn't be sure.
It suddenly occurred to her as she was flung back from his blow that she was being idiotic. This was the first time she had ever been influenced so strongly by someone since she had fled from the Academy. After escaping that hellhole, the pinkette had sworn to herself to never let another human being have that much control over her life again.
She wasn't weak anymore.
Sakura dug her rapiers into the grass and dirt to slow her momentum as she slid across the ground. Her arms began to tremble from the force before her body finally halted. Panting heavily, she cursed the redhead inside her head. Her emerald orbs traced his handsome face for any sign of weariness. Her heart gave a sharp thud when a single drop of moisture followed the curve of his slender neck.
She swallowed the unexpected impulse to have her tongue mimic the path. What was this man doing to her?
\/\/\/\/\/\/
The rest of the redhead's team had moved out of the way, not wanting to be caught in the cross-fire.
Ino sashayed over to where Shikamaru was leaning against a wall and started rambling on while he yawned and didn't even turn to look at her. Naruto's sky blue eyes lit up as Hinata slowly walked in his direction with a tomato red face. He met her halfway, grinning widely. She blushed redder but tried to follow his sentences and answer without too much stuttering on her part. Tenten eyed the only one left, chocolate eyes wary. He seemed content to just watch the battle between the redhead and the pinkette.
"She's going to lose…" It was a quiet mummer but her trained ears caught it. Sudden anger filled her at his statement. Without conscious thought, Tenten marched over to him and landed a kick to his side. His ever watchful eyes caught the movement a little too late though his body automatically twisted away from the incoming object.
"Don't you ever insult Sakura's skill with her rapiers." The brown haired girl hissed through clenched teeth.
"Hn," was his annoying answer. Tenten jerked a small metal rod out and pressed a tiny button on the bottom. It extended out to its full length of six feet and she swung it at Neji. He ducked, gun flying to the side. Drawing the short sword on his back, the black haired male blocked her next swing.
He didn't know why the girl was attacking him. Defending himself against her advance was proving to be quite the task. She was actually very talented with her metal spear it seemed.
A sudden flash of metal caught Hinata's eye. She saw her brown haired friend circling the one with pale so like her own. The dark haired girl hoped Tenten wouldn't murder the poor guy, but judging from the way he was expertly parrying the blows, he seemed to be able to handle himself.
"Neji defending? That's interesting…" Naruto's voice startled Hinata, making her squeak in surprise. She saw Sakura still going at it with the redhead beyond Tenten's fight.
"N-neji?" She questioned. The blonde nodded.
"They seem to like each other."
She couldn't help the quiet snort from slipping out. Just where the hell did that conclusion come from?
"I do have to agree with you there Naruto."
Hinata shrieked, whirling around and pointing her gun at a silver haired man. A mask covered the lower half of his face and a jagged scar ran vertically down his left eye. He was dressed entirely in black, just like everyone else who was there tonight.
"Easy Hinata. It's just Kakashi." Naruto stepped in front of the newcomer, gently placing a hand on her gun and lowering it. She took a deep breath, heart thundering inside her chest. More and more people kept on showing up and quite frankly she was getting a little terrified. This had never happened before.
If their identies were exposed, she and the rest of her friends would be hunted.
Naruto turned inquiring sky blue eyes on the silver haired man. Kakashi was perched atop a crumbled piece of stone from the house. Or at least Hinata thought it was from the house. Crinkles appeared at the corners of Kakashi's eyes in amusement.
"It also seems like your pink haired friend likes Gaara."
Hinata and Naruto shared a bewildered look. If liking someone meant trying to tear them to itty bitty pieces then yeah, he was right.
"D-don't you t-think we sh-should stop t-them?" Hinata asked, index fingers once again tapping together nervously. The blonde boy glanced at the two ongoing fights while Kakashi pulled out a small orange book, seemingly uninterested. Naruto frowned for a moment then frantically waved at Shikamaru. Ino followed the lazy dark haired boy, still spouting random things as he joined the other three.
Before Naruto could say anything to Shikamaru however, Kakashi disappeared in a blur and showed up behind the redhead. The silver haired man placed a hand on the younger's shoulder with his nose still buried in the orange book. Gaara gave him a glare as he sheathed his weapons, halting the pinkette in her next attack. She watched with disbelief written across her face as they walked away.
Panting, she tightened her hold on her rapiers. Her eyes swept the area in front of her and landed on Tenten's fight. It looked like the two were evenly matched. Sakura debated helping her – if only to forget about her own interrupted fight.
The decision was taken from her when another person appeared. The pinkette gasped quietly when she saw her team's leader laid a hand on Tenten's spear. Tenten looked up at Tsuande with her mouth already open but snapped it closed when the honey eyed woman glared at her. The weapon's mistress nodded reluctantly, stepping back and pressing the button on the bottom of her spear. The metal made a zinging sound as it retracted back to its smaller size of six inches. The brown haired girl returned the weapon to its hidden pocket.
Tsuande looked at Sakura and raised both eyebrows. Not liking the choice, the pinkette sheathed her rapiers before dusting herself off and walking over to her mentor. The older woman nodded then joined the group with both Sakura and Tenten. Sakura eyed Gaara with distaste.
"I assuming you all have questions." Tsuande addressed the whole group while Kakashi closed his beloved orange book, slipping it into his back pocket. Nods mostly came from the females. "And yes, before any of you ask, you are the same."
"What?" Sakura burst out angrily. "You mean you've kept the knowledge that there are others like us out there from us?"
"Like it would have helped you any." The redhead spoke up. Sakura turned blazing green eyes on him.
She held up her thumb and index so there was only a very tiny space between them. "You are this close mister." Gaara smirked, unfazed by her threat.
"Sakura," Tsuande warned. The pinkette growled and turned her head away. The honey eyed leader continued on. "You all might want to be a little nicer to each other."
Tenten stood up. "Why?"
"Because you will be working closely from now on." Kakashi stepped off the crumbling piece of stone, hands stuffed into pockets. Eight pairs of eyes followed him as he went to stand by Tsunade. Tilting his head, he eyed all the youngsters.
Sakura pointed at the male she had fought with earlier. "Give me one good reason why I should." Tenten gestured to the one with pale eyes.
Tsuande glared at her students. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't just ship you back." Both of the angry girls swallowed. The Academy had been harsh, and an experience either wanted to relive again. Once the two settled down, grumbling to themselves, Tsuande addressed the whole group. "I will be keeping in contact with Kakashi. Missions in upcoming future will be completed by the eight of you. No arguments." She held up a hand to stop whatever would be coming out of Sakura and Tenten's mouth.
Kakashi's eyes crinkled. "They all seem to like one another." Protests sprung up from four of the people in front of him. Tsuande shook her head.
"Yeah, sure. Now I need some sake to clear this headache." Kakashi chuckled.
The noise died out pretty quickly as the two leaders separated. Hinata and Ino waved goodbye to the boys before hurrying to catch up with Tsuande. Tenten glared at Neji then walked off as well. Sakura turned to the redhead.
"This isn't over panda." She felt very smug at her new nickname for the redhead. Well, he had black around his eyes. Gaara crossed his arms with a frown.
"Likewise forehead." He smirked when her mouth dropped open. She gritted her teeth and whirled around. One more second and she would've smashed his face in. Just because her forehead was big didn't mean he had to draw attention to it. Even though Ino usually called her billboard brow, the nickname hadn't sounded so…condescending.
Argh! That panda is driving me nuts! The pinkette fumed.
Gaara had watched the pink haired female march away. No one had ever dared to call him panda before. Way wasn't she scared of him? He knew even his teammates held a sliver of fear regarding him.
I will make her coward in fear.
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
Finished! Finally!
Don't worry everyone! I've already started the third chapter so hopefully it won't take nearly as long to update.
I just also wanted to thank all the people who reviewed, favorited, and followed this story. All your names will be put on the next chapter at the end. I really appreciate all the love this fic is getting!
Lightning Mistress