SasuNaru, Yaoi, M-preg, OOC and unbeta-read (forgive me for this)
Standard disclaimer applies
I am wondering whether I should start distributing boxes of tissue or start looking for some place to hide. -smiles-
Chapter 19: The shadow of death
Yuuzuki knew his presence at the Hokage tower was expected because it had became his habit to visit there to watch his chichiue giving orders or admire the feral masks some ninjas wore at times but he couldn't get his eyes off from the gate that led outside.
He always wondered what lies beyond the concrete walls around his village and had asked these to his parents and even to his uncles and all he got was the same answer: bad guys. However, he didn't believe them so he had planned to go outside and see for himself.
He had come up with a plan. It was a very simple plan and it had been used in the old times that it might not be effective. But being the genius that he was, he reasoned out that it was because of its overuse that nobody expects anyone to use it anymore.
Yuuzuki took out the cat he had caught from the box and left him behind the bushes but not before making sure that the cat was entangled with its branches.
The guard on duty immediately tensed when he noticed the bushes across him started moving and when he heard an unfamiliar noise coming from that same spot, he looked at his side to ask his partner to go check the place. Unfortunately, he remembered that his partner had excused himself to empty his bladder. Grumbling, he immediately created a clone of himself and ordered his clone to stay while he himself would check whatever the noise.
Yuuzuki was not fazed with the appearance of the clone as he had already read it from the scrolls a few months ago and was even expecting it. Grinning, and with a stealth that was born within every mischievous child started making his way outside.
"Mission accomplished!" he muttered under his breath as he rushed forward, letting his adventurous side led him. He let his eyes wander around him, taking in all the natural beauty that was hidden by the village walls unveiled before his eyes. He counted the birds that his gaze landed on, taking note of its color so he could tell his parents about it. He let his lungs be filled with the cool fresh air that could only be present in the forest. He let his hands glide the wide tree trunks and played the wild grasses growing around. And when he grew tired, he decided to go home. However, he realized that he could no longer find his way back and panic started rising within him, bringing tears to his eyes.
He almost jumped when he heard someone drawled, "Are you lost, young man?" He whipped around only to find a man smiling at him and he immediately regarded him as his savior. He nodded immediately.
"Come on then, I'll take you back to Konoha village." The man mentally grinned as he noticed the symbol at the back of Yuuzuki's shirt. He knew who his parents were and he thought the boy was a perfect ransom. In no time, he would have Konoha's important information and his group would gain a lot of profit from selling the information they had. Thinking like this, he stifled his urge to laugh victoriously.
Yuuzuki beamed and walked towards the stranger. So relieved was he that he never even bothered to doubt the man, much less question his intentions. He followed him and as minutes ticked by, Yuuzuki was now disturbed. His instincts told him that he was drifting farther from his home.
"Mister, I think this is not the path to the village," he said, worry evident in his voice.
"A kid who got lost should not say that," the stranger replied in a manner that the younger boy didn't like.
Doubting and fearing the man, Yuuzuki started coming up with a plan to escape. Halfway through, he realized that they were no longer alone. There were other men too and they were all grinning at him like he was their food.
His 'savior' then looked at him devilishly and with a manic grin he glared at Yuuzuki, "You better be obedient, son or I'm going to kill you!"
Fear completely gripped Yuuzuki in its cold grasp and all he could do was to nod his head numbly.
Otousan, chichiue, save me.
- SasuNaru is love -
"Is there something wrong, Naruto-sama?" Konohamaru asked when Naruto seemed to freeze instantly in his chair. He almost panic when he saw that his big brother's face seemed to contort in pain while a tanned hand grasp the part of his robe just above his heart.
"I think I'm okay," he said, trying to calm down his suddenly aching heart and get rid of the knot that made breathing difficult. "Yuuzuki… where is he anyway?"
"Now that you mention him, he's 35 minutes late." Konohomaru frowned as he thought it was strange for Yuuzuki to be late in his visits.
Unable to stop himself from worrying, Naruto let his chakra spread all throughout the village even if such process was energy-draining. He never let his chakra spare any corners or alleys or even any place where hiding was possible as he search for a familiar chakra. When he didn't felt it, he remained calm, despite the fear that was now welling within him and search again. When he failed once more, he clenched his fists ignoring the pain he felt as his nails dug into his palm.
"Raidoh!" Naruto called and in an instant there was a 'poof' as Raidoh appeared. "Ask the guards on duty if they let anybody pass by or if they left their post."
Sensing the tension of the atmosphere and the aura the Rokudaime was emanating, the ninja just nodded before he disappeared just as Neji stepped inside the room.
"Naruto, I sensed your chakra. What is wrong?" From the way his blond friend was looking, Neji knew it had to be bad.
Before the blonde could answer, Udon burst inside carrying a small scroll.
"Naruto-sama, Raidoh-san asked me to give this to you. He said this was drop by an eagle."
The hokage took it and looked at its crest – the kanji of dragon within a circle, sealing the scroll. He knew the symbol belonged to one of the fiercest and cruelest groups of bandits and he ripped the letter open.
"Fucking assholes!" he hissed as he slammed the paper on his table making the other three ninja jumped more in fear than surprise because it was very seldom for Naruto to used crude words much more say it in a voice full of contempt and barely restrained fury.
Konohamaru stepped forward and read the letter aloud for the benefit of Udon as Neji had already activated his byakugan.
"Most honorable Rokudaime, your time to choose between your village and your beautiful boy had arrived. If your child is more important to you I expect confidential information about Konoha in exchange of his freedom by midnight. Any suspicious movements will be seen as an attack and Yuu-chan will die. See the map below for the meeting place. If it's the latter, our wall can accommodate another lovely decoration. It has been a common opinion among us that Yuu-chan's head is perfect to adorn our lovely home. We could send his headless body to you as soon as possible. Respectfully yours, Ryuuou"
"I'm going to get my team ready as well as Shino's," Neji immediately announced coldly.
"No need to do that," Naruto whispered harshly. And if they didn't know their hokage's character perfectly, they'd thought he had completely chosen the village over his child.
"I'll go save him."
"But Naruto-sama," Udon interjected, "that would put your life in danger. Why don't you let the ANBU do it?" The younger lad couldn't help but shudder as he found himself under Naruto's red cat-like eyes.
"Because my son expects me to save him."
"Then let my team accompany you, Naruto. In that way, we could eliminate any threat to your person," Neji suggested but his friend shook his head. "Neji, although a village attack from the group is unlikely, just to be on the safe side gather all the ANBU guards who are in this village and inform them of Code A-1."
"Code A-1 it is then," Neji repeated in acknowledgement.
"I want you to oversea the whole thing," Naruto continued then he looked at his other two subordinates, "Don't alert anybody else. Tell Ino that I'll come for Akemi-chan as soon as I can."
"What about plan B?" Konohamaru asked, knowing the older man always had a plan B. Heck, even plan C if the situation calls for it.
Naruto smiled wryly, "There's no need for plan B." He was about to reach for the doorknob when the door swung open admitting Sasuke and his team who had just arrived from a mission.
Sasuke frowned as he noticed the suffocating tension hanging in the office and he frowned more when he noticed Naruto's red eyes.
"Naruto,-"he was cut off as Naruto placed his forehead against Sasuke's chest, silently seeking an assurance. He heard more than felt Naruto taking a big gulp of air before he whispered, "Yuuzuki is being held ransom by Ryuu faction."
Upon hearing this, Sasuke stood rooted to ground, his blood running cold before it flared once more painting his eyes in crimson red. Instantly, he squeezed Naruto's hand in a silent comfort because he knew his wife needed it very much.
"I'm going to save him," Naruto whispered before he brushed past him. He didn't ask Sasuke to come with him nor ordered him to stay. He left it for his spouse to decide.
Without a moment of hesitation, Sasuke tossed their mission report and objective to Hiko before he ripped his porcelain mask from his face and ran after his blonde. He was going to make sure those assholes would pay while staring at the face of terror and death.
- SasuNaru is love -
The two bandits guarding the entrance were killed even before they could sense the presence of the intruders.
Calm down, Naruto told himself over and over again as he felt the brash side of him just wanted to assault the group head-on and see them suffer as he drained their lives. It was more gratifying that way especially when mental images of his enemies' corpse seemed to make the idea tempting but Naruto knew he couldn't risk his son's life. He and Sasuke moved again after taking out five more bandits in the hallway.
It took three more bodies before the Ryuu faction noticed that there were intruders. By then, the Uchiha couple had located Yuuzuki who was in the deeper part of the forest with more bandits.
"Otousan! Chichiue!" Yuuzuki cried out in relief as he saw his parents. It didn't matter to him that there was a knife pressed against his throat because somehow, he firmly believed in his parents.
"Let him go," Sasuke growled, his sharingan spinning almost out of control. The man who was holding their son captive just smirked. Already impatient, Sasuke moved like a black wind and in the next instant, he now had his son between him and Naruto. The dark-haired ninja gave Ryuuou his superior smirk.
Ryuuou was either a fool or so confident that he wasn't fazed. How could he be when he had the two ninjas completely outnumbered and surrounded? How could he be so stupid to underestimate these two ninjas who seemed to become the devil himself when they found themselves or their precious persons in danger? The leader made a nod and his men moved for a simultaneous attack.
Taking Yuuzuki with him, Sasuke flipped in the air together with Naruto. The two separated in mid-air, dividing the men.
"Stay here. Don't show yourself," Sasuke ordered his son before he left him behind a boulder to join the fight.
But being the curious child that he was and wanting to see his parents kick ass, Yuuzuki decided to take a peek. Ryuuou saw his head and chuckled before moving to stand few paces behind the Uchiha brat. What these two ninjas didn't know was that he had learned some tricks from some of the missing-nins he had befriended. With his hands moving in speed, he quickly formed the seal for a ninjutsu.
"Fire release: Grand fireball technique" he uttered.
And in the din caused by the clashes, Sasuke and Naruto didn't hear those words. They didn't even notice that he had formed the seal. It was only when the fire appeared that they had paused from the battle to look at where the attack was headed to. Their bodies instantly moved before their mind could even think of moving but it seemed Yuuzuki was so far and that they were moving so slow because they knew they couldn't make it.
Yuuzuki, on the other hand, whirled around and fear reflected in his eyes as he saw the flame moving quickly towards him. And in his fright, he found his eyes so hot that he felt like they were burning. He rubbed them with the back of his hand and to his amazement he began to see everything in red and moving in slow motion. But even then he couldn't tell his body which had been frozen in terror to duck the attack. He screamed as fire engulfed him.
"YUUZUKIIIIII…"
His parents' terror-filled scream cut through the air. All color drained from Sasuke's face as he stared at the scene in front of him. His child was being burned to death, his mind registered that fact but he couldn't do anything but watch. He continued watching while his mind curled around the fact that he had lost someone again. What was the point of having so much power when he couldn't even protect his child?
Naruto shook his head in disbelief as he watched what was unfolding in front of him. He just couldn't believe it. Words of denials leapt through his mind, pushing back any dreadful or morbid thoughts. A part of him wondered why he was still alive when his heart had already stopped beating a moment ago. Tears sprang into his eyes and it took all of his control to stop himself from falling to the ground.
The leader grinned triumphantly and he threw his head to laugh when the flame engulfing Yuuzuki burst to form a pillar before it changed to an image of a fox. Everybody gaped more at the sudden image than at the boy's silhouette, totally entranced by the clear details of the figure.
Yuuzuki then lifted his right arm sideward and the flame-fox immediately became a rope of flame spiraling around his raised arm then evaporating into nothing when it reached the tips of his fingers. Finally, Yuuzuki opened his eyes revealing a single tomoe on both his eyeballs and he was now sporting the Uchiha smirk.
The Uchiha couple heaved a sigh of relief although they still didn't completely understand what happened to Yuuzuki. There was no time to think about it because they were still in their enemies' presence. Sasuke moved towards their child as the battle resumed. Although they could see that Yuuzuki was fine, the anger the two were feeling even intensified. Punishment and then finally death were the only things that awaited these pricks.
And what was once a battle had turned into a grotesque massacre as the two ninjas had subconsciously decided to let this incident not be a threat but a warning to anybody who decided to mess up with them.
Never leaving Yuuzuki's side, Sasuke formed the seals of flame ninjutsu, showing Ryuuou that his attack was nothing compared to his. He burned anybody who was beyond his arms' reach to crisp or let his snakes slay them and mercilessly killed any bandit who was within his reach. He was like a killing machine with his body moving in precision and all his limbs working in perfect coordination. Seeing that the leader was sneaking away, Sasuke let his summoned snake eat him alive. It was a lousy punishment, he mused, but it would do.
In his anger, Naruto had grown two more tails but instead of attacking directly, he slammed his hands on the ground and in a second, tree roots and vines angrily spurted out from the soil like they had their own lives and they glinted in their abnormal sharpness. Seeing these, the remaining bandits screamed in fear and scattered around, trying to save their own hide but they could no longer escape. There was only option left for them: death. No matter where they hide, these spawn-of-the-devil objects always found them. In the end, they were either being stabbed or strangled or tortured to death.
In morbid fascination, Yuuzuki stared at the scene as his fathers made it rain with blood. And watching his parents like this made him shiver because subconsciously he acknowledged that they were more dangerous than the bandits that he had met.
When it was over and both of them calmed down, Sasuke looked at his son. "Are you okay?"
Before the boy could answer, Naruto whirled him around and slapped him.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?" both ninjas burst out in unison. Sasuke asked Naruto while the latter asked their son who immediately cowered in fear. In the next second, Yuuzuki found himself in the arms of his chichiue and he could hear the loud beating of his heart. From it, he could tell that his father was scared too.
"You're safe now," Naruto whispered softly, "no one's going to harm you." Hearing these words being said in a gentle voice was like a lullaby and Yuuzuki can't stop himself from leaning against that warm familiar chest. For the first time since his ordeal, he found himself wailing while clutching his father's bloody robe.
Naruto threw Sasuke an apologetic look and in reply the latter just gave him a soft smile.
TBC
So, do you guys still want to poke me with your big and dull forks? Sorry, if I mislead you into thinking of something else. But hey, there was a small display of the new Uchiha blondline and random killing too. Just a warning though, it's not yet over. Honest!
Next chapter summary: Naruto realized that after the incident, Yuuzuki was drifting away from them. What's going on, Yuuzuki?