A/N: I forgot something totally important! This is totally and wholly dedicated to my best friend in the entire universe, 12CBlood. I love you Jacky!
Chapter 6: Into the Trap
Tenten, Neji, Naruto, and Hinata came to the HQ at the beckon of Ino and Shikamaru, and all sat in a conference room with Shika, Ino, Masao, and Gaara. The silver haired man entered an hour after everyone, with Tenten yelling at him, "You're late again Kakashi-san!"
He chuckled and sat at the head of the table, watching all of the talented men and women sitting before him. He said to them, "I'm sure you're all aware of the situation at hand in the Sand." His words were met by a collective nod.
"What the hell is it all about?" Naruto called, his arms crossed and his eyes squinted closed.
"We're still not sure yet, Naruto-san," Masao explained, her chin resting in her hand and sighing. Hinata gave her an encouraging smile and she nodded at the blue haired Hyuuga.
Kakashi started up again, "Nevertheless, we still have a job to do tonight. Gaara-kun, you and Masao-kun have a choice whether or not to participate. I'm not going to force either of you." They glanced at each other and came to a silent agreement.
"We'll fight," Gaara replied, his arms crossed over his chest. The eye patch wearing man nodded and stood up, everyone following suit. As he headed for the door he stopped suddenly, tapping his chin and glancing back at the rest of them.
He questioned them, "I just realized something. Where're Sakura and Sasuke?"
Naruto's hand shot into the air, and he called, "They're at the hospital, Kakashi-san! Sakura-chan's got pneumonia, dattebayo!" Everyone else nodded in agreement and the blond added, "Sasuke's determined to stay with her until she's better."
"Well," Neji told him, glancing over his shoulder at the blue eyed boy. "We'll have to do this without them then. Let's go get suited up and ready to go." Shikamaru and Ino headed for the Ops Center and as everyone else left, Gaara grabbed Masao's shoulder and turned her around. She blinked and tilted her head in confusion.
He told her awkwardly, "I'm… sorry about the coffee date, Masao… But, I promise I'll make it up to you. How about this Saturday?" She blushed pink and smiled, giving him a kiss on the cheek. He looked slightly taken aback, and he began to barely smile too.
She told him, "I'll hold you to your word, Gaara-sama, as the future Kazekage. Count on it." They met up with the rest of the Fire Country Seekers in the locker rooms and got changed, preparing for the new set of adversaries to fight against. Masao entered the girls' locker room and changed into her leather pants and vest, and pulled her combat boots on as well. Following Hinata and Tenten out of the room, she pulled her bag with her weapons out of the locker and slammed it shut. The three were given Sakura's vaccine and were sent outside where the boys were waiting.
Neji glanced over them all and declared, "Okay, let's get going then." Soon they were outside on the roof, running at almost reckless speed towards their target vampires. In the headsets, they heard Shikamaru tapping on his precious computer, and muttering to himself as he went.
Finally he spoke to them. "Mendo kusai," he murmured under his breath, not meant to be head by them. Then he said, louder, "All right guys, we're going to break in there with stealth, and take them out quietly. There should be between ten and fifteen." There was a shared concurrence as they all agreed with the plan and began to see the building through the dim lighting. It was one of the larger factories in Konoha, shut down years ago due to 'health violations'. But in veracity, the vampires began recruiting the workers, and the disappearance of the staff is what really shut the plant down.
Neji and Tenten were the first to the top, next to the cliché glass plating all roofs like that had. The brunette had carefully cut a sheet of the glass out and set it aside, and tossing a rope down slid to the floor below. Neji followed after, and then Naruto and Hinata. Masao and Gaara were last, the former going in after the latter, and they stay against the walls, letting the darkness be their veil of protection. "Shikamaru," Naruto whispered into his headset, glancing around the room uncertainly. "I can't see a damn thing!"
But Hinata and Neji could see fine, considering what the Hyuuga family was famous for. Somewhere down the line of evolution, a strange occurrence took place in the Hyuuga genetics, causing not just normal day eyesight, but also nocturnal vision as well. Their white eyes were the proof of the trait, and it always was passed down the family line. The two Hyuuga examined the surrounding area, both beginning to feel anxious. "Shikamaru," Neji said quietly into his microphone. "How many did you say there were?"
"Between ten and fifteen, why?" Without waiting for an answer he did a quick search throughout the building. His eyes opened wide and his hands dropped to his lap. "Ino, tell me if I'm really seeing this, please." Sensing the urgency in his voice, the blonde walked over to the brunet and glanced at the computer screen. Her blue eyes paled in shock, and all of the color drained from her face.
"Oh, shit…" she whispered, gripping the back of his computer chair.
He replied, his eyes narrowed, "I thought so…" Turning back to the main line he yelled, "Get the hell out of there! There are over two hundred fucking vampires in that damn room!"
"What!" Naruto demanded, louder than he should have. The lights suddenly flickered on and the four of them without specialized vision winced at the sudden change in illumination. Glancing around, they saw that Shikamaru was not over exaggerating. Masao pulled out her knives, getting ready to fight, but Tenten put a hand on her shoulder.
She whispered, "This is way too much for us to handle! We have to get out of here before we get killed!" She claret haired girl ignored her and shrugged her hand off. Walking forward with Gaara, the two cold hearted vampire killers readied their weapons.
"Then you four leave," Gaara told them, his arms crossed over his chest, and a large amount of desert sand pouring out from a metal pack on his back. "We've handled more vampires than this alone." Neji shook his head, causing his coconut locks to wave around his head.
He told them severely, "We're a team as of now. I don't give a damn if you're from Suna; you still listen to me as team leader. We're going to leave." Masao snorted and gave him a disbelieving look.
"Do you really think they're just going to quietly let us leave?" He made no reply, her words making sense to him. "No, they'll follow us until we're all dead."
Hinata put a hand to her headset and questioned, "Shikamaru, what's th-the best c-course of a-action?" The man thought very carefully, taking in all sides of the situation, and what the outcomes would be for each variable of each plan. He needed to make sure they could each get a set of their own vampires to take down, so they wouldn't be overwhelmed, but how to do that…?
Then it struck him and he called into the mike, "All right, listen closely and do exactly as I say. Masao, Gaara, in terms of speed you two are the fastest, so you leave first. Then Neji and Tenten, then Hinata and Naruto. Leave in the space of eight seconds, to give the other team a chance to get as far away as possible. Hopefully, most will follow Gaara and leave the slower ones to follow Neji and then Naruto. Masao, Gaara, go when I give the signal. Understand?"
"Yes sir," Naruto told him, watching the amber eyes of the various vampires. They were creepy enough to be sure, and it really didn't help that they were advancing on them like birds of prey.
Suddenly he shouted, "GO!" The two vanished from the ground and up the rope through the ceiling with record speed, and the front line vampires followed after. But, as predicted by Shikamaru, two thirds of the others stayed behind. Exactly eight seconds later Neji and Tenten followed the same route up, taking another third of the monsters with them. Naruto gave Hinata a boyish grin, boosting her determination, and she smiled back, counting the seconds. Six… seven… eight! They flew up the rope with the rest of the leeches following, and out back into the cold air that December offered. White dust met them outside and it was obvious that the other two teams had done a good job.
Hinata took a deep breath and shot behind her, taking out a good number of vampires from the position. Naruto began acting strange, his eyes amber and his skin abnormally pale. His canines were longer than they should have been, and she recognized these as vampiric traits. Kyuubi was peeking through the blond boy. "N-Naruto-kun, be c-careful!" He nodded at her and killed a few more that managed to catch up to them. "Sh-Shikamaru? H-How long do w-we have to keep this u-up for?" There was no reply from him, and Hinata frowned, wondering what on earth could be going on.
"Damn it!" Shikamaru cursed furiously, pounding on his keyboard. Nothing seemed to work, and the headset was somehow offline, preventing him from communicating with any of the eight of them. Something gave and a shock pulsed through the monitors, causing one of the already spastic screens to burst. Tuesdays just weren't his day it seemed. He turned to see back away from a sparking computer, a frightened look on her face. "Ino, get out of here! All of the electronics are on the fritz and you might get hurt!"
She called back, "Not without you Shika! Get away from those damn computers for once! There's nothing you can do!" The blonde reached her hand out to him, and he mumbled angrily under his breath.
"No Ino!" Shikamaru told her firmly, putting his foot down for the first time in a long while. "I can shut the computers down which would stop them from getting any worse!" Tears poured down her cheeks in worry and he sighed, taking her hand and going out of the room with her. This is the only way it seems. Mendo kusai! Women are so troublesome! "I'm sorry Ino," he whispered to her, turning on heel and running back into the Ops Center. He shut and locked the door, and she stared through the glass at him, water still falling from her azure eyes.
"Shikamaru!" she screamed, pounding on the glass with her fist. "You bastard! Get out of there right now!" A fire had started inside as a result of the sparks flying from the broken screen, and she could see him struggling to get around the flames to the main power box. "Shikamaru you baka what are you doing!" He could hear her frantic shouts through the glass, and noted dryly that she had a big mouth to be able to get through as thick a material as that. Someone hacked into the entire computer system, he noticed when the smoke sensitive waterworks didn't automatically soak him down when the computers began to act up. A thought struck him and he hopped onto his personal network, much to Ino's dismay. "ARE YOU CRAZY! Get away from the fucking computer Shikamaru!"
Ignoring her, he downloaded the codes of all the computers that had been on his network, and printed them out. Taking the paper and tucking it away into his pocket, he reached out for the power switch. Another monitor burst and he jumped back to avoid the shower of embers that emanated from the now broken screen. He reached out and pushed the switch down, causing all of the electricity to stop flowing to the cables. The door suddenly opened as the sprinklers turned on, and the purple clad woman stumbled in. "Ino…" he mumbled, watching run up to him.
"You're the smartest idiot I know," she whispered, hugging him tightly as the water stifled the flames, causing her blonde hair to stick to her skin like plaster. "Don't you ever worry me like that again you… you…" She couldn't think of a good name to call him, so she just hugged him tighter. Shikamaru sighed and patted her back awkwardly, trying to calm her down.
"C'mon, let's get out of here," he told her, smiling slightly and leading the distressed woman out of the charred room. She sniffed and followed, allowing him to place his hand on the small of her back to help her go.
…:oOo:…
Tenten was still shocked at how well the two worked together. It seemed that Gaara and Masao were the perfect team, complimenting another's moves and practically reading each other's minds. Even under these circumstances, everything seemed to go perfectly for them. But she couldn't follow them as they continued on down the dark alley, having her own issues on her hands, as well as helping Neji. "Good luck you two," she called. Masao nodded at her in response, as the brunette vanished from her sight.
"Gaara-sama, it seems there are a good sixty rounded up behind us." He shook his head and watched his partner closely, causing her to cock an eyebrow in wait.
Gaara told her, almost hesitantly, "Masao… you don't have to follow me on this. I mean… if you're not up to it…" She laughed heartily and patted his shoulder, speeding ahead of him and taking out her throwing knives.
She told him, her eyes oddly soft, "I would never abandon you Gaara-sama. Ever. You mean more to me than anything in this world." As she turned around, he felt a strange, hot feeling building up in his cheeks. It took him a moment before he realized he was blushing slightly. It was a foreign concept to him, but the look in her eyes made he feel… warm inside. He shook his head, and followed after her, his sand swirling around him.
He knew that they'd be outnumbered, and he knew that their friends couldn't do it alone. But Masao was too stubborn to let the Fire Country ANBU do it by themselves, not when she was perfectly healthy and able to give them a hand. He watched her use her quick momentum to run up the side of a building and followed suit, glancing back for a moment to eye the dozens of vampires following behind. Each of them kept vanishing little by little as Neji, Tenten, Hinata, and Naruto took out the various stragglers. He wished Sakura was all right, so she and the anxious Sasuke could be there to help. But the Uchiha blatantly refused to leave the medical ward's side, even for an instant, to make sure her pneumonia got better.
Masao stopped at the top, her knives twirling between her fingers and smirking contentedly. "This is what life's all about, ne, Gaara-sama?" He stopped before her and nodded, facing the first few inhumans that crawling over the side. She ran over and slid under the first one, stabbing him in the back and turning to look at the next one. She threw her blade at him and it flew straight through it into another one. She flipped forwards and grabbed the knife from the roof, stabbing behind herself without even looking at the vampire she knew was there.
Meanwhile, Gaara had sent his vampirically controlled sand after the next few, the grains wrapping around their torsos and crushing them. More climbed up and over, only to be crushed and stabbed by the two partners. Masao stuck her hand out and he grabbed it as she tossed him into the air, and as she leapt after him they knocked away all of the leeches that jumped after. Suddenly, he glanced at her, and she coughed up blood, looking shocked. He glanced around her and saw that she had been stabbed with a set of wakizashi in her stomach, the man still hanging from them. With blind fury, he practically flew over and punched the man in the face, and soon after crushed him with his sand.
The redhead hit the ground and caught the woman, falling to his knees and watching her face. Wincing slightly, she pulled the steel from herself and tossed them aside, standing up shakily. "Masao, you're in no condition to fight!" he scolded, reaching out to her.
She glanced back at him and sighed. "Maybe not to fight, but I can still protect you, and fulfill my contract, ne? Protect you until my very last breath." Gaara tried to protest, but the look on her face stopped him. Her eyes opened wide and she ran towards him, and, pushing him aside. Things seemed to move in slow motion for him, as he watched helplessly while she was bombarded with throwing knives. She wobbled slightly on her feet, groaning in pain, tears building up in her death-induced, foggy eyes.
"Masao," he breathed, watching her in shock. He couldn't move, he was completely frozen. Again she jumped in front of him, blocking more attacks of bullets, knives and other small projectiles. All fighting seemed to stop as she fell to her knees before Gaara, gulping slightly.
"Hey… you okay… Gaara-sama?" she questioned, watching him with worried eyes. Crimson liquid dripped down her skin and pooled on the smooth surface of the roof, staining her clothing and her hair. She coughed violently and spat more up that drizzled down her chin. "I couldn't just… sit by and let you… get hurt now could I?" He reached out to her as she tried to get up and walk over to him, but she just collapsed into his arms. The female Seeker examined her wounds, taking in the damage that had been done. "I believe this is fatal… We'll never have our coffee date Gaara-sama…"
"What are you talking about! You're not going to die, Masao!" he yelled, holding her close and trying not to injure her body even more. Tears dripped down her face and she smiled softly, her silvery eyes losing their normal, lively gleam.
"Hinata was right," she whispered, smiling bitter sweetly. "I do love you…"
He screamed uncontrollably, "No! You're not gonna die!" She chuckled slightly, and scanned his tearing green eyes with an ironic smile. She sighed, and grinned.
"I was always letting you down… wasn't I?" she asked, tilting her head slightly. His face, he noted absently, was inches from hers, and a single drop of water slid down his cheek. Oh Masao… he thought sadly, closing his eyes. You never… ever… let me down. In fact… I always let you down… didn't I? He could feel her shaking lips near his as a vision of her sitting alone at the coffee shop floated through his mind. …sorry for that…Masao… He gently captured her mouth with his own, softly holding her face in his hands. As her lips parted from his, her eyes didn't open again, and she fell limp in his arms.
He set her down gingerly on the ground, and glared up at the remaining vampires that looked on. They all gulped with terror as he stood up, holding his fist in the air as he wrapped his sand, and newly found sand created from minerals in the dirt, around the remaining thirty or so vampires, crushing them instantly in a fit of controlled anger.
The four Fire Country ANBU caught up to where they knew Gaara to be, and climbed the building with ease. Tenten and Naruto were first, spotting the redhead surrounded by enormous piles of ashes. He was shaking and was hunched over something. Tenten knew something was instantly wrong, and started to run over, only to have her arm grabbed by Neji. "Wait, Tenten," he told her, and reached for Naruto but was unable to stop him in time. He stopped behind Gaara and stopped, seeing with horror what he was cradling.
The Seeker had tears falling rapidly down his cheeks, holding Masao close to his body. His eyes were unfocused and wild, like he couldn't concentrate on anything. "G-Gaara?" Naruto breathed, reaching a hand out to the red-haired Seeker. He made no reply, the man didn't even move from the spot. The blond turned and saw Neji, Tenten, and Hinata walking over to them looking concerned.
"W-what's… what's wrong N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked, walking over. Her eyes widened at the sight, and she put a hand to her mouth. "Oh… oh no!" Neji hugged a sobbing Tenten, feeling grateful that she was there right then, and watched Gaara with a sad expression on his face. Naruto shook furiously, grinding his teeth together in his anger. Gaara didn't worry who was there right then, all that mattered to him with the limp body in his arms. That's all that he cared about. He knew nothing could bring her back from the dead, nothing. But he continued to sit there, Masao's corpse cuddled close to his chest, his heart wrenching cries echoing into the night.
…:oOo:…
"He hasn't eaten much of anything in five days," Tenten told the cured Sakura, shaking her head in worry. The pink haired woman glanced to Sasuke who gave her a half smile, trying to reassure himself as well as her. Gaara had come back with the woman in his arms, unmoving, and Sakura had immediately jumped on the case when she was released from the hospital, making Gaara stay in his room. She hadn't told anyone about her progress, if any, and she was only here now on a short break.
She sighed. "Well, I'll see you two later, okay? Back to work." She stood up and the two of them nodded, Tenten leaving but Sasuke lingering behind for a moment. The rose haired girl glanced at him for a moment, and tilted her head. "Hai, Sasuke-kun?"
"Uh," he said, slightly flustered, and feeling awkward, "good luck, Sakura." She blinked and then smiled at him. Walking over, she kissed his cheek lightly and exited the room with a wave. A blush coated his cheeks as he watched her go, feeling slightly reassured, but about what he didn't know. He continued to watch the doorway long after she left, and Hinata had entered. She watched his distracted expression with concern.
"S-Sasuke? Are you o-okay?" He snapped out of his reverie and glanced at the white eyed girl for a moment before smiling slightly.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for asking Hinata." The blue haired girl pulled a small slice of pizza from the fridge and then turned back to the Uchiha, contemplating. He watched her tentatively for a moment as she decisively chewed a bit of the food, and then cocked an eyebrow. "Uh, can I help you?"
"Oh!" She blushed and turned away, pressing her forefingers together in a nervous gesture. "Ano, it's j-just that… I-I've n-noticed you've been getting a-along better with S-Sakura…" He shrugged and sat down in one of the metal chairs that sat at the counter, running a hand through his black hair. She sat next to him and bit off a tiny piece, then glanced back. "She… She really l-likes you, you know…"
"What do you mean, Hinata?" he questioned, giving her a strange look. She blushed darker, and turned her gaze to the rug below them.
"W-well, that is to say," she started, trying to find the right words. Taking a deep breath she began again, "Y-you see… Sakura seems t-to have developed… a c-crush on you." He felt a blush form across his cheeks and nose and watched Hinata like she was crazy. She saw his expression and biting her lip, told him quickly, "I-I'm not sure Sasuke. I-It j-just seems like that t-to me."
He told her, as if he was speaking to a mentally challenged child, "Sakura has barely come to terms with me, Hinata. Why would she have anything other than an unstable… partnership with me?"
"B-because you've h-helped h-her through s-so many th-things… Like the pneumonia, and you s-seem to t-trust her m-more than you d-do most p-people." She was right, more than she even knew. He told the pink haired medic about his plans for revenge, something he hadn't told anyone before that moment. There was something about Sakura that was so enticing to him, that he couldn't explain it even to himself. Yes, he had hated her. Hated her for saving him when he was too arrogant to admit that he might need someone's help, he hated her for trying to understand him, he hated her for getting to close to him and making him spill his guts about what he was planning. He hated all of that about her, yet that's also what he loved about her.
The Uchiha told the Hyuuga, "I hate her, Hinata. I hate her and everything she's done to me." He clenched his fists and glared at the tiles of the kitchen floor, trying to hide the truth for her observing eyes.
"No… y-you don't," she amended, smiling at him. He blinked and she left the room, running after Naruto as he passed the area. He shook his head and shifted uncomfortably in his seat, trying to understand the slightly confusing dialogue that passed between himself and the shy girl. Sasuke was too resolute to admit that he had a growing respect for Sakura, and everything she's done for him and for the rest of the team. She was a powerful asset, and a great friend, someone reliable that he could trust. But also his rival, not as much as Naruto was, but along the same lines. He frowned, annoyed and leaned back in his chair. As Shikamaru would say, this was extremely troublesome.
Even if his stubborn, arrogant mind didn't want to admit it, Sasuke's honest, straightforward heart knew he was falling for the intelligent, beautiful, somewhat annoying Haruno Sakura.