A/N: First of all, I'm (once again…) so sorry for it taking so damn long for me to update! I've been swamped off by my summer job again. (groans a bit) But hey, at least the chapter is now finally here! (cheers loudly)
At first, thank you from the very bottom of my heart for those fantastic reviews! (huggles) You can't even imagine what miracles they'd done to my inspiration – thank you! As you've probably come to notice, the responses to reviews appear to your e-mail from now on. But if you've sent anonymous review, worry not – the response is on its usual spot.
Okay, I've already made you wait for horrendously long, so let's just get going, yeah? I really hope you'll enjoy chapter six!
/ I see you
Cause you won't get out of my way
I hear you
Cause you won't quit screaming my name
I feel you
Cause you won't stop touching my skin
I need you
There coming to take you away /
(Breaking Benjamin; "Away")
A pair of silver-coloured eyes watched on with pity, amusement and some disgust while the village spreading before them slowly prepared for a brand new day, blissfully unaware of the shadows inching closer.
Such calmness before storm…
The eyes turned to right when a slightly wavering figure appeared. Eyebrow bounced high up towards hairline that was hidden by a hood. " Now you certainly don't seem healthy, even with your mask on."
It was easy to tell that Madara's eyes were blocks of ice when darting towards the voice. " I'm perfectly fine." The man also turned his eyes towards Konoha. " Is everything set?"
Fabric sighed when there was a nod. " Of course. What else did you expect when assigning me to take care of things? I'm not one of those fools you've managed to find."
Madara shrugged. " They may be easily persuaded, but they're also strong and needed." The man then growled, and his figure could be seen wavering even worse than before. " The connection is breaking. Can I trust you to take care of things?"
It was very hard to fight away a snarl of irritation. " Of course. Now go – I don't want to see you that weak, especially now of all times."
Without saying a word, the man disappeared as though he'd been nothing but a fragment of imagination. In just a blink, there was no one stood on the rocks.
CHAPTER 6: Away
From the very beginning, Sasuke had expected that the route to getting his strength back after having been laying in bed for weeks wouldn't be easy. But never had he expected the work to be this hard.
How the hell could he have let himself become this weak?!
Naruto, on the other hand, didn't seem to mind the slow pace at all, showed no signs of impatience or giving up. Blue eyes watched with firmly focused gleam when he took yet another wobbling step, using all his willpower into not crumbling down when his legs trembled mercilessly. " That's right, teme… Slowly and steadily. Take one step at a time."
He shot a brief, half-hearted glare towards the blonde, feeling a single drop of sweat run down his forehead. " Shut it, dobe."
He should've known it'd be a mistake to let his concentration slip. It took his all to not growl when his legs made a very ungraceful dip, and he started to fall with nothing to grab on to.
But he never hit the floor, because a pair of arms wrapped firmly around him, steadying him up with such firmness that there was no way he could've slipped away from the hold.
Had he not been so focused on the shudder his body made against Naruto's touch, he would've found it amusing how their roles had changes from the days of their early teenage. Almost instinctively, he tried to squirm away. " Hands off."
The blonde didn't seem to pay too much attention. " How many freaking times do you have to be told to take it easy?" He was almost sure it was thick worry he heard. " Damnit, Sakura-chan's gonna kill me when she finds out about this."
He groaned. " Well, she's never going to find out. And I'm fine, so let go before I'll have to make you."
Very slowly, Naruto's hands started to move – but instead of letting go, the Uzumaki scooped him scarily effortlessly into his arms.
He growled loudly, glaring at the other. " What the hell do you think you're doing?"
He was pretty sure the blush on Naruto's cheeks was his imagination. " What does it look like? Taking you to bed, teme. There's no way you could walk another step on your own, so stop struggling and let me help, okay? Stop making this so damn hard. I don't like this any more than you do."
What they would've never admitted to themselves was that they were far less reluctant to touch than they claimed.
-
Neither noticed that the room's door was inched ever so slightly, and Sakura was peering at them through the gap. There was a huge grin upon her face.
" You know, Lee-kun…", she whispered to the boy stood behind her, careful to be so quiet she wouldn't disturb the couple inside. " It looks like Sasuke-kun's got everything he needs right now. We can go to that date earlier than expected."
That extremely early morning, Neji surprised himself with having nightmares for a first time in very, very long.
He found himself from pitch black depths, with no air left in his lungs, gasping desperately as he felt some horrendous force pulling him down towards depths he couldn't see just yet. All the while he was sinking the thick, unbearably heavy water around him kept getting colder until it seemed to seize all life inside him.
He was just about to give in, when he suddenly saw a pale, almost white hand that glowed alluringly against all darkness. After hesitating for a second, the hand started to reach out for him.
It was at that moment the water and darkness disappeared, and air flooded mercilessly back into his lungs. His eyes flying wide open to greet sunrays and a filthy roof of some inn, he sucked in hungry breaths, ridiculously relieved to be able to breathe and wake up. Very faintly, he could hear a thud when the book he'd been reading before falling asleep fell from his grasp.
His chaotic mess of thoughts sorted out ever so slightly when he heard muffled sounds coming from the bed not too far from his. Frowning, he turned his gaze and felt a small stab inside when finding Gaara having yet another nightmare. The redhead wasn't tossing and turning, most definitely not screaming, but completely stiff face and furrowed eyebrows accompanied by those sounds were well enough of proof for him.
After having witnessed such an occurrence for several times already, he didn't hesitate when getting off the bed and sauntering to Gaara's. From experience knowing that no amount of words would be able to wake the redhead, he placed one hand lightly to the other's shoulder instead before he even realized what he was doing. In a matter of seconds, the village leader's sleep-clouded eyes snapped open and one fist balled, ready to strike. Very soon, however, the haze faded and tight fist unclenched. He knew to translate the heavy sigh that came as 'thank you'.
Feeling oddly reluctant to do so, he removed his hand and started to walk away. " I'm going to find us some breakfast. I think we should get going as soon as we've eaten." As he left the room, he didn't dare to glance over his shoulder to find out if he was simply imagining that Gaara's gaze was following him.
-
Gaara stared at the closed door for several moments until he finally managed to will his muscles to move and pushed himself out of the bed.
He needed a cold shower.
While she sat in an extremely uncomfortable chair in a room that felt unhealthily small, inhaling air that held a scent of death, the main feeling inside Izumi was utter disgust.
The rather old-sounding man stood before her – Danzou, she knew – breathed out aura of revulsion, just like every time he talked to her. " I'm asking you again." His voice shuddered with nearly exploding wrath. " What are your alliances to Kirigakure?"
She growled, feeling fury seeping towards surface. " How many times do I have to tell you?! I have no connections to that place!"
" That's not what our tests tell." She could feel him lean closer, for his scent slapped her right against the face. " Tell me, brat… Who is Hajime's father?"
She found all air and warmth leave her, and fought her hardest to keep herself from gasping.
But before she ever had to reply, the room's door was opened. In a moment a surprisingly soft voice spoke. " I'm sorry to interrupt, but she's got a visitor. And we're afraid he'll tear apart the entire place if we won't let him see her."
Danzou's defeated groan gave her a chilling sensation of pleasure. " Fine. But we'll carry on in half an hour."
She slapped away the hand that reached out to help her walk, knowing that the seemingly kind gesture would only be a way to entrap her.
They walked for surprisingly long until she finally heard a familiar voice snarl. " … won't calm down until you let me see her! She's no prisoner – you have no right to keep her locked up in here like some animal!"
She blinked. " Kankuro?"
It took a moment before there was a response, she could tell he scanned her body for signs of any injuries. " Are you alright?" the boy finally asked.
She couldn't help but smile at the tone of worry in his voice. " I'm fine." The smile, however, faded rather quickly. " It's Hajime I'm worried about. He's too small to understand this."
She could feel air move along with Kankuro's hand, but before he could ever do whatever it was he'd planned a voice she knew extremely well interrupted him. " Mommy!"
At first she was too stunned to react in any way whatsoever. When she finally wrapped her arms around Hajime and pulled her son as close as humanly possible, only the fact that there were people she considered enemies present kept her from bursting into tears of utter joy. " Oh baby, I missed you so much", she whispered, so quietly that the others couldn't hear. After a moment, she managed to compose herself enough to ask. " Are you alright? Did these people hurt you?" It was in moments like this she would've wished more than anything that she could've seen, to make sure with her own two eyes her son was unharmed.
" I'm okay", the child whispered back, holding on surprisingly tightly. " Missed you too."
The one who'd brought her here spoke all of a sudden. " He'll be staying with you from now on – he's been quite a handful for us."
After taking a deep breath, she glanced towards the direction in which she assumed the others were. " How is this possible?"
" You have a very powerful friend. For some reason Tsunade-sama was quite fiery to have this arrangement."
She frowned with confusion, but didn't ask a thing, knowing that there wouldn't be a response.
" Your five minute's up", an extremely gruff voice announced.
She heard a small snuffle when feet were moved. " Well… I suppose I'll get going", Kankuro stated in a voice she didn't remember hearing from him before.
In a spur a moment, she called out. " Kankuro, wait." Reaching out, she met something soft that twitched and smiled. " Thank you, for visiting. It means a lot to me."
The thing her hand was on moved ever so slightly, almost like wanting to grab. " No problem." Her hand fell when he started to walk away. " I'll come and check up on you again as soon as I can, 'k? And I'll stay for longer than five minutes."
Smile never leaving her face, she nodded, and watched towards the direction to which he was going although she couldn't see.
A rough hand pulled her into movement, reminding her harshly of reality. " C'mon, brat. Let's get going."
Hajime tensed up in her arms. " Mommy?"
" It's alright", she whispered into her son's ear, stroking his soft hair. " Everything's going to work out."
First time in years, she could bring herself into believing that.
Before Temari ever stepped over Shikamaru's doorstep, she braced herself for three extremely grim facts. Shikamaru was a guy, guys (most of them, anyway) hated cleaning up, and the Nara was a particularly lazy individual. Despite all those preparations, she almost reeled back from the sight and odour that greeted her.
Her eyes widened slightly. " Holy…!"
The place – which, judging by the size of the dust balls roaming around absolutely everywhere, obviously hadn't been cleaned up properly in ages – looked like it'd been exploded and held a scent that indicated something had died in there for at least a month ago.
Just when she'd managed to get over the initial shock, bathroom door of the small apartment was opened and Shikamaru emerged, with only a towel wrapped around his waistline. She couldn't resist giving a tiny grin of approval while slowly measuring him with her gaze.
Not all that bad, she judged, but only to herself.
The boy's eyebrow started to twitch. " Would you please stop staring at me like I'd be a piece of meat?" She was almost sure she saw hint of a blush upon his cheeks. " How did you get in, anyway?"
She shrugged. " Unwanted visitors is what you get when leaving your door unlocked. What kind of a ninja leaves their door open when going to shower, anyway?" Her eyes then travelled through the apartment once more. " Exactly how long ago was it again from when you moved away from your parents?"
" Six months." Shikamaru's face carried an extremely irritated expression. " Now could you please turn around for a minute so I'd get my clothes on?"
She chuckled while obeying with reluctance she hadn't expected to feel. " Now aren't we shy?"
She could just sense Shikamaru's glare, and smirked yet again.
When she turned around some moments later, the boy was fully dressed and looking at her with apparent expectation. " So, what are you doing here, anyway?"
" Chouji told me to come and visit." No matter how hard she wished he wouldn't hear the worry that somehow seeped into the tone, she was pretty sure he did. " He said you've been locked up in here for days."
This time, it was the boy who lifted an eyebrow. " Were you actually worried?"
She threw something at him, as it hit discovering that it was a sock. " Shut it, or I'll find something even more nasty", she growled. " Are you going to answer me or not?"
Shikamaru glanced towards a worn piece of paper laying on a table with venomous eyes. " Tsunade gave me this… code to crack open a couple of days ago. I just can't get any sense into it, no matter how damn hard I try."
After thinking about it for a very long time, she spoke out. " Maybe I can help you."
She had to admit that Shikamaru looked adorable when he blinked extremely uncharacteristically. " Are you serious?"
She shrugged. " It's not like I'd have anything better to do." She then grabbed his hand. " But I'm not going to do anything here – I don't understand how you can even breathe in this place."
Shikamaru barely had time to grab the paper he'd written the code on to before he got pulled away. " Hey, this is the way I like to live!" She could more sense than see the frown he made when she started to drag him out. " Where are you taking me, anyway?"
She grinned. " To get some fresh air and something to eat. It looks like you've had neither for a while."
The boy growled in protest. " I'm not a kid anymore!"
She rolled her eyes. " Whatever." By then they were outside, and she slammed the door shut as though fearing that otherwise Shikamaru would've sneaked back inside. " Now come on. The faster we get that code of yours figured out, the faster you'll get rid of me."
As they went, both pretended they didn't notice how their hands tightened around each other.
That evening, Sasuke and Naruto were both surprised upon discovering themselves being well entertained enough with simply staring at the constantly darkening shadows dancing on the roof of the raven's hospital room.
Naruto, who was currently sitting in a chair by the Uchiha's bedside with arms brought behind his head and his legs resting quite comfortably on the other boy's, tilted his head. " That one looks just like a kunai."
Sasuke snorted, audibly stifling a yawn. " Dobe, you've obviously been sitting there for far too long."
He glared at the other half-heartedly. " Well it's your own damn fault for needing help with pretty much everything, teme."
Sasuke shot a sour look his way. " Do you think I somehow enjoy this? Besides, I don't remember anyone assigning you to be my babysitter."
He shrugged, suddenly finding keen interest to a certain shadow that looked surprisingly lot like joined hands. " Meh, it gives me a good excuse to make sure you're not an idiot enough to try and run away again."
Sasuke was most likely about to retort, but ended up yawning like a feline of some sort instead. Naruto couldn't keep himself from smiling slightly at how the raven tried to force himself into staying awake. " You're exhausted, teme. Go to sleep."
Sasuke glared at him like a sulking five-year-old. " I'm not tired."
He rolled his eyes, the smile remaining. " Just close your eyes and sleep. I won't leave until you're asleep."
Very slowly, surprising them both, Sasuke actually did close his eyes, showing him tremendous trust. At first, he could tell the raven pretended being asleep, but in the end the other's breathing turned deep and even.
He stunned himself with being unable to leave immediately. Instead he simply sat there smiling, examining his best friend with his gaze.
Sasuke had changed immensely during the time they'd spent apart, outside and a lot more on the inside, been through a road he couldn't even imagine. But somehow, although everything was fresh and tender… He found himself liking this new Sasuke a lot more than he'd ever expected.
Giving a deep sigh while trembling at those unnerving thoughts, he pushed himself up, barely resisting the urge to wipe away a strand of hair that'd strayed to the raven's forehead. " Goodnight, Sasuke", he whispered, knowing that anything louder would wake up the other. " I'll see you in the morning."
With far more reluctance than he would've ever expected, he turned around and started to walk away. His expression turned somewhat gloomy as he went.
Maybe he was now finally strong enough to bring himself into visiting Jiraiya's grave to say 'goodbye' and 'thank you'.
(It turned out he wasn't, for his feet took him straight to home.)
Kiba knew he should've been fast asleep already – after all, they were going to wake up early in the next morning and it was getting pretty late. But although he was dead tired, he couldn't bring himself to sleep because he kept sneezing all the time.
He heard movement from the bed on the opposite side of the room. " A-Are you coming d-down with a c-cold?" Hinata whispered.
As much as he hated admitting weakness, he couldn't really make himself lie to her. " I don't know." He groaned when sniffing again. " Whatever this is, I hate it."
It was silent for quite a long moment, until he heard Hinata's bed make a small screech as she got up and walked up to her bag. In a few moments, she was stood by his bedside and poured something strongly scented that looked like herds from a tiny bag into his glass of water. After stirring, she handed to cocktail to him. " Y-You should d-drink this."
He looked at the substance with deep suspicion, and wrinkled his nose at its scent. " What is that stuff?"
Despite darkness, he saw the deep blush that appeared to Hinata's face. " W-When I was a c-child, I w-was sick often. M-My mother still m-makes me carry t-that thing with m-me – it a-always made m-me feel better."
Accepting the glass and obediently taking a sip, he frowned. " Why are you doing this for me?" He didn't mean to be rude, he was just throughout confused. No one had ever done favours to him before.
If possible, Hinata's blush became even deeper. " I-It's my f-fault you're s-sick, for m-making you give me your j-jacket when we c-came here. This is t-the least I c-can do."
He just had to smile at how cute she looked just then. " Thanks."
Hinata's reply came much too rapidly. " I-It's alright." Hurriedly she got up from the bed and almost sprinted into her own. " W-We should get s-some rest."
He was atypically speechless for a moment, until a somewhat dumb response came. " Yeah…"
(Ninjas or not, both failed to notice how the door that separated their part of the huge room from Kakashi and Rin's moved a bit when someone peered in and disappeared.)
Neither got any sleep that night.
Dusk had fallen long ago when Rin sat slowly to Kakashi side to the inn's roof. " Are the kids okay?" he inquired.
Rin nodded with a smile. " Yeah, though exhausted." Her eyes moved towards the starlit sky. Some things would never change, it seemed. " It's a beautiful night."
Behind his mask, he just had to smile faintly. Rin had already enjoyed stars when they were kids. " Yeah."
For several minutes they sat in comfortable silence, enjoying of the amazing sight spreading above them. The moment of peace was, however, cut when Rin gave a sudden hiss.
He glanced to side with a frown. " What's wrong?"
For a while he was sure she wouldn't reply. Then, slowly and hesitantly, he outstretched both of her hands, so that he could see her arms. He felt chills when seeing the odd patterns travelling heatedly underneath her skin, almost like searching for a chance to break through. " The Eight Tailed senses that the seal entrapping it is old and weakening. It hurts like hell every single time it tries to break through." She glanced towards him, searched through his eyes. " This is the point where most of the people having witnessed my secret run away screaming or pull out weapons."
Like having no control over his own actions whatsoever, he took her hand and gave it a determined squeeze. He was surprised when almost like reacting to his touch the patterns disappeared. " Maybe I'm not like most."
With a faint smile, she squeezed back.
He had absolutely no idea of what he would've said next without yet another interruption. For just then his carefully trained visible eye spotted movement from nearby trees. He couldn't make out more than shapes in darkness, but he could tell there were two people observing them.
Judging by how Rin tensed up, she must've seen the intruders as well.
" Let's go back inside", he stated in a tense voice. " We'll be leaving as soon as morning comes."
The huge room was bristling with carefully hidden excitement when the Akatsuki had a sudden meeting. They all noticed that as well as Madara, Konan was also missing, but didn't dare to ask.
" The time has come", Pein announced, his strange eyes flashing in a way that gave them all chills. " Konoha is at its weakest now that the power is changing into other hands, and our targets haven't managed to regain their full strength. We'll strike tomorrow, before the village will have a chance to get back to its feet."
Kisame grinned toothily. " About time."
Pein, who seemed uncharacteristically distracted yet again, started to leave. " Now get ready, and make sure you're properly rested. This time tomorrow, we'll have the Kyuubi and a brand new pair of Sharingan eyes in our hands."
Kisame wasn't exactly sure of what caused the alarm that pierced through like an electric jolt, but he nonetheless found his head turning towards Suzume, who was currently stood beside him. And at that moment he just knew.
Before the girl could as much as gasp, he'd pinned her right against the wall. Her eyes smouldered when meeting his. " What the hell are you doing?"
His own eyes hardened. " What did I tell you about stabbing my back?" He was almost sure her eyes widened ever so slightly when his huge blade flew through the air. " You did great job, kid, but not good enough."
He wasn't surprised upon discovering that the girl faded in a puff of smoke when his blade collided with her.
A clone. Just like he'd expected.
Through mangled thoughts, he discovered Zetsu take a stand beside him with an expression that carried surprise. " Well who would've known…"
His eyes, hard with disappointment and anger that was pointed towards himself as much as Suzume, turned towards Pein. " What are we going to do about this?"
The leader, who'd almost left the room, stopped by the doorway. " You're not doing anything yet. I'm not taking the chance of you doing something brash." The man looked at Zetsu. " Find out exactly where that brat is. Then, we'll decide what to do."
Suzume's eyes were filled with annoyance when she approached a young male-ninja stood by an extremely beautiful waterfall. " Do you have any idea of how stupid it was to come here? Those guys aren't idiots – if they see it, they'll know it was a clone you forced me to leave there."
The boy wasn't taken aback too much. Apparently, he'd been warned about her temper. " Danzou-sama's orders." He pulled out a tiny bottle and handed it to her. " He knows you've been… weakening one of the Akatsuki's members. This should take care of the problem permanently."
She felt boiling inside her veins. " My cower will be blown the second I kill him! He's making me endanger the entire mission!"
" Danzou-sama has utmost trust in your talent. You'll work something out."
She snorted. " What the hell does he think I am – a magician?"
The boy's eyes flashed. " Danzou-sama is your commander. Don't talk about him like that."
She was about to retort when she suddenly shuddered upon feeling something.
Oh shit…
The boy frowned. " What's wrong?"
A few moments later her eyes swept towards nearby cliff before locking firmly with the boy's. " We're being watched. You'll better get the hell away from here before this gets very, very ugly."
The boy's forehead wrinkled. " What about you?"
She snarled. " Go!"
As soon as the boy disappeared, she looked towards the cliff again. The shadow she'd spotted was gone. Extremely cold shiver went through her.
Her mission was just coming to an end.
She glanced towards the bottle that'd been hidden into her fist.
It was time to finish things.
Tsunade didn't bother to knock when she entered Danzou's office at the dawn of that morning. Her features attained utter disgust when she spotted the wardrobe he was pulling on with the aid of a young woman she couldn't recognize. " So you're actually going to go through this", she noted.
The man's eyes revealed nothing when they turned to look at her. " Why ever not? The council gave me its blessing after I'd given all the evidence I had. There are no more obstacles standing in my way."
She arched an eyebrow. " Are you sure about that?"
Danzou looked at the woman who'd been dressing him. " Kira, could you please leave us alone? This is a private matter." As soon as the other female was gone, he went on. " Yes, I am sure there are no more hindrances." The way his eyes gleamed reminded her of a predator. " You know… I must confess I was surprised when I found out Izumi's father. Though now, I understand perfectly why you were so upset about his death."
Her eyes flamed. " Keep my family out of this!"
" If you stay out of my life, I'll stay out of yours." The man then started to leave. " Now if you excuse me, I have a ceremony to attend."
Although her shift was already halfway through, Ino's day at the hospital had been almost unbearably eventless so far. That's why she was nearly relived when Shino showed up with a bleeding arm.
" So…", she stated once she was just about done with treating. " You ended up getting this when training?" She just couldn't believe it. Shino was the master of concentration. Why on earth had he slipped like this?
He was silent for a while, looking down with what she identified as embarrassment. " I was distracted for a moment."
She arched an eyebrow. There was only one thing that could get a guy this worked up…
Unfortunately, she never got a chance to carry on her grilling, because just then a young male-medic with shortcut auburn hair and sharp blue eyes showed up. The look upon his face was well enough to bring chills. " Ino, you should come with me. There's been a failed mission."
She nodded, feeling cold all over. She cast a glance towards Shino. " Will you be alright?"
The boy nodded. " Go."
Feeling her heart thumping in her throat, she followed the medic-boy through a maze of hallways, ending up to intensive care unit. She blinked with surprise. She'd never been accepted here before.
Soon, however, feelings of entirely different type filled her when the sight became imprinted to her mind.
Altogether three ninjas were laying on tables, operated by medics. She felt like throwing up upon realizing.
This… This was Sai's team. Sai's team that had consisted of six members.
" Two of them died on spot, third on the way here", the boy beside her all but whispered while they watched a boy at their age give a one last cough before his breathing stopped. " Although Danzou never told it to them, this was a suicide mission – interrogation mission to Kirigakure. They never got a chance to defend themselves when they were ambushed."
She started to feel cold. " How… How can you know?"
The boy hesitated for a while before responding. " Sai… managed to tell before he fell unconscious." He sighed heavily. " Right now… He's our only hope of finding out what happened. He's the only one of his team who has even the slightest chance of…" He trailed off.
Her knees buckled a bit, and for a moment she was sure she'd fall, but instead bolted to a bed and patient she could now see when a medic had moved out of the way.
Everything started to spin around her when she stopped by the bedside and stared at Sai, her eyes darted to the terrifying wound on his bare stomach.
Although she wasn't the most experienced medic around – far from skilled enough to treat something like this – she knew this was bad. Very, very bad.
Bracing herself, she moved her eyes towards Sai's face that seemed several shades paler than usually. " Sai, can you hear me? Open your eyes. You need to wake up."
Sai didn't stir, but his lips moved faintly while his face revealed intense pain he couldn't hide in this condition. " Kenji… Don't… Please…"
She frowned. Who the hell was Kenji?
Then managing to regain some of her focus, she realized that if she ever wanted any answers, she'd have to stop the bleeding. Focusing her all, she pressed her hands to his wound, doing her best to ignore how he shuddered with pain while his blood stained her hands. She bit her lip hard.
Ino poured in absolutely all she had, in the end cursing her lack of medical skills when she was forced to give up when the wound was nowhere near properly closed. All she could do from thereon was hope that she'd done job well enough.
Despite the fact that she felt ready to pass out, she gave the unconscious boy a stern look. " Sai, you'll better hang in there, do you hear me? I'm not letting you die on me after all that trouble."
As though in some sort of a dream, Sai's eyelids fluttered ever so slightly. Her heart jumped all the way to her throat when a hazy pair of dark eyes inched to meet hers. " Ino…?"
Se couldn't keep herself from grinning widely. " The one and only." She had hard time keeping herself from touching him when he winced with pain. " That's what you get for scaring me to near death." A stab of terror washed through when his eyes startled to close again. " Hey, don't you dare fall asleep on me!"
She didn't know if she was closer to laughing or screaming when his eyes slipped closed.
Worst listener of advices in the entire world.
" Ino." Turning her head, she found exhausted Shizune stood right behind her. " Sai needs to be taken to get some rest."
She nodded numbly, feeling strangely cold when watching him get carted away.
She hadn't realized she'd been standing perfectly still for several minutes until Shizune spoke again. " You've never tried anything like that before. Are you alright?"
She nodded, still staring towards the direction to which Sai had been taken. " I am. But when I get my hands on Danzou, he sure as hell won't be."
Danzou felt an almost chilling wave of pleasure when he stepped to a small platform and saw all the people who'd gathered around to listen despite the early hour. In his current state of mind, he failed to notice that the looks upon their faces were those of terror, confusion and vehemence. " Citizens of Konoha", he all but bellowed. " I'm sure you've all heard the rumours and seen the Root become more active. Now, it's finally time to confirm what you're all suspecting." He allowed his gaze to move around the crowd that seemed to shudder. " Many things are going to change in Konoha. As of now, I'll be the village's new leader. And I promise to take you through the storm that it to come. Come what may, Konoha won't tremble or fall under the power of the Akatsuki." His eyes gleamed. " Starting from today, there won't be any mercy against that organization. Whatever it takes, I'll make sure there's nothing left of it when I'm through." His gaze swept towards the hospital. " Konoha will no longer show compassion to criminals."
Morning's mist hadn't faded from the tiny village when Gaara and Neji walked in, their steps in perfect sync.
They were immediately faced by a woman who couldn't be much older than them with long, jet-black hair dyed blood red from front and piercing black eyes that seemed to glow red. Before she even spoke, her folded arms and expression told them that they were far from welcomed guests. " Tsunade sent me a message to tell that two ninjas were coming here to investigate leads on the Akatsuki. I'm assuming you're the ones."
Gaara nodded, seeming suspicious. " Would you care to tell us who you are?"
" Murotashi Kikyo, this village's leader." Her eyes became even harder than before, almost chilling. " Let me assure you, we're not protecting criminals."
" I'm sure you're not", Gaara stated, not taken aback a slightest. " But those leads were nonetheless such we have to investigate."
" It looks like we'll be staying for a while", Neji decided to butt in, feeling ominous tingle on his skin when the young woman looked at him. " Where can we stay?"
With apparent reluctance, Kikyo nodded to her right. " There's an inn quite nearby. But I'm warning you – we don't like strangers."
" Thank you."
As soon as they'd disappeared into to fog, they both removed their hands from weapons. " There's something very wrong about this place", Neji pointed out, very much aware of how the few people who'd been outside retreated into their houses upon seeing them and those inside peered at them through windows with deep, suspicious frowns.
Gaara nodded, glancing towards a child who shuddered when seeing them and sprinted inside, abandoning his few toys. " Those leads obviously lead us to the right spot."
-
Kikyo's eyes, which had been looking towards the direction to which the boys had disappeared, moved when a hooded figure appeared through mist. " We have a problem", she announced.
" Yes", the arrival confirmed. " But it's not unsolvable."
Her eyes flashed. " What do you want me to do?"
" Konoha just sent us a Hyuuga and Suna's leader on a silver plate." Wind moved the other's hood, but not enough to allow her to see the face. " I want you to get rid of them, as swiftly and soundlessly as possible, before they become a threat."
She nodded. " I'll send my best assassin to work."
" Very good." The other made some hand signs. " Be sure to not fail."
She came dangerously close to retorting. " Of course."
With those words received, the hooded one disappeared.
For a moment she stood there, eyes on the spot where the other had just been, until she finally turned around and vanished into fog.
She had a lot of work ahead.
It was a pure miracle that Suzume managed to keep her face completely, utterly expressionless when she entered the room where Madara's medicine was held. She was surprised when finding Konan throwing up into a huge bowl. " Are you alright?"
Her stomach apparently calming down, the other looked at her with a small nod and a sheepish expression. " Just… a bit of morning sickness, that's all."
She had hard time disguising the tremble that went through her. " You should go to get some rest. I'll prepare the medicine. All you have to do is to deliver it to him in an hour."
Konan was obviously in no state to see something wrong with the situation. " Thank you", the woman murmured, starting to leave.
She watched the other's retreating back with a huge array of emotions. " No problem."
When she could be sure Konan was gone, she pulled out the small bottle that'd just been given to her.
-
Around ten minutes later, Kisame appeared once more into the room in which he'd received his orders that morning. Pein was already there waiting for him. " You called", he stated.
The leader nodded with a grim expression. " Our suspicions have been confirmed. Zetsu saw Suzume talking to a Konoha-ninja today."
Something extremely cold settled into him. " What do you want me to do?"
" Take her to somewhere quiet and get rid of the problem."
Had it not been against his nature, he would've shivered. Instead he gave one of his cold grins. " Sure thing."
" Very good. As soon as you're done, get back in here. We'll take off in two hours."
He nodded, then turned to leave.
As soon as he opened the door, he found Suzume. For just a moment the girl's eyes showed something he'd never seen in them before, but it faded as soon as it'd came. " So, are we going to train or what?"
He was silent for a moment. " Yeah, of course we are. And I've got a new spot I've been dying to get to try…"
When he was coming back alone about an hour and a half later, he was just close enough to see and hear several massive explosions shudder the hideout when Suzume's mission became sealed as well as possible.
Naruto's face carried a bright grin when he saw Sasuke take a determined step, discovered that it wobbled a lot less than the day before. " See, teme? The practice is working. You'll be up and about in no time."
" I really hope so", the raven commented rather dryly. " I'm getting sick of staring at these walls and laying around."
His grin widened still when he reached out to support Sasuke as the raven's knees crumpled. " When you get back to your feet, I'll show you exactly how much I've learned during the past years. I can't wait to get to spar with you."
Sasuke tensed against his hold, but didn't struggle to get away. Instead the raven seemed to hold on a bit tighter, most likely to keep himself from falling. " Hn."
His arms slipped even more tightly around Sasuke without him properly noticing it while his whole frame trembled against the other's touch. Although they would've never admitted it out loud, the sudden sensation of closeness was intoxicating.
Unfortunately, their little moment was cut when there were heated words exchanged between the guard Tsunade had assigned and a voice he faintly recognized as Danzou's. " Tsunade-sama left me clear instructions to not let you in there."
" In case you've forgotten, I'm the village's leader now. So move it." A blink later, Danzou threw the door open and stormed in with two of his men. There was an extremely chilling look in the man's eyes. " We've come here to arrest Sasuke Uchiha for treason."
His eyes widened.
Those freaks had come… to arrest Sasuke? When the raven was in this condition? " You can't do this to him!" he bellowed before he could process the words a slightest.
Sasuke gave him a stern look that would've been far more convincing if he hadn't seen how the Uchiha shuddered a bit. " Dobe, save it. It's not like we wouldn't have known this was to come."
Danzou growled with impatience. " Enough with the drama and whining. Just take him, so we'll get this over with."
Naruto could feel intense burning everywhere underneath his skin as he watched the two ninjas grab Sasuke roughly enough to make the raven wince, then start to drag the Uchiha away although he could barely stand.
Without noticing it, he started to tremble uncontrollably while red glow took over his entire body.
There was a chuckle somewhere in the back of his chaotic mind. ' Finally, kit. This is the chance I've been waiting for.'
He wasn't even sure if the words were his when he snarled out. " Get the hell away from him, you bastards! Can't you see you're hurting him? Let go!"
-
Danzou's eyes flashed when they shot towards the blonde teen, immediately seeing the transformation taking place.
He'd expected the kid to break down when he'd execute Sasuke. Apparently, he wouldn't have to wait for that long.
That thought was, however, smashed down pretty soon. Because despite the two ninjas holding him and his weakness, Sasuke was strong enough to vigour out of their hold and stumble to Naruto. He couldn't tell if the Uchiha grabbed Naruto's shoulder for support or some other reason entirely, but seeing the touch – far more intimate than the teens seemed to realize – nonetheless made him feel sick to his stomach. " Naruto, get a hold of yourself. Do you want them to lock you up, too?" The raven's voice sounded suspiciously tender, no matter how hard the teen tried to hide it. He felt both amazed and disgusted when, as a response to Sasuke's touch and words, the ominous glow faded from around Naruto, and the teen turned back to normal. " I'll be fine."
He could see and hear the blonde swallow. " You can barely walk!"
" Everything's going to work out, idiot." He couldn't tell if Sasuke believed in his own words, but judging by his expression Naruto didn't. " I can take care of myself."
Naruto gave an oddly wet snort. " Yeah, right…"
Unable to bear watching the sight that made him feel sick anymore, he snarled out a command. " Take him. We've wasted enough of time to this nonsense already."
When the two ninjas took Sasuke once more and pulled the raven further from Naruto, he could've sworn he saw the blonde's hand twitch, as though wanting to hold on. Nauseated as seeing the depth of the teen's feelings made him feel, he was also pleased.
It'd be easy to break all the boundaries controlling the Kyuubi.
In the hallway, their little group passed by Tsunade, who'd obviously been intending to come and check up on the two teens. Her eyes first widened when spotting the imprisoned Sasuke, then iced while meeting his. ' This is far from finished.'
He responded with a haughty expression. ' Face it. You lost.'
With that as his closure, he lead the small group away.
-
Tsunade had thought she couldn't possibly feel any more infuriated than she had when seeing Danzou drag still rather weak Sasuke towards prison. She was rapidly proven mistaken. For when she entered Sasuke's former hospital room, she was forced to face Naruto.
The teen was completely tensed up, and had balled his fists obviously to keep himself from cracking apart. " Baa-chan…", the blonde all but whispered after several moments of silence. " What… are they going to do to Sasuke?"
Unable to speak out, she walked up to the teen and wrapped her arms tightly around him. She closed her own eyes tightly when she heard a smallest sound and felt something wet on the fabric against which Naruto had pressed his face. " I'm so sorry", she whispered, too quietly for him to hear.
It took for what felt like ages until she heard a feeble whisper. " If they hurt him… I'll never forgive them", Naruto declared. " I'll never forgive Danzou for this."
Not knowing what to say, she held on tighter.
(Too weak for even her to feel it, chilling red glow danced upon Naruto's skin. Somewhere in the back of the boy's head the demon sneered yet again, knowing that it was soon about to win.)
TBC??
A/N: (cringes) Cliffie – again. (starts out a frantic search for cover)
Hand up everyone who wants to chop Danzou to pieces and feed him to the Kyuubi right now! (lifts both of them)
Agh, I'll have to get going now. Please do review – you've gotta know how much it means to the silly lil' me, yeah? (glances pleadingly)
Until next time, folks – I really hope I'll see all of you then!
Be good!
Possible song for the next chapter:
"Grim Goodbye" from The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus OR "What Have You Done" from Within Temptation.
(Ominous, much...?) (sweatdrops)
colgate: (squeals) SasuNaru RUUULEZ! (bounces around like a madwoman before gets hit by a frying pan thrown by furious Sasuke)
Enormous thank yous for the review – I'm so happy to hear you liked the chapter! See ya, yeah?