A/N: Now how about this - an update after decent wait for change! HOORAY! (jumps all over the place)
But, before getting to the (hopefully...) good part... Enormous thank yous for those absolutely amazing, heart-warming reviews! (ice-cream and cookies to all) You probably have no idea of your value. Thank you! realityfling18 and colgate, responses to your reviews for the previous chapter will be found from underneath the chapter.
Alrighty then, as you're probably all seething to get going… Ladies and gentlemen, chapter eight! I really hope you'll enjoy!
/ Alone again again alone
Patiently waiting by the phone
Hoping that you will call me home
The pain inside my love denied
Hopes and dreams swallowed by pride
Everything I need it lies in you
'Cause I'm broken
I know I need you now
Deep inside you're broken
You see the way I live
I know I know your heart is broken
When I turn away
I need to be broken
Take the pain away /
(12 Stones; " Broken")
That soon to be rising morning, for a first time in more years than he could even remember Uchiha Madara found himself dreaming, the poison running through his system confusing his mind.
He dreamt of his childhood, how Konoha had been back in those distant days.
He dreamt of his brother, which surprised him.
Of the Nine Tailed Demon.
Of blue eyes that seemed to burn holes into his soul – eyes he'd seen several years earlier, defeating the fox-demon, eyes that'd bee passed on to the child that was destined to bring down all he'd worked for.
His eyes were first hazy as they opened, but quite soon he could make out the outlines of his room, then became aware of the hooded person sitting on his bedside. " Well morning."
Groaning, he pushed his stiff body into a sitting position, casting a mild glare towards the intruder. " Now what are you doing here this early?"
" I chose to come and deliver some news", his visitor announced in a casual tone. " The little war is going exactly as planned. We have all the time we want for our little… preparations. Fetching those Tailed Beasts won't be a problem any longer." The other held a moment's pause, observing. " You have fever. You do know that, right? The poison is spreading."
He scoffed. " You sound like you're having the time of your life watching me suffer."
" I'm not, and you know that better than well. You happen to be a vital part of this little plan – you're of no use like that." The other reached out a hand to underneath the hood. " This bloody thing itches me. I can't wait to take it off."
He cast his companion a warning look. " Keep it on for a little while longer. After all, you want to maintain the element of surprise, don't you?"
" Of course. I love surprises." The other got up and headed towards door. " Now, if you excuse me… I have a very impatient new partner to be kept in a leash, and a… little meeting ahead of me. This'll be a busy day."
His eyes flashed while the door was closed.
Yes, after the past month Konoha was far from what it had once been.
He coughed, wincing at the taste of blood.
And whatever it'd take, he'd be there to see what the village that had destroyed his family line would soon become. He hadn't been working for so many endless years and cheated death to miss seeing all his efforts blossom.
CHAPTER 8: Broken
Neji had already lost track on how many days, weeks even, it'd been since he and Gaara had arrived to Suna. But he knew for sure that his legs had already felt weak then, and now… Now, it was at least thousand times worse.
He gave a silent groan when quite intense pain greeted him the moment he woke up, surging upwards from toes and finally nestling into his skull. Quite obviously, this wouldn't be a pleasant day.
That feeling became sternly confirmed when something that felt oddly lot like a furball travelled up his windpipe, forcing him to bolt into a sitting position and cough violently into a palm he just managed to bring to cover his mouth.
He was just about done with coughing his lungs out when there was a knock on the door of his smallish room. " Yeah?" he managed, his whole frame trembling pitiably. Gosh, how he hated being like this!
He wasn't all that surprised (and, interestingly enough, not even reluctant to have such company) when Gaara entered slowly, carrying a small tray. The village leader gave him a long, evaluating look before speaking out. " It's getting worse, isn't it?"
He swallowed and looked away, not exactly sure of what to say. He absolutely detested showing weakness like this, but he was certain lying to Gaara would've made him feel thousand times more like shit than he was already.
He was pleased the redhead was able to read between the lines and instead of bombarding him with questions set down the tray.
To his surprise, instead of leaving Gaara remained lingering in the room, focusing rearranging to massive collection of books in a huge bookshelf. Silence must've remained several minutes until the redhead spoke, catching both of them off guard. " I just sent five of Suna's best ninjas to chase down Kikyo and that assassin." He was bewildered by all the emotions he could find from the usually rather toneless voice. " Her troupes dragged us far away while we were unconscious, but they'll find that village. So I suggest you to hang on for a little while longer."
Despite the ache still lingering, he had hard time with fighting away a small smile. He couldn't help wondering if the redhead himself noticed how caring he'd become during the past month. Neji wasn't sure if he was amused, moved, scared or unnerved by such change.
He opened his mouth, but didn't manage to collect his thoughts enough to speak until there was a knock and a young girl – Matsuri, as Gaara had introduced her – entered cautiously. He was pretty sure he saw a faint rosy hue on the girl's cheeks. " Gaara-sensei, I… I thought I should come and tell you. Kankuro just arrived with a Konohan girl."
The leader's head immediately perked up. " Is he alright?"
Matsuri nodded. " They're waiting for you in the main hall."
As though working on their own accord, Gaara's eyes moved towards him for a flickering second. Taking the hint, he forced his throbbing body into moving and pushed himself up. Without needing to say a word they walked out of the room, steps once again in perfect sync.
While walking, he took a look at the palm to which he'd coughed and shuddered. It was stained by droplets of blood. Sensing the movement, Gaara's worry-marked eyes moved, but he managed to hide the signs of weakness before they were spotted.
Yeah, he thought gloomily, It really is getting worse.
Izumi had lived almost all her life in a small hut, and after that safe house and cell-like room had been her homes. That's why – although she couldn't see – the huge space spreading around her overwhelmed her, especially with how tired she was after having walked through desert for what'd felt like ages.
In her arms, Hajime gasped loudly. " Mommy, is this a castle?"
She heard Kankuro chuckle – a sound, she mused, that seemed to appear more and more frequently. " Nah, kiddo. But I'm glad you're impressed."
She found herself smiling slightly for a moment, until her cautious ears caught three sets of approaching steps she couldn't recognize. She found herself frowning a little when a male-voice she hadn't heard before spoke. " Kankuro? What are you doing back in Suna?"
Fabric sighed under the weight of a shrug. " 'Thought it'd be good to spend a while in home. Plus, Tsunade asked me to bring someone here for safety." She could feel eyes on her, which was very unnerving, especially when she couldn't tell who was looking. " Gaara, this is Izumi. Izumi, my brother Gaara."
A hand – quite cool and rough – took hers, squeezing as though the touch would've told the person everything there was to know about her. " Welcome to Suna." Gaara's voice was softer than she'd expected.
While Kankuro introduced Hajime – who, she could tell from how tense her son became – was far from pleased for meeting yet another set of strangers, her attention shifted to something else entirely. Once more, she frowned when sensing a distantly familiar scent in the air.
Poison?
She could vaguely hear Kankuro's voice. " … Hyuuga Neji."
Another hand, much colder than the former, grabbed hers. " Nice to meet you." The scent from before grew ten times stronger now that the boy was closer.
She trembled, and her mouth worked far before thought. " You've been poisoned. And I think I know what it is."
She could feel Neji grow tense. " Can you make the antibody?" Gaara's voice surprised her with speaking first.
She bit her lip. " I know someone who has a bottle of antibody, but…" She sighed. " She lives far, and judging by the scent there's not much time left. I'm not sure if I'll make it in time."
" I'll come with you", Kankuro announced without a beat's hesitation. " For safety reasons."
It was extremely hard for her not to smile.
" I can take care of Hajime. I mean… He's too young to go along, and there's no reason to put him into danger", Matsuri – the girl they'd met upon arriving – offered quickly. Seeing her look of surprise and distrust, the girl went on. " Gaara-sensei's friends are my friends. I'll take good care of him, I promise."
Now, she just had to smile at how utterly sincere the girl sounded. " Thank you." Her face then hardened. " We'll leave as soon as morning comes. We can't afford wasting time." She wasn't exactly thrilled by the idea of leaving Hajime into the hands of strangers, but she couldn't let that boy – Neji – die, either. Plus, she could trust these people, right?
She paid barely any attention to the talking that started after that, and focused only half-heartedly on calming down Hajime (who'd started to cry the second he'd heard she was leaving), for she sensed something extremely powerful in the atmosphere. She found herself wondering if Gaara and Neji noticed it, too, because she could tell Matsuri did and didn't like it.
There was a smile on her face when she followed Kankuro out of the room about an hour later.
She felt the boy look at her. " What's so funny?"
Her smile widened. " Your brother has gotten himself into a serious mess", was all she allowed herself to say.
Pretty much as soon as everyone else but Gaara and Neji had left, a badly scarred male-ninja entered through doors on the opposite side of the huge hall.
Gaara frowned, having a pretty good guess that the man's expression couldn't mean anything good. " What is it?"
" We just received some… rather troubling news from Konoha", the man responded. " It seems there's a lot of instability going on, but the ones who got this piece of information didn't manage to get close enough to find out anything further."
He felt Neji tense up completely beside him, and for several moments he was sure that the Hyuuga would sprint into a run despite his state.
His eyebrows furrowed even further. " Danzou hasn't asked for our help, but then again I'm sure he's too proud to rely on Suna after everything it's done to Konoha in past."
The man kept looking at him demandingly. " What are we going to do?"
As much as he would've wanted to help, he knew that there was no point in sending troupes without a slightest clue of what they'd face. " Send some scouts", he commanded in an unusually tight voice. " Tell them to be prepared for anything."
The man bowed respectfully, then left.
Just then, Neji also started to make his way towards the door. " Neji, no." His voice was firm, but there was also something else behind it he didn't quite recognize. " I'm not about to let you go in there to get yourself killed."
Regardless to his condition, Neji's eyes were flaming when turning towards him. " I… I can't just turn my back on Konoha! It's my home, I…!"
" I know", he all but sighed. " But…" Just then, he spotted something upon Neji's face that caused a strange jump into his chest. " Neji, what's wrong?"
He was barely in the time to break the fall when Neji's eyes slipped closed and the brunette collapsed.
His heart had never hammered the way it did when he caught the other boy into his arms. " Neji?" There was no reaction. " NEJI!"
It had all started so fast and unexpectedly that it felt like a twisted nightmare. In overnight, residents of Konoha had found their entire world turned completely upside down.
Kirigakure had attacked at dawn, when there was least guard looking after the still sleeping city. They faced a lot of resistance, but several strategically significant targets were badly damaged and the attackers made sure to leave enough of civil victims to assure they'd be taken seriously. From thereon, the nightmare only grew worse instead of ending. The enemy felt absolutely no mercy, instead chose targets that caused most hits to Konoha's fighting spirit. Houses, shops, restaurants… Civilians seemed to be much more appreciated targets than actual ninjas.
Konoha had no help from its former allies. They'd all disappeared into thin air, it seemed, but no one could really blame them. After all, what kind of a village leader would've wanted to risk taking part into something like this? Suna might've help, but Danzou wasn't about to ask them.
To put it short, now – a month later – life had become pure hell for Konoha. And there was no light in sight.
Danzou sighed heavily while putting away yet another report of casualties in a motion that clearly gave away all his hidden emotions and closed his eyes.
When the hell had things gone this badly wrong?
There was a knock that forced him back into reality. " Yes?"
Almost cautiously, the door was opened and in came a young boy of his daughter's age he'd assigned as a Root-member only days earlier. " I came to inform that the executioner is now ready. The Uchiha will be executed right after sunset."
Well, he mused. At least something good about this day. " Thank you. I'll talk to him as soon as possible."
The boy nodded and disappeared.
As soon as the door was closed, a voice that managed to startle him spoke. " Now haven't you managed to get yourself and your village into a glorious mess?"
He spun around and narrowed his eyes at the hooded figure sitting on a couch in shadows. " How the hell did you get in?"
The intruder shrugged. " I have my ways. I came with an offer that may intrigue you."
He snorted. " Why should I listen to an enemy?"
" I don't have to be an enemy", the other pointed out. " You see, I can turn out to be very useful if you wish me to. I have quite a bit of power in my hands – I can make sure Kirigakure and the Akatsuki leaves Konoha well alone."
" Thank you for your offer", he stated icily. " But I think I'll decline. Konoha will survive very well on its own, just like it has up until now. Now get out – I don't have time for you."
The other shrugged, getting up. " However you want. Just think about this…" He could feel eyes on him. " Konoha doesn't have too many friends at the moment. Just how much are you willing to pay for arrogance?" With that, the intruder disappeared into a puff of smoke.
He groaned.
Wonderful. Like he hadn't had a headache big enough already…
Amusingly enough, Naruto had those exact same thoughts while sprinting through what seemed like never ending woods, his body – still firmly in the Kyuubi's control – almost beaten down by utter fatigue and every single cell inside him throbbing, begging for rest.
Rest, however, was the last thing he was about to get, for the steps that'd been following him for small eternity kept inching closer still.
' Damnit, kit!' voice that'd became familiar screamed inside his head. ' If you'd stop restraining me like this, I could destroy those freaks! I could save us both!' His mouth emitted a roar that wasn't his. ' I'm a demon, for crying out loud! I shouldn't be running away from petty humans!'
Had he been able to, he would've sneered. ' Aww, I'm so sorry for causing a scratch on your pride.'
' Kit, sarcasm isn't your thing.'
" Hey, I found it!" He nearly winced at the male voice. It? Turning his head, he spotted a young, quite enthusiastic male-ninja trekking his way, all weaponry prepared. Icy grin was aimed his way. " You've made us do quite a bit running, but now it's finally through, demon."
Had the other ninja been alone, Naruto would've managed to escape without any trouble. But, of course, he wasn't that lucky. For quite soon five other, far more experienced ninjas appeared.
Who appeared to be their leader narrowed eyes at him, slowly pulling out a long sword. " Danzou-sama's instructions were clear." The blade was aimed his way while the man started to move, fast. " This time, demon, you'll fall."
The man really should have known that the mighty Kyuubi wasn't about to fall just like that, without putting up a slightest fight. Before the man could as much as blink, the demon inside Naruto rose fully to surface and attacked.
Naruto's heart hammered madly while the demon placed its long, razor-sharp nails to the man's neck, getting pleasure from all the terror in the ninja's eyes. Involuntarily his mouth twisted into a brutal grin. " I should thank you, really", the demon all but purred, those dangerous nails hovering only an inch from striking a deadly blow. " You have no idea of how much satisfaction you're about to give me with the screams I'll have you make."
By then, Naruto's poor chest was about to explode. He had no idea of what the force slowly waking up inside him was as he stared at the man's horrified face, and at the moment he didn't even care. For a first time in a month, his mouth and voice were his. " Leave him the fuck alone!"
' I'll only do what those idiots did to Sasuke', the demon pointed out, voice crackling with annoyance. 'Are you telling me you're about to let something like that go unpunished?'
For just a few moments, he almost gave in, Sasuke's screams and bruise still much too fresh in his mind. But then, with far more difficulty than he'd known to expect, he regained some of his reason and successfully shook his head. ' I'll become the Hokage one day', he announced mentally, to his tremendous surprise discovering that his body was returning to normal. ' I have to protect my village, especially from you. I'm not going to let you kill these ninjas. Understood?'
The Kyuubi scoffed. ' You know, kit… You really are an idiot.'
His eyes widened, and it wasn't until the hellish burning of pain flowed over did he realize that his concentration had slipped for a long moment. Too long.
Eyes filled with agony and disbelief, he glanced towards his leg to see that the man he'd entrapped had plunged his sword straight through his leg, and blood now caked shining metal. Turning his gaze to the man once more, he found a haughty grin and eyes that obviously couldn't see that he was no longer a demon. " Got you now, demon."
" Everything alright, sensei?"
The man's gaze turned, not meeting him as he screamed with pain when the sword was pulled away. " Yeah. Everything's under control."
Although the pain was almost enough to drive him insane and he'd most likely end up barely capable of walking soon, he didn't fail to see that his only chance for an escape had arrived. Before the man could even blink he'd stumbled to his feet and started to run, barely managing to keep himself from whimpering.
He heard none of the ninjas' screams as he went, eyes clouded by pain, only that whatever had woken up inside him pushing him forward.
Help me!, he would've screamed if his lips had worked, although he had no idea to whom. Please help me!
In his tiny cell that had no windows, Sasuke's eyes snapped open and he made a quick exhale, eyes flying wide.
What the heck…?
That thought was, however, clipped cut when he heard voices from the hallway. He was about to get a visitor, it seemed.
He fought the urge to groan at how loudly the door screeched when it was slid open. It was most likely very early morning, because light didn't keep his tender eyes from recognizing one of Danzou's guards – and Sakura. " You have exactly five minutes. Not a second more", the man announced gruffly to the pinkette, who was staring at him with shock-filled widened eyes. " Do what you can in that time to make sure people won't end up pitying a traitor." With that, the door was closed just enough to leave a tiny beam of light. Sasuke knew that the only reason they weren't locked into total darkness was that the man wanted to keep an eye on them.
Not seeming to care about the extra ears listening too much, Sakura rushed over to him, hissed under her breath upon discovering the quite extensive injuries that'd been left to his flesh during the latest interrogation session. " These people are monsters", the girl stated under her breath.
" Hn", was all his throat managed to produce. He dared to wince a bit in the safety of shadows when a particularly nasty wound was disturbed.
Since the start of war, his interrogators had become far more desperate and used every single way they could to get information from him – after all, they viewed him as an ally of Kirigakure and the Akatsuki. The only reason he'd managed to survive until now was that there was a mission ahead of him. With each and every passing day, the group that'd been sent after Naruto got closer, and he needed to find the blonde before them to save him.
It was just too bad that his time was almost out…
Forcefully shoving his thoughts elsewhere, he found himself taking a glance towards Sakura's face while she didn't appear to notice. She seemed absolutely drained, far older than the last time he'd seen her, and he was pretty sure it wasn't because of the healing she was performing on him just now. Although he couldn't to see the destruction, he could hear the sounds of war all too clearly, and had heard guards talking. " It's a hell outside, isn't it?" He was surprised to find his voice working, although he probably shouldn't have been. He'd spent weeks locked up into this place, and during that time Sakura and Naruto had been the only friendly faces he'd seen. He… needed this, although he would've never admitted it out loud.
Sakura's eyes turned extremely dark, and she let out a long sigh. " They… They attacked the hospital today, and…" She swallowed and shook her head, not meeting his eyes. " I'm not sure how much more the village can take."
He had no idea of what to say or do, so he sat absolutely still, allowing this new chilling information to wash over him.
Those freaks won't leave a brick in Konoha intact.
In the end his eyes moved back to Sakura, who was just finishing the healing. " What are you doing here? It sounds like you have tons of work to do elsewhere."
Sakura didn't look at him, but he could see an unfamiliar, hard flash in her eyes. She pulled her hand away, and at that moment he realized she knew he was going to die that day. " Because you're more important." With that, she straightened her form quite gracefully and started to walk away. Stood by the doorway, she suddenly spoke once more. " You should know… Sai's been keeping an eye on the Root." She swallowed, her back to him. " A couple of days ago, they… they brought back Naruto's bloodied jacket. No one knows what's happened."
Huge, almost suffocating lump appeared into his throat, and for a longest time he felt so cold it was nearly impossible to breathe. It took his all to push out words. " What makes you thin I'd care?"
Sakura was silent for a moment before turning to look at him. Those eyes meeting his weren't the same that'd been filled with tears the night he'd left Konoha. " Because I'm not as blind as you." The girl was silent for a long time until figuring out at least somewhat what she wanted to say. He saw her swallow thickly. " I… will come and check up on you later."
He nodded somewhat stiffly.
They both knew that if Danzou should have his way, this would be the last time she saw him alive.
She was already closing the door when he spoke for one final time. " Sakura." To his amazement, she paused. " Thank you."
She hesitated for several seconds until closing the door softly.
It wasn't until she was gone did he become aware of the pain in his hands, and discovered that he'd balled his fists so tightly that long-grown nails had pierced skin. Ignoring soreness, he lifted his face towards roof, his eyes feeling strange.
Damnit, dobe… Where the hell are you?!
Some reason slowly rushing back into his head, he decided that he should channel this new blown rage into something constructive. No one present to witness such weakness, he winced and swore under his breath with pain while starting out yet another round of working out to strengthen his muscles.
This… could be his last day on earth. But there was this burning sensation inside him that absolutely refused to let him sit back and wait.
Uchihas weren't ones to just wait for fate to crush them, damnit (especially when something valuable was at stake…)!
The moment Chouji entered the banged up hospital room in which she was getting her shoulder – which had been injured in Kirigakure's latest attack – patched up, Ino knew that something was terribly wrong; every little thing about the boy's tensed posture told her that. She found each and every muscle in her body tense up. " Spill it", she commanded stiffly before the boy could get out another word.
She could see her friend and teammate swallow hard. After what felt like infinity there was a near-whisper. " Ino… Your family's flower shop… Your father came there to protect your mother, and…" The boy trailed off.
She was running before anyone could even twitch to stop her.
-
Journey to the shop took far longer she'd remembered, no matter how fast she ran. When she finally got there, she wished from the bottom of her heart she hadn't. Her rapidly widening eyes couldn't really take in the incomprehensible sight presented to them.
The flower shop – in which she'd worked for more times than she could count, which her parents had loved so much… There was nothing left of it. She didn't know if it was an explosion or some jutsu that'd made the once beautiful building reduce into tiny pieces of junk. Petals of smashed flowers lay and floated absolutely everywhere. Several people were working on the ruins – searching for corpses, without doubt, because nothing else could possibly come out of those ruins.
Tears gathered into her eyes while they narrowed and she squeezed her fists into painfully tight balls, her whole frame shuddering with wrath and such pain she'd never, ever experienced before in her entire life.
Those freaks who'd done this… She'd make them pay. Whatever it'd take, they'd suffer pains of hell for this.
She just managed to spin around, and almost sprinted to her way before a hand grabbed her wrist – tightly, but careful not to hurt.
Her still teary eyes blazed while shooting towards the one holding her back, but calmed down when recognizing the person. " Sai?" How could he be there? Wasn't he supposed to be fighting? Was she dreaming?
The boy's eyes were so soft and sad it stunned her. " Don't."
Her eyes narrowed yet again. " I'm making those assholes pay", she hissed. " And there's nothing you or anyone else could do to make me change my mind."
Sai flinched just a bit, but didn't retreat. " Don't", the boy repeated, glancing towards the ruins. " For their sakes."
She, too, looked that way – and once more wished she hadn't. For just then, two corpses that were covered by white sheets were lifted out. One body's hand fell, and she recognized her mother's wedding ring.
At that moment, absolutely nothing could hold her together any longer. The next couple of hours became erased from her mind.
-
Sai found himself utterly confused when the girl wrapped her arms around him and buried her face into his chest, breaking into heartbreaking sobs and ear-splitting screams.
Heaven knows he'd always been absolutely horrible when it came to things like this. What the hell was he supposed to do?
In the end he did the only thing his buzzing mind could come up with. Very slowly and clumsily, he wrapped his own arms around her – not even tightly enough to really hold, but nonetheless bringing her closer.
Neither said a word while standing there, Ino breaking piece by piece and he still utterly, completely confused.
-
Neither noticed how Chouji appeared after a moment, a strange expression appearing to his face when he saw them.
Without wasting another second, the boy turned around and walked away.
Right after emerging from a room in an inn their little group had dared to stay in for this day and the night to come, Rin squeezed her eyes shut and grit her teeth so tightly it hurt when a burning sensation spread through her entire body, making her feel like she'd been scorched up alive. It was extremely hard not to scream, but she held herself together as firmly as she possibly could, sending soundless prayers to anyone listening that the agony would come to an end.
This had been going on for a month already, ever since their encounter with those two Akatsuki members. How was it possible that she hadn't grown used to this already?
" Rin?" Kakashi's voice forced her into opening up her eyes and meeting the man's face. With a lot of experience, she could tell he was deeply worried despite mask. " Are you alright?"
She forced herself to nod. " Yeah. Just a bit of headache."
Kakashi nodded as well, seeming to find comfort from those words although deep down he must've known she was lying. He then glanced at the door behind her. " How about the kids?"
She smirked, inching the door just a bit. The sight inside told everything necessary.
In one of the room's two tiny beds, Hinata and Kiba were sleeping soundly despite daytime, their backs pressed against each other to grant them some distance although the were only inches apart. Those two had been sleeping like this ever since the Akatsuki's attack, they knew.
Kakashi grinned, she could tell. " Cute."
With that, she closed the door. As they started to walk towards their own room, she frowned upon discovering something. " You're still limping." She didn't even try to hide to accusation in her tone. " Didn't you tell me the wound healed a long time ago?" Kakashi's leg had been injured during his battle with the male Akatsuki member – apparently, a lot worse than the man had given away.
Kakashi scratched his head sheepishly. " Eh… Sorry."
Her left eyebrow twitched. Now, she was really starting to have a headache. " Into the room – right now."
Once Kakashi had sat obediently to another one of the room's beds, she started to examine his leg. She immediately swore colourfully at what she found.
The wound was long and deep, she was just about sure there was dirt as well as tiny pieces of metal in it, aggravating flesh that was desperately trying to heal.
Her eyes were blazing when meeting the man's. " Why the hell didn't you tell me? This must've been hurting like hell!"
The silver-haired seemed almost sheepish. " It's… not that bad. I didn't want to slow us down, especially with what happened."
" Kakashi." Her voice was surprisingly firm. " That wound… It's infected. And trust me on this, it'll get hell a lot worse if we keep moving." She sighed. " We have to stay here for longer than overnight. Then, it'll only take half a day to arrive to the village."
She'd never seen the man as defeated as he was that moment, emitting a sigh she could just hear. " Alright."
Her moves so tender it surprised even her, she pulled a tiny bottle from one of her pockets, and smeared brown substance from it to Kakashi's wound. The copy-nin shuddered, but didn't utter any sounds of pain. " This helps controlling the infection", she explained. Both noticed that her hand lingered on his skin for far longer than would've been necessary. " The pain should start to subside soon." She just had to smile when noticing Kakashi give a stifled yawn underneath his mask. " It also makes you drowsy." Realizing that she still hadn't released her hold on the man, she stubbornly fought off a blush and pushed her oddly heavy body up. " I should go."
To both their surprise, a hand showed up to stop her. Turning her surprised gaze, she found something she'd never seen before in Kakashi's visible eye. " Stay."
For a longest time, she was sure she'd say 'no' – it would've been the wisest thing to do, spared them from tremendous amounts of pain. But at the moment… Her hand squeezed around Kakashi's, and a slightly quivering, tiny smile appeared. " Damn those eyes of yours, Scarecrow."
Laying down beside him – carefully as though he'd been made of glass – she closed her eyes that stung hellishly, feeling scorching on the mark that Akatsuki member had left on her almost a month ago already. No matter how much of a ninja she was, tears threatened to fall.
The demon inside her was about to break loose – she could feel it with every single bit of her being – and she knew far too well what'd happen once they'd reach their destination.
Her hand tightened around already sleeping Kakashi's.
They had a couple of more days. And right now… Every freaking extra second was precious to her.
-
What they couldn't possibly know was that only a small distance away – on the other side of the village – the same woman who'd fought Rin a month earlier opened her eyes with a victorious smirk.
Her male partner arched an eyebrow. " I take that as things are going as planned."
" Yes", she all but purred, eyes moving to window and surprisingly accurately to the direction in which Rin and her companions were. " She's tough, but the… memento I gave her is just as strong as I'd planned. It's only a matter of time before she cracks, and when that happens…" Her teeth became revealed. " … the demon is all ours."
Although he had no idea of why, Shikamaru had long since found himself enjoying of the quiet afternoons he spent with Kurenai, anxiously waiting for the day her baby – the son of his deceased sensei and his future student – would be born. During the past month, however, circumstances had changed the nature of those brief meetings, and as war kept raging on it was getting increasingly difficult to protect the heavily pregnant woman, especially when he was forced to tangle with half a dozen other tasks, and worry for Naruto's sake weighed his shoulders.
He was extremely cautious as he approached a small hut hidden into thickest forest, feeling this tingling in his neck – a bad omen, he could tell wit grim certainty, and it chilled him to bone.
Despite her state – or, perhaps, thanks to it – Kurenai was even faster to pull out a kunai than she had before as he entered, but the weapon was quickly lowered when she saw him. She immediately frowned and shielded her bump. " Shikamaru? Is something wrong?"
He didn't bite down a sigh. " The war… It's spreading. It'll be here in a matter of days. I've gotta get you out of here."
The woman closed her eyes for a moment, then nodded. " I'll pack up some things. It'll take five minutes."
He nodded, and found himself drifting deep into thought. A groan broke through his lips.
Troublesome…
It appeared that even with her current state slowing her down, Kurenai remained punctual. In exactly five minutes she was done. " I suppose we should get going."
He nodded with some gloominess. " Yeah." It didn't feel tempting to rip her out of her home when the baby could be born any given day, but… What choice did he have?
As they followed a tiny path, Kurenai suddenly spoke with a slight smile on her face. " Shikamaru… Do you know what Asuma always told me about you?"
He smirked just a bit. " Aside me being a lazy-ass?"
Kurenai chuckled. " Yes, aside that, and you being his best student." She glanced towards him. " He told me that once you'd grow up, you'd become a great ninja and sensei. And he told me that it was because no matter what you try to make everyone believe, you care, deeply – almost too much for your own good."
She snorted. " Yeah, right."
Kurenai poked his forehead gently. " Shikamaru, I asked you to stop visiting me because I wanted you to stop worrying. I've seen too many ninjas grow old before their time."
Before he could as much as laugh at the comment, all alarm-bells inside him activated and his eyes flashed. " Down, now."
Just as they ducked, several blades and a shower of razor-sharp needless flew right above them. Lifting his gaze, he saw a Kirigakure-ninja standing on a nearby tree branch. His eyes squinted, and he moved to stand before Kurenai, missing her gasp of pain. " What the hell do you want?"
" It's come to my attention that you're quite a code-cracker. As it happens, I have a little job for you." Blade flashed in sunlight while the enemy toyed with it. " Deal, or no deal?"
He would've been fully ready to defend himself, but never got the chance. For at that exact second an energy-field he knew more than well swept through the forest-area before him, sweeping the enemy out of sight.
As he turned his gaze, he saw Temari standing on a rock nearby. He'd never seen such fury he witnessed in the girl's eyes at the moment. " Leave him the fuck alone, idiot", she snarled into nothingness it seemed.
Extremely infuriating laughter echoed in the air. " Leave him alone? Nope, I don't think so. I was told to finish off quickly, but perhaps I could have a little fun instead."
He found himself growling. " That fucking moron is seriously starting to get on my nerves."
Temari's eyes shifted his way. " You alright?"
He snorted, feeling some heat reaching out towards his cheeks. " Like that kind of a clown could leave a scratch on me." Though he had a bad feeling that the 'clown' would turn out to be quite a bit of challenge…
It wasn't until then he heard Kurenai's groan of pain. " Hey, you two… I'm afraid we have a second problem." As they turned their heads, they met her completely pale face – and noticed that her kimono was stained by something quite moist. " Judging by these cramps, the little one is anxious to get out – right now."
Since childhood, there'd been only few times Iruka had found himself questioning his faith in humanity. But never had it been strained this way.
It wasn't unexpected that due to the state Konoha was in, only a few kids dared to attend school. All of them had looks terror or – which he found even more gut wrenching – absolutely apathy upon their faces. Every single one had seen too much.
At the moment, school building more or less doubled as second hospital and morgue. He was one of the last teachers remaining – after all, pathetic as it was, he didn't really have any reason to stay home.
Emitting a deep sigh, he rubbed his temple which was hurting brutally from all the nights he'd slept badly during past almost two months. He had no idea of what woke up him up every single night – all her could remember was silver.
" Iruka-sensei?" Child's tiny, utterly horrified voice managed to startle him. Turning his gaze, he saw one of his students – seven-year-old named Iori – stood by the doorway, face chalk-white.
He frowned. " What's wrong?"
He saw the child gulp. " Some… Some men just barged into the building", the boy piped out. " We're scared."
Icy flood washed over him, and he discovered it was harder to breathe than usually. His body, however, recovered from first shock much faster than his mind. With a hold that was surprisingly unwavering he grabbed the child's hand. " We'll better get out of here." Yes, he was a full-flexed ninja, more than capable of taking care of himself. But these children weren't as lucky, and it was his duty to protect them.
Without making a sound they ran, and made it through a couple of hallways until his senses – strained to their extreme – picked something and he stilled, pulling the trembling boy as close to him as possible. Luck, however, wasn't on their side.
His body not completely under his own control, the boy took one sidestep, managing to hit a piece of floor that wasn't properly intact. The moan that came wasn't loud, but quite enough to arouse attention.
And sure enough, only seconds later a rather large man wearing Kirigakure's headband was stood before them with a grin that chilled his blood. " Well how about this – an adult for change." A sword – longer and more unevenly edged than average – was pulled, and Iruka could tell that only paralysing terror kept Iori from screaming. " Don't look so horrified. This won't take long, I promise – after all, I'm a busy man."
Acting on instinct, Iruka pulled Iori even closer and shifted so that his back was to the man. He closed his eyes the exact same second the child finally managed to scream, and saw yet another flash of silver.
A couple of seconds later sound of metal piercing flesh came, but oddly enough he didn't feel pain. Very slowly he opened his eyes and turned around so that Iori stayed safely behind him. He blinked a couple of times at what he saw.
The ninja that had been threatening him lay on the ground, a shuriken sticking out of his neck. About five steps away was standing Shino, glancing at him through glasses. " Are you alright?"
He nodded, gradually recovering from adrenaline's full affects. " We'll better get out of here."
" Easier said than done", Shino stated sullenly. " This place is swarming with those guys – they've obviously found their desired nest."
He swallowed a bit. " Any chances for backup?"
He'd expected such a reply, but nonetheless felt discouraged when Shino shook his head. " Everyone's got their hands full. We're on our own."
He fought off the urge to swear for Iori's sake.
So, to put it short…, he mused darkly. We're doomed.
Only a small distance from the school, Suzume aimed yet another adrenaline-spiked kick at the man sitting on a chair before her, his hands bind and Kirigakure's headband about to fall off. " For the last time…", she hissed, her eyes turning into slits. " I'm not an idiot enough to think that your village could've organized without pressure from the outside. And don't bother giving me Madara's name. I know that asshole is smart and powerful, but even he wouldn't be able to pull out such a miracle."
The man snorted. " Why should I tell anything to a brat?"
She only managed to restrain herself from kicking again with the knowledge that crushing this idiot's skull would be no good to Konoha.
She turned upon hearing steps from behind her, and saw Lee approaching. " Shino's group just went to investigate the school. There should be twenty kids and three teachers."
She nodded, feeling strangely relieved to know that the boy was out of the storm's eye. " Thanks."
Her relief was, however, cut short when the man she'd been interrogating suddenly burst into a loud laughter. Her eyes narrowed even further than before when she looked at him. " Now what?"
" So your little boyfriend is in the school building?" The man kept laughing. " You know, this is almost too good to be true."
Her heart nearly stilled as those words started to sink in. " What the hell are you talking about?"
" The school's going to be our new base building now that we're taking over Konoha", the man announced, smirk revealing poor shaped teeth. " A huge group of my village's elite just went in there. Everyone inside is going to get butchered."
She'd never been one to act on an impulse, but this time… " Lee…" She hated the way her voice shuddered an inch. Her heart was hammering beyond all human limitations. " I'm going to need a group. Fast."
Sun was still high up when Gaara, who'd fallen asleep into an armchair placed to Neji's bedside with exhaustion brought by sleepless nights, suddenly woke up to a strangest feeling – almost like fingers brushing his cheek. As a response to the touch, his eyes flew open and hand made its way to a kunai hidden into his clothes – but retreated the second he noticed Neji, who was soundlessly making his way towards the room's door.
He frowned. " Where do you think you're going?"
The Hyuuga didn't turn to look at him. " To Konoha", the boy said as though it'd been the simplest thing in the entire world. " My village needs me. I have to be there."
He could tell his eyes flashed. " What?!" Cold wave travelled through him. " Neji, you'll get an antibody soon, and you just fainted! You can't… You can't leave now!"
A somewhat sad aura spread around the brunette. " We both know they'll never make it in time. I can't just sit around here waiting for the inevitable."
Gaara had been attacked by many violent impulses during his time as demon container. But what flared through him now was something else entirely. Before he could even think, he'd jumped up and moved to the other boy.
His hand tightened around Neji's wrist, surprising them both. " I'm not going to let you die", he announced in a firm, deep voice that didn't sound quite right. " I'm not letting you go, not when you have a chance to make it."
-
Neji was about to protest, but all words became lost into a merciless, wrenching bout of coughs that brought taste of blood into his mouth. He squeezed his eyes tightly shut, pain surging all over almost sternly enough to bring tears into his eyes.
Damnit…!
He shuddered when Gaara touched him, then stunned himself with relaxing to the touch. " Neji?"
' I'm okay', he tried to say. ' This will pass. I'll be fine.' But the slowly passing coughs had taken away all of his voice, and he couldn't make a sound.
Had he been in any other condition, he would've most likely protested when Gaara scooped him into his arms. But as it was now, he found his head falling against the redhead's warm shoulder, and his all of a sudden icy body welcomed all worth radiating from the other.
Everything turned into dark haze inside his head as he drifted into a slumber.
-
At first Gaara was startled when feeling the body in his arms grow limp, but relaxed just a little upon discovering that Neji had merely fallen asleep.
As gently as he possibly could he laid the Hyuuga to bed. Instead of leaving the room, he found himself staring at the brunette's pained face. A tight knot squeezed around his chest when he noticed that blood stained the other's unnaturally pale lips.
Time was running out, he knew.
Just then, something Neji had told him came back into his mind.
That assassin… He'd suggested a trade – the antibody that'd cure Neji in exchange for another bottle. If they'd save another life, Neji would be allowed to live.
Yes, he knew it was most likely nothing but a hoax. But still… If Izumi and Kankuro wouldn't make it in time, which was highly likely… It was also Neji's only chance of survival.
As he looked at the Hyuuga, heard silent moans of pain that refused to remain as the boy's secret, he made up his mind.
So it required making a deal with the devil to save Neji? So be it.
With that decided, he left the room as soundlessly as a shadow.
Danzou's day certainly didn't get any better as it progressed, for the reports of casualties and damages piling up to his desk seemed endless.
Women, children, hospital …
What kind of monsters was he dealing with?!
The knock coming from his office's door did nothing to help with the soon to be exploding headache. " What?"
A somewhat timid-looking female-ninja entered, seeming deathly pale. " I… I came to give you a report. The school… It's been attacked."
He'd never felt as cold in his entire life. All colour drained from his face.
" Leave." His voice was crackling more than a thunderbolt. " Now."
The girl didn't hesitate to do as ordered.
As soon as she was gone, he picked up a vase and threw it to a furthest wall with as much force as he could possibly muster.
At the exact same second, the hooded figure that'd visited him earlier reappeared. He could sense amusement. " Now, do you accept my deal? It appears your mess is getting quite a bit deeper than before."
His dark eyes tried unsuccessfully to see what was underneath the hood. " I'm assuming your help has a price", he stated dryly.
The intruder nodded slowly. " That's right. After all, it wouldn't be a deal if I'd gain nothing in return."
He felt like snarling, but managed to stop himself. " What do you want?"
" The Tailed Beasts", the stranger stated, as casually as talking about weather. " Trust me, I will get my hands on them one way or another. This way, you and your village would benefit something." He could tell that his eyes were being looked at, the hesitation in them spotted. " You have no other choice, Danzou-kun. So accept this deal, for everyone's sake. Do this, and Konoha will never be threatened again."
This could be the biggest mistake he'd ever made. But his village was falling apart, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. This was his last chance to save what was left. And therefore…
" Fine", he spat through gritted teeth. " If Konoha survives, you'll get the demons. Make them leave my village alone."
Was that a grin? " You made a wise decision, Danzou-kun." Smoke appeared again. " I'll see you soon."
In just seconds he was alone, left wondering what he'd just done.
Kisame, who'd just been tracing down Naruto's fast disappearing tracks, looked up once hearing a faintest sound. He lifted one eyebrow at the hooded figure approaching with eerily soundless steps. " Well?"
" As expected." The tone was filled with pleasure. " He accepted the deal, no questions asked."
He found himself grinning. " Geez, Madara wasn't lying. You really are good." Silence remained for a while as they listened to the Kyuubi's distant roar. " So… What do we do now?"
" We sit back and watch what Konoha chooses to do next." There was another roar. " If those fools don't manage to catch the Kyuubi for us, then we'll do the dirty work. But as for now… It seems they're playing straight into our pockets."
Once more thrown into his cell, Sasuke groaned and spat blood at the stone-made floor, the interrogation session he'd just been through throbbing in absolutely every part of his still somewhat weak body.
He was about to drift into sleep of sheer exhaustion, until his ears twitched at sounds of approaching steps coming from behind the cell's thick, metallic door. He winced. Was it time already?
When the door was pushed opened, he growled while shielding his now tender eyes from blinding light. After a couple of seconds a voice he recognized very well spoke out. " I can see they're getting desperate."
His eyes adjusting to the light little by little, he peered towards the arrival, distinguishing a very female form and golden hair. " What… are you doing here?"
It seemed Tsunade had known to expect that question. " As little as I trust you, you're the only one who can find Naruto before Danzou's dogs." She eyed him. " Do you think you can walk?"
He nodded firmly, pushing his body up although it seemed to weight a ton. " I can take care of myself." His eyebrows then furrowed. " But it seems to me there's more."
Tsunade nodded, her expression becoming even graver. " There's a code that's now been just about solved. It seems there's way to restrain the Kyuubi once more, for good this time, and get the Naruto we've known back."
His heart jumped just a bit at those words, but he wasn't fully satisfied. Tsunade seemed far too solemn to allow him to relax. " What's the catch?"
Did the woman just bite her lip? " The jutsu… There's a chance it'll kill him – which is why it wasn't used the first the Nine Tailed was captured. But it's also the only way."
Thunder of nausea assaulted him, and he had to restrain himself from gagging a bit. This had to be some sort of a sick joke. " And… You're expecting me to do this to him?"
" I hate the idea as well", Tsunade stated in a voice that clearly gave away she was far from at ease with this plan. " But like I said, it's the only way to save both Naruto and Konoha." Quite cautiously, she pulled out a scroll and handed it to him. He accepted it after hesitation. " I trust you to find a way – for Naruto's sake."
It baffled him that she was willing to take a chance like this – after all, Danzou would undoubtedly gladly sentence her of treason if he'd ever find out about this, and this also meant she was leaving Naruto's life into his hands. But then again, Naruto was precious to her. He wondered if there was anything she wouldn't do for the blonde.
Tsunade's eyes were hard while following his as he walked out of the cell, testing his legs that, fortunately, seemed co-operative. " Bring him back. Understood?"
All he could do was nod.
Just before he dashed out, something very uncharacteristic came to his mind, and slipped over his tongue before he could stop it. " Thank you."
Tsunade was speechless for a few moments before managing to speak. " Go."
Without glancing over his shoulder he sped on as fast as he possibly could, his legs managing to carry him past security and doors with a month of harsh training.
And for a second time in his life, Sasuke Uchiha crossed the village's borderlines unauthorised, making himself a missing nin all over again.
His eyes became narrowed. You'll better hang in there for a little bit longer, dobe.
Naruto had absolutely no idea of for long he'd been running until he finally lost his battle against the burning pain in his leg and slumped to the ground, tears streaming down his face without an inch of control.
His whole body shuddered with pain, exhaustion and cold when he pulled his legs to his chest and buried his forehead into them. " Help… please… Help me…" Somebody, anybody, please help me! Then, without being called, a name slipped through. Sasuke…!
In his head, the Kyuubi – fully ready to take back the control it'd momentarily lost – scoffed. ' You humans are absolutely pathetic.' It mused. ' That Uchiha must be very precious to you. I bet you miss him terribly – I can feel it. ' After investigating the storm that lit up inside him, the demon added fuel. ' You know, I heard something Danzou said while escaping from Konoha. He's going to execute Sasuke very, very soon. I bet you'd like to play a hero and save him.'
He winced, his head starting to grow hazy. The tears that appeared had nothing to do with pain, although he wasn't quite ready to admit it. " Shut up…!" Had his condition been any other, he would've been confused by the blatant fact that he didn't bother to object the demon's observation. " You have no right… to talk about him, so shut it."
' Try to make me, kit. I doubt you could.'
Little as he liked to admit it, he was forced to agree. In his current state, he couldn't have hurt even an insect. That thought certainly didn't stop him from seething inside.
At that moment, he became aware of the pain in his leg once more while it flooded over him as mercilessly as a tide. Only his pride kept him from whimpering out loud when the violent sensation reached its peak, made his head spin and world grow just a little bit dimmer than before.
' Kit, stop being an idiot. If you'd let me, I could heal that in a couple of moments. Just let me take control for a while, will you? Spare us both from this.'
He grit his teeth with all his bravery, tears of pain leaking while he clenched his eyes shut. " Shut… the fuck up!"
At that moment, he made the huge mistake of closing his eyes, this painful buzzing sound appearing into his ears. It was all he heard, until his cautious senses perked up to discover approaching footsteps. He winced despite himself.
Oh man… Those guys found me…
With a tremendous struggle, he managed to convince his eyes into inching halfway open. For a moment all he could see was blur, but then…
He just managed to make out a blob of something dark, and felt his heart perform an odd movement underneath his ribcage. " S – Sasuke…?"
Could it… Could it really be…?
He tried his hardest to reach out a hand, to even utter a smallest sound, anything that would've convinced him that the raven was really there. But before he could do either one of those things everything turned completely dark.
-
An eyebrow rose when the blonde managed to whisper. " S – Sasuke…?"
Eyes flashed. " Sasuke? As in Sasuke Uchiha?"
But the blonde was already unconscious.
After a moment, female-voice carried to a nearby hut. " Suigetsu, Juugo, get your lazy asses here! I found something interesting!"
TBC, un.
A/N: (winces) Yes, I did it again. I'm so sorry!
Since I yet again feel urge to get going… Please, do review – do I even have to repeat how much your support means to me?
Until next update, folks. I hope I'll see all of you then!
Take care!
colgate: (sniffs) Poor Sasuke indeed! (shudders) If he ends up dying, I suppose I'll start looking for a new, WELL hidden adress… (sweatdrops)
Massive thank yous for the review! 'Hope I'll be seeing you around.
-
realityfling18: Goodness – I'm absolutely ecstatic you liked the chapter, and to even think that much! One of top-faves?! (dances around like a madwoman)
(sniffs) Poor… everyone, really, indeed! (hisses at Danzou) Damn, that guy is seriously starting to get on nerves!
(chuckles) It'll most certainly not be a problem to post the response to below the chapter – especially with that breathtaking review!
Colossal thank yous for the absolutely amazing review! I really hope you'll like what's to come as well.