Disclaimer: I ownth not the manga of Naruto
A/N: Wow, I'm on a roll here! I forgot how fun writing can be!
Karin landed on a branch in the forest. It was approaching nightfall, and the dappled light that filtered in through the leaves had a rich, golden hue. A small breeze floated through the branches, taking the edge off the oppressive heat. Despite the beauty of her surroundings, Karin heart pounded and her skin sweat with anxiety. Three men were following her, one of whom she feared more than anything else. To think, five years ago she had been in love with this boy, but now all she felt in his presence was fear.
"Karin, what is it?" asked the Uchiha.
"I can sense Itachi's chakra emanating from an underground building several miles ahead. But the chakra is old, so we won't find him there."
"Very well then," said Sasuke, "we'll have to go investigate."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Ten Ten was busy binding her wounds. She woke up after sleeping for who knows how long in a puddle of her own blood. Her head pounded and she was dizzy from excessive bleeding. Using the sharp metal tools in her cell, she cut her vest into strips of cloth. Despite the incredible pain, she used the lemon juice to clean her wounds, knowing that infection would be worse than any pain. After cleansing her wounds, Ten Ten wrapped them with the strips of cloth she cut. For now, the bleeding had stopped, but she had no idea what to do with her broken leg.
She leaned back against the wall of her cell and closed her eyes. Her whole body ached, but there was nothing she could do for now. She could here voices outside; guards talking to each other she supposed.
Ten Ten laid there for hours listening to them. She couldn't understand what they were saying, but the sound of voices was soothing in a way. Hours passed.
Suddenly, the sound of the voices gained a new tone of urgency. There was yelling, orders were being given. She heard a blood-curdling scream followed by others. The sound of metal striking metal reverberated through the walls. Footsteps. She heard a man running. The sound of his footsteps was getting closer. He was just outside her door when the man screamed.
More footsteps. By the sound of it four people were following this man. The footsteps stopped. They were so close to the door that she could hear everything with surprising clarity.
"WHERE IS ITACHI?" bellowed another man, hatred and rage saturating his voice. The voice was familiar but she could not place it.
"If you tell me where he is, I promise to spare your life," he said in a deceptively sweet tone.
"He . . . he . . . he went s-south. That's all I know, I swear! He w-went south t-towards a battle camp to . . . to speak with three of the Commanders." The wounded man stuttered.
"Thank you"
"W-w-wait, you said you'd spare me!" he pleaded
"I did say that."
Suddenly, the door to Ten Ten's cell blasted inward, flying clear off its hinges and crashing into the opposite wall. The sound of it echoed throughout the cell vibrating in Ten Ten's bones. She raised an arm to shield herself from the dust.
As the dust began to settle the man she heard entered the door followed by three others. It was none other than Uchiha Sasuke. His face was just as beautiful as it had been eight years before, but now bloodlust seemed to radiate from his body. It filled the air so thickly that Ten Ten thought she could cut it with a knife.
Sasuke approached the man whose broken body was entangled with the shards of wood and metal that once made a door. The man's limbs were still twitching, and Ten Ten could see that his eyes were wide open and pupils were dilated, tracking the movements of the Uchiha. Sasuke lifted his blood soaked katana and dealt the finishing blow. The man uttered a sigh as his last breath escaped his lungs.
The Uchiha turned his attention to the prisoner in the room. Ten Ten shut her eyes immediately lest she fall victim to the sharingan. As his footsteps grew closer, Ten Ten could feel her hands shake.
He was only a couple inches from her now. She could feel the heat come off his body as well as the bloodlust. She heard his shirt rustle as he extended out a hand. Ten Ten was prepared for the worst, but his touch was surprisingly gentle. He cupped her chin in his hand and turned her face towards his.
"Look at me Ten Ten," he said, but she didn't dare open her eyes. Sasuke applied pressure to the wound on her arm and she opened her eyes from the shock of pain. She did not find what she expected. There was no sharingan in his eyes.
"Ten Ten, there are only two Uchiha in the world. First, I will prove that I am an Uchiha, then I will prove that I am not Itachi." Sasuke stood up and turned around to face his comrades. Suddenly, the largest of them screamed and collapsed, holding his hands to his eyes. It was unmistakably the genjutsu of the sharingan. Then, Sasuke turned around and crouched by Ten Ten. A snake emerged from his sleeve and crawled its way up her leg. Unmistakably not a jutsu of Itachi's.
The snake wound itself around Ten Ten's broken thigh and squeezed. The pain was unbearable. It squeezed tighter and tighter until something in her leg seemed to snap. A bright white light filled her eyes along with the intolerable pain. Slowly her vision returned to her and the pain faded.
Looking down at her leg, Ten Ten saw that it was straight. The snake had actually realigned the bone in her leg and was now holding it still, applying even pressure all down her leg. She was sweating despite the cold in the cell and breathing heavily. It felt good. It was such a relief.
Sasuke crept closer still. She could now smell him now. It was a mixture of the scent of blood and the scent his own body produced. His shirt slipped off his shoulder. He seemed not to notice, but his comrades knew well what he was doing. He wrapped his arms around her waste and cradled her tortured body.
"Now Ten Ten, all the guards in this building were grass ninja. The Akatsuki are elsewhere. I need to find them. Is there anything you can tell me? What questions did they ask you?"
She didn't know why, and she thought herself insane, but for some reason Ten Ten felt that she could trust him. Despite the bloodlust.
"They asked me where Naruto is."
"Where is he?"
"I . . . I don't know, but I do know he's disguised as a Sand noble and travels with three others."
Suddenly Sasuke dropped her and walked out of the cell. The two others followed him, carrying the third who had fallen on the ground. Ten Ten was alone again. The snake holding her leg together disappeared. She looked around the room, searching for anything she could use to support her leg.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Uchiha-sama, what do we do now?" asked Karin.
Sasuke turned to face his servants.
"You three go back to Otogakure and assemble the troops. Karin, you are in charge of the first division, Suigetsu, you have the second division, and tell Juugo when he wakes up that he has the third division. It is time for the 'Operation' to begin. I will head south and continue searching for Itachi. Get moving."
The three disappeared in a cloud of dusty, leaving Sasuke alone in the forest. It was nighttime now, and the heat of the day had cooled a little, but there would be no sleeping for him.