Woe... I'm Life's Whore
Woe… I'm Life's Whore
Naruto discovers some funky feelings. A LOT of drama ensues. AU SasuNaru, plus other pairings (surprise ). Some possible OOCness.. plot-line a little more serious than the title.
Main Pairing: SasuNaru/NaruSasu Others: GaaNaru/NaruGaa KibaShino/ShinoKiba SasuOrochi/OrochiSasu
R&R
Chapter Twenty-One: Hostage
The first sense that returned to Naruto's brain was touch, and boy, did he feel it. Aching and throbbing pains all over, a particularly sharp stab at the back of his head. He moved a hand to touch the tender spot, and realised he was thoroughly tied up. Not able to summon the energy to flail, he focused on the next of his regained senses.
Sound. What was that sound, anyway? It was a quiet hum, occasionally a scrape of metal, but mostly just the quiet rumble. It kind of sounded like, a car.
Naruto then realised everything was black. His heart thudded hard against his rib-cage as fleeting thoughts of blindness frightened him, but he soon figured that he was just blindfolded. He tried to cry out for help. A voice somewhere next to him responded.
"You awake now, kid?"
His memories fleeted back. The past few days at Sasuke's house, the door, the strange man, and then nothing.
Naruto tried to wet his lips with his tongue, but found his mouth completely parched.
"Water, please," he wheezed.
He felt the car tilt gently sideways and slow down to a stop. He heard the sound of a bottle opening and being pressed to his lips. "Drink," the voice ordered. Naruto obeyed.
After he had finished drinking, he felt fingers slide under the blindfold he was wearing and remove the flimsy piece of cloth. Light flooded his vision, and he blinked as everything came back into contrast.
"Ow," he said, opening his eyes wide and moving them left and right, still blinking.
"Heh," the voice next to him spoke up, "don't hurt yourself, kid."
They were riding down a long and near deserted highway. Naruto looked over at the man. It was definitely the same man from yesterday. He was very tall, wearing a dark suit, and had skin so pale it almost looked blue. There were odd markings down his neck, like gills, and he had stiff, electric blue hair. His eyes were small and beady, almost dangerous, and his teeth small and pointed.
"Who are you?" Naruto said, finally taking the odd-looking man in for all his worth.
The corners of his mouth twitched into a small smile, "name's Kisame."
"Kisame?" he repeated quietly to himself, thinking. "So why am I here, Kisame? I hope you're not a wanted criminal with a fetish for young boys."
Kisame chuckled, a little coldly. "Well, I don't know about the child fetish.."
Naruto's eyes widened slightly. "So you are a criminal."
Kisame would have almost rolled his eyes, had there been any space in those tiny little sockets to do so. "I did kidnap you, kid."
"Why?"
Kisame turned to face him. The man had a very icy gaze that sent Naruto's heart into his throat.
"A bit cocky of you to be asking me questions, don't you think?"
Naruto gulped and averted his gaze to the front window.
They rode in silence for quite a while longer, Kisame at the wheel.
Naruto wondered if he was becoming accustomed to these damsel-in-distress getting-taken-away-by-total-strangers situations. They seemed to be getting more and more frequent. Naruto frowned.
"Sir," Naruto began, throwing caution to the wind with that title, "please could you tell me why I'm here."
Kisame continued to stare forward at the road ahead. Naruto lowered his head in silence.
"Kid, the only reason I'm going to tell you anything, is because you remind me of something I lost long ago."
Naruto had no idea what that meant, but listened intently never the less.
"I am one of the highest ranked criminals in this country. I work along side the Uchiha man himself. I am Itachi's business partner," he paused, letting Naruto take in this information. The boy seemed somewhat unfazed.
"Itachi has had sources watching his younger brother since a certain, incident, happened several years ago. We know pretty much all of young Sasuke's dealings, including those he has found himself... attached to."
Naruto's stomach fell. He knew it. Sasuke had found him too much trouble to have around on the off chance that something like this would happen.
"Now," Kisame continued, "as we speak, Itachi appears to be in a bit of a fix."
Naruto turned his head slowly up to Kisame's face, which was staring ahead, unperturbed.
"Yes," he said, making a sharp turn to avoid missing an off-ramp, "Itachi has found himself to be a hostage."
"H... Hostage..??" Naruto repeated, bewildered.
"It appears young Sasuke isn't as empty-headed as Orochimaru thought," he said, turning to Naruto.
"...and you, kid, have just become one hell of a bargaining chip."
Naruto jumped as a cell phone somewhere buzzed to life, playing a generic, typical ring tone.
Kisame flipped open the cell from the dash board. "Hello?"
"..."
"Yes, Sasuke," he said, with a glance over at Naruto, telling him to be quiet.
"..."
"Yes, you dare lay a hand on him, Sasuke, and this kid is mince meat."
Naruto almost heard the receiver slam on the other end. Kisame chuckled. "Irritable brat, isn't he?"
Naruto scowled.
Kisame chuckled again.
"Hey, kid," he said, getting Naruto's attention back. "Ever wonder why, exactly, Itachi left his little brother alone, that fateful day?"
Naruto didn't answer. He didn't want to know the answer, anyway.
The car came to a halt at a set of traffic lights and Kisame bent down closer to Naruto's face.
"He thought his parents were scum. Treated his poor bitty brother like trash, he never got any limelight, even though he worked his tiny fingers to the bone for it." His chuckling had turned into a menacing laugh.
"That, Naruto Uzumaki, was Itachi's sick, twisted way of doing little Sasuke a favour."
After Kisame's cold laughter had subsided, the silence pressed heavily for the remainder of the ride.
In the distance, Naruto could see a chain of abandoned warehouses. A deserted commercial strip.
Sasuke was close. Naruto could feel it.