Chapter Eleven-
Sasuke's eye widened as he processed the words that had been spoken and then recognized the voice. It was Sasumi. He turned his head painfully towards her and inhaled sharply in shock causing his broken ribs to throb. He instinctively brought his unbroken wrist to his chest and forced himself to breathe slowly.
Sasumi's eyes were black. And not just the irises, both eyeballs were entirely black. They seemed to draw Sasuke in, and he found he couldn't look away. It was then that Sasuke realized he was scared. If he had the energy, he probably would have been shaking, but instead he could only lean against the tree and stare with his unfocused eyes. There was something about those eyes that made him more scared than he had ever been in his life. They terrified him.
He didn't know much about Sasumi. In fact, he really didn't know much about Naruto or Kakashi either. But he knew the least about her. He knew she had mediocre grades in the academy and had not paid much attention to her until they were together on Team Seven. He started to notice strange things about her then, like how she never brought any food on missions, until after she had almost starved to death. Or that she never even quirked an eyebrow in the most dire situations. He had tried to dismiss her as strange and slightly stupid, but he couldn't help but feel that he was missing something. With her even more than Naruto. It was absurd that he be afraid of her. She, unlike Naruto when fighting that Gaara, hadn't shown any real power. But that wasn't exactly true, was it? During the second part of the Chuunin Exam when Orochimaru had attacked them she had shown speed that was rivaled only by Maito Gai's. He supposed he could dismiss that as a fluke as well as the time where she broke Ino's ribs (well, she was under a curse.) He certainly had no reason to be afraid of her now. In fact he should be more afraid of his brother and what was going to happen to Naruto.
But those eyes…
From the first time he met Sasumi he noticed that her eyes were not normal. They were green. He had never met someone with green eyes before. Not only were they green, but they looked like how she acted and spoke: emotionless. After he had been on Team Seven with her for a while he also noticed something else. Sometimes her eyes looked so dead. They had that same look now. And for some reason it scared him.
"Sa-Sa…sumi?" a voice to his right gasped out, "Don't…shouldn't…no…here…"
Sasuke finally tore his eyes away from Sasumi's and saw his brother and the other man frozen, staring at Sasumi. Naruto hung limply in the other man's hand, blood slowly dripping down his torso and out of his mouth. His blue eyes were slightly glazed over and it looked like every breath took all his energy.
"Who the hell are you?" the other man asked, his hand straying to a strange looking weapon that was soaked with what Sasuke realized was Naruto's blood. He wanted to say something. To tell her to run, because she couldn't save them and because Itachi would get her too.
"He's already gotten Naruto," he thought dimly, "Get away… before he takes you too."
He wanted to tell her this, but he couldn't. The aftereffects of Itachi's Mangekyou Sharingan still weighed upon his mind and Sasuke was surprised that he was even aware of all that was happening around him. He felt weak. The same way he felt as he watched Itachi kill his parents, when he fought in the Wave Country, and when he fought Gaara. Weak. And suddenly he felt like he would never be able to avenge his clan, his parents, and himself. Again he could only watch. And there was nothing he could do about it. Nothing at all.
"Now," said Sasumi, a determined and furious look on her face that seemed even stronger than the expression she had worn when Ino called her a freak in the Chuunin Exam.
"Those eyes…" said his brother softly, almost inaudibly, "What are they?"
Sasumi didn't answer him. Her eyes were trained on Naruto and her left hand slipped into her shuriken pouch.
"Ho…so you're going to fight us now?" said the blue skinned man, clearly amused.
"Kisame," his brother said warningly. His eyes were narrowed and he looked to Sasumi warily, "Who are you?"
Sasumi didn't answer him, instead she moved her legs moved further apart and her entire body tensed as if ready for a fight. Sasuke wanted to close his eyes and keep them open at the same time. He didn't want to see Itachi kill Sasumi, but he couldn't and didn't want to look away. He wanted to yell out "Run!" but his body was too weak. It always came down to strength, didn't it?
"You're so weak." Itachi whispered, "Still not enough hate…"His head hit the back of the tree trunk and suddenly he was breathing heavily and the world spun. He saw flashes of his parents and the blood. All the blood
After what seemed like forever it stopped and he focused his attention on the scene before him again. In reality, it couldn't have been more than a few seconds because none of the three figures had moved.
"Let him go," sasumi repeated, her voice betraying nothing, "And then leave."
The man called 'Kisame' let out a derisive snort. Itachi didn't say anything.
"Ch. You shouldn't order us around, brat. It'll get you in trouble." He did something that Sasuke couldn't see, but he could guess when Naruto let out a cry of pain. Sasumi's face contorted in anger… no, hate. Her shoulders tensed and she narrowed her eyes.
"You have five seconds to let him go and leave," She said, anger creeping into her voice, "Or I'll make you."
The blue skinned man smirked, "Really." He said amusedly and then more seriously, "I'd like to see you try."
"Kisame."
Kisame ignored him, "It's been five seconds," he said, his voice strangely empty, "Now what are you going to do?"
"Kisame!"
Sasumi's reaction was instantaneous or rather Sasuke assumed it was her because he only saw and blur of red and black. She rushed towards Kisame, but Itachi stood in front of him blocking her kunai with a kunai of his own. Suddenly her left leg was a blur and Itachi's eyes widened as he was forced to dodge the blow. Sasumi threw the kunai at Kisame, who blocked it. She ducked Itachi's kick and suddenly there was an explosion and Sasumi jumped backwards in order to avoid it. Suddenly Itachi was right in front of her, and Sasuke shut his eyes on reflex. There was a crunching noise and he opened them to see a kunai through Sasumi's chest. He felt sick as he watched the blood rush down her stomach. The blood-
Sasumi disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
"Kage Bushin!" said Kisame, obviously shocked, "What the-" But he never got to finish his sentence because suddenly a torrent of kunai rained down upon him. He dodged some, but a few were lodged in his arms. He hissed in pain and angrily ripped them out.
"That bitc-"
"Kisame, quiet."
There was silence for a few moments, only broken by the sound of Naruto's painful breaths. Suddenly, three shuriken came out of nowhere and Kisame and Itachi both jumped backwards to avoid them. Itachi leapt towards the place where they had come from, and then suddenly Sasumi appeared behind Kisame. She kicked him harshly in the back and he yelled out and toppled over. Her arm was a blur and before he was able to dodge away Naruto was no longer in his grip. He jumped back cursing and Sasumi moved in front of Sasuke and placed Naruto on the ground beside him. Naruto's eyes were wide in confusion, but it seemed that he could only stare at the redhead. Sasumi turned to face his brother and Kisame.
"Leave," she repeated, "Or shall I make you do that as well?"
"Our objective is Naruto-kun," his brother stated emotionlessly, "We cannot leave without him."
Sasumi didn't say anything and suddenly her entire body relaxed. For a second Sasuke thought that Itachi had used his Mangekyou Sharingan on her, but her next movement disproved this theory. With one hand she pull off the bandages on the other arm. Sasuke's eyes widened as he saw what was beneath them. That wasn't her arm. There was no way that could be an arm. It was covered in thin and thick indentations and parts of it were black. Some of it looked like it had been eaten away and some of her skin looked like it had been melted. Sasuke stared, trying to figure out what it was.
"What the…" he heard Kisame say.
She deftly tied the bandages that she pulled off around her left arm and waist, making it so she couldn't move her left arm at all. If Sasuke wasn't so busy wondering what thing sticking out of her sleeve was, he probably would have wondered why she had done that.
"Interesting," Itachi said and Sasumi lifted a kunai and then her entire body tensed.
When Sasuke had run away, Sasumi had only gotten a brief glimpse of his memories. However, since the memory she wanted was recent, it only took her a few minutes to sort through them a figure out what was what. Once she realized what was happening she rushed after Sasuke. What she found was a bloody, half dead Naruto and a stunned Sasuke with various broken bones.
Now she stood before Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame and planned what she was going to do. There would be no help coming any time soon, so she would have to drive them off herself. At this point she didn't care that she was breaking her cover, only that her teammates, no, friends were in danger. Hoshigaki was already injured from her kick and kunai, and he did have many weaknesses as well. Uchiha Itachi, on the other hand, was a totally different story. Uchiha was stronger than her. He was larger, more experienced and had Hoshigaki to back him up. But besides these three shortcomings, Sasumi had the advantage.
First, she knew everything she ever needed to know about him; his skills, special jutsu, etc. Second, while she knew everything about him, he knew basically nothing about her except a few of her moves. He had had his Sharingan activated at the time, so Sasumi made a mental note not to use any of them against him. And third, she had a Kekkai Genkai that rivaled his in deadliness. However, she hoped she wouldn't need to use it.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw Naruto breathing heavily. If she healed him she wasn't sure she would have enough chakra to fight effectively against her opponents. But, if she didn't heal him soon, he would bleed to death. Sasuke wasn't as hurt as Naruto was, but it was obvious that he was in pain too. She gritted her teeth. She would have to make this quick. She wished they would just leave, but after seeing why they wanted Naruto, she knew they wouldn't without a fight.
"Unfortunately, I can't allow you to take him." She said evenly, "Akatsuki."
They both visibly tensed, "Itachi-san," said Hoshigaki, "Shall I-"
"No."
His eyes began to spin and Sasumi smirked inwardly. She heard Sasuke gasp and Naruto whimper. A few seconds went past and Uchiha's eyes widened.
"What-"
"Are you done yet?" she asked, and noted that he was sweating slightly. Using the Mangekyou Sharingan three times in a day was apparently very straining.
"Kisame," Uchiha said.
The taller man rushed at her and she easily dodged his blows. She was tempted to grab his sword and throw it away, but she didn't get the chance. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the Uchiha. She whirled around and was faced with a black fireball. She dodged it and delivered a kick right into Uchiha's chest. She heard a crack, and he was thrown backwards. He struggled to his feet, blood trickling down his chin. She created a Kage Bushin who grabbed Hoshigaki's sword before disappearing from its defense system. Hoshigaki lunged for it and she was about to make another Kage Bushin when three shuriken entered her back. She growled in pain and dodged another one that was thrown by Uchiha. Hoshigaki made a familiar hand symbol and gigantic wave of water spewed from his mouth covering the training grounds with water. She knew what he was trying to do and grabbed Naruto and Sasuke's collars, pulling them out of the way of the tirade of water. Once the waves had subsided she turned back towards the two Akatsuki members.
The fight was getting out of hand. Now that her anger had subsided she realized that if she didn't get out of this soon, they'd all end up six feet under. Uchiha would soon see through her moves and however well she knew his and Hoshigaki's moves, they would eventually try something new and she would be finished.
"It's useless," she said softly, "The ANBU will be here soon. However, if you don't leave now, I'll kill you both before they get here." It was a lie. The ANBU were not coming and she didn't plan on and couldn't kill them. She was running out of energy and seen wouldn't be able to fight anymore. However, they didn't know that. There was a long pause and she could practically see Uchiha Itachi's thoughts.
"We'll finish this later," he said emotionlessly. He looked at Naruto, "And then the jinchuuriki will come with us."
She narrowed her eyes and both of them jumped upwards and disappeared. But Sasumi heard his last words before he left and by the look on his face Sasuke had too.
"We'll meet again, little brother."
There was silence. An eerie wind blew through the trees. Sasumi knelt down on the wet ground and examined Naruto's torso. It was covered in deep scratches and by his complexion he had already lost a lot of blood. She untied the bandage securing her left arm to her waist and gritted her teeth as moved both arms over his body and began to heal him. As far as she could tell he was aware of what was going on as was Sasuke. However, Sasuke soon passed out from the onslaught of his brother's genjutsu. Naruto went unconscious moments later. She healed her and Sasuke's wounds as well, and then covered her left arm with the slightly bloodstained bandage again. Her clothes were basically clean, though her long black shorts were covered in mud and her quarter sleeved green shirt had a sprinkle of blood on the back and front.
She sighed audibly. It was over. Her three and a half years at Konoha were soon to come to an end. She couldn't expect Naruto and Sasuke to keep her secret as well. She would take them to the hospital and then leave. She didn't know where she would go. The Sand was out of the question as was the Rain and the Sound. Not like she wanted to go there anyway.
She slung Naruto, who was the lighter of the pair, over her shoulder and pulled Sasuke onto her back. It would have been easier to create a Kage Bushin, but Sasumi wanted to do it herself. She wanted the long walk back to Konoha to be tiresome so she could fall asleep as soon as she got to the hospital and not have to think anymore. It took about an hour to get there and she was thankful that there weren't many people in the streets to stare at her. When she got to the hospital she asked for Hanada Michiko and then waited along with a bunch of other patients who stared at her in curiosity, at Sasuke in sympathy, and at Naruto is disgust and triumph. She was too tired to get angry.
Finally the middle-aged woman walked up. She opened her mouth to ask what had happened but thankfully stopped in mid-sentence and helped her carry both of them into a room. Sasumi sat outside and waited until Hanada-san called her.
"Both of them have used up all their chakra." She told her, "Sasumi-san…what happened?"
Sasumi swallowed and looked her right in the eye, "I'm going to have to leave soon," she said softly.
Hanada-san put both hands on Sasumi's shoulders, "Sasumi-san, what happened?" Sasumi shuddered from the contact and Hanada-san drew back. She brought her hand to her head. She was feeling to many emotions now to say anything. Anger, sadness, fear, confusion were all whirling around in her head.
"I don't want to go. I don't!"
Suddenly, the waiting room disappeared in a whirl of black.
A six year old girl sits crying on a bench, her purple hair covering her bloody face. Fire burns an eight year old's skin. Screaming. Pain. Blood.
"That's her…the Yamaki!"
"Monster…look at those eyes!"
"She and the demon girl; they should've been killed at birth!"
"Are you scared little girl? Don't worry, it's only going to get worse."
"Why don't you just tell us? Then we can all go home and forget all about this."
Needles. Fire in her stomach. Screaming again. Begging, pleading.
"Leave us alone!"
" Go outside, you're such a bother."
"You've shamed our name, monster child!"
"You're no daughter of mine."
Fear. Chains. Trapped. Sobbing. And then the darkness.
"Your parents don't want you, do they? I understand, neither do mine."
"Sasumi sounds better!"
"I'm afraid of him. He hates me and Okasan."
"You're not a monster like me. Please don't hate me Sasumi."
The darkness is overwhelming. She doesn't know how long she been in there. She wants to get out. She wants to go back into the light. She pounds on the door begging and crying. She wouldn't get any food for three days now.
"Why don't you want me?"
"I like to play, it makes me forget.
"Why are your ears so weird?"
"I just knew. Is that bad?"
"Why does everyone hate you?"
"What am I?"
"I don't know! I DON'T KNOW!"
A new feeling. A burning sensation in her eyes. There'd no room left for fear. She's been afraid for too long. Anger. Kill. Screams again. But not her screams. Different screams. Their screams. Blood. Lots of blood. And Death. Running now. Running far away where they can't catch her and she'll be safe. And then the darkness.
"Sasumi-san! Sasumi-san!" Sasumi opened her eyes. For some reason she was on the floor. She closed her eyes again. She had had a flashback. Hanada-san came toward her and as a habit she flinched and backed up.
"It's okay Sasumi-san," she whispered, "It's okay. No one's going to hurt you."
And as she stretched out her arms everything went black.
And then the darkness.
Michiko stared at the unconscious girl. She didn't know what happened. Sasumi-san had been fine and was just about to tell her what had happened when she suddenly went rigid. The she started shaking and tears started falling down her cheeks. When Michiko had called her name her eyes had shot open. They looked wild and afraid. Michiko had attempted to calm her down and she backed up in fear and then fell unconscious. She didn't understand what was going on. She knew Sasumi-san had suffered horribly sometimes in her past life, but she didn't know the details. Besides, Sasumi-san had never acted this way before and it was confusing and she felt slightly afraid for her. She picked her up and placed her on a bed in the same room as her teammates. She was determined to get answers when they woke up. She sat down on a chair and waited.
Shikamaru yawned and made his way quickly to his house. Usually he didn't go quickly anywhere, but if he didn't get home soon his mother was going to yell at him. Loudly and annoyingly as usual. A he passed a store, he heard two women inside gossiping.
"…that girl just walked down the road! She was covered in blood and she was carrying the Uchiha boy and that other boy."
"What happened?"
"I don't know. I just…"
Shikamaru frowned slightly. Uchiha + other boy + girl covered in blood equaled…
Shikamaru half ran to the hospital.
After finding out their room he walked up a staircase and knocked on their door. A short woman with black hair opened the door and looked suspiciously at him.
"Who are you?" she asked.
"One of their friends," he said, pointing through the doorway.
She sighed and stepped aside to let him into the room. Naruto's shirt had been completely ripped up and was stained with blood, but it looked like he had been healed.
"Sasumi, probably."
There didn't seem to be anything wrong with Sasuke, and Sasumi had a few stains of blood on her clothes, but nothing serious.
"What happened? he asked the doctor, who was sitting in a chair next to Sasumi's bedside.
"I was hoping you could tell me," she said, "She just came in here with them and…passed out."
Her pause didn't go unnoticed by Shikamaru. He looked over to Sasumi and saw that her eyes were slightly open.
"Sasumi!"
The doctor shook her gently, "Sasumi-san."
Her eyes opened wider and she sat up so fast that the doctor had to lean back quickly to avoid being hit. She looked around the room.
"What happened?" she asked slowly.
"You fell unconscious, Sasumi-san," the doctor said.
Sasumi caught sight of Naruto and Sasuke. She made to stand up but the doctor stopped her.
"They're fine," she said, "Don't exert yourself."
"Are you sure?" The red-haired girl said, craning her neck to get a better look. She looked more desperate and panicked than Shikamaru had ever seen her. She was shaking slightly and her hands gripped the sheets. The doctor frowned and studied her intently.
"Look, Sasumi-san, You're hyperventilating. I need you to calm down."
The girl didn't seem to hear her.
"Sasumi!" Shikamaru said loudly, trying to snap her out of it.
She turned to him and blinked, "N-Nara-san?" she stuttered, "What are you doing here?"
She had more emotion on her face than Shikamaru had ever seen on it before and it was unnerving him. The doctor went to the back of the room and took out some things that Shikamaru couldn't see. He turned his attention back to Sasumi who was staring at her gloved hands that were shaking uncontrollably.
"Sasumi, you've got to calm down, okay. Listen to me!"
She turned towards him, "W-What?"
"Look, just calm down. Think of…" he wracked his brain. Of all the troublesome things…"Er…tell me what happened."
She opened her mouth to say something, but another voice interrupted her.
"Ugh…what the hell happened?" Shikamaru looked to his left to see Naruto sitting up in bed, "Sasumi? What…?" He froze, a look of realization on his face.
"Sasumi," Naruto whispered seriously, "What's going on?"
But Sasumi had frozen, her eyes as wide as he had ever seen them. Shikamaru followed her gaze to the front of the room where the doctor was. But it wasn't the doctor that she was staring at it was what was in the doctor's hand. A syringe.
Shit.
Warning bells went off in his head. This was not good.
"Hey…wait…" He tried, but doctor walked towards them.
"Sasumi?" Said Naruto, looking a little confused.
Dammit! How the hell was he supposed to tell this doctor that Sasumi had a deathly fear of needles without actually telling her?
Sasumi backed up against the wall, suddenly looking like a small child.
"Hey, look," he said to the doctor, "I think that's bit much…ah…" But he didn't need to say anything else because a look of recognition appeared on her face and she stopped and put the syringe in her pocket.
"I forgot," she whispered, "Sorry…I…"
Wait, did she know? He turned to Sasumi again whose face had gone back to normal.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"Fine," she said almost inaudibly. She looked towards Naruto a slightly guilty look on her face and then towards Sasuke's unconscious form.
"Sorry," she whispered, "I couldn't get there any sooner."
"Sasumi," Naruto said determinedly, ignoring Shikamaru's and the doctor's confused looks, "What the hell was that?"
Suddenly, Shikamaru had a very bad feeling, "Look, what happened?" he asked.
Both Sasumi and Naruto ignored him.
"I'll tell you," she said slowly, "But please wait until Uchiha-san wakes up."
"No need."
They all turned towards Sasuke's bed where he sat, looking warily at Sasumi.
Sasumi opened her mouth and repeated the same story that she had told Shikamaru about two months before.
Author's Notes: I'm evil, I know. I think I'm addicted to cliffhangers. They're just so fun to write! Don't worry, next chapter you'll find out Sasumi's past. And a warning: It's rather horrific, just letting you know. You've had a few hints, but you get most of it next chapter. You will also find out exactly how messed up she is. I'm sure you just can't wait for that! Lol.
Anyway, I know that both Sasuke and Shikamaru are rather OOC, but if you think of the circumstances and I suppose it makes sense.
Another thing, to clear up some misunderstandings about this chapter. Sasumi is NOT, I repeat, NOT invincible. She's not really that much stronger than the average Jounin, but that's only because of her Kekkai Genkai. I'll explain it more next chapter, but I didn't want people to think that I'm god-modding. And if you think her being as strong as the average Jounin is weird, just look at Kakashi and Itachi. It's not that unheard of.
About Sasumi's arm: the one that she broke herself (during the Chuunin Exam) isn't the one that was originally messed up. Her left arm has been messed up since the start of this story. Her right arm, which was in a cast, isn't anymore because it's been three months since it was broken, enough time for it to 'heal.' Why she ties her left arm to her waist is because its messed up and will get in the way of a serious fight.
Wow. My Author's Notes are just getting longer and longer! Please review and tell me what you think!