Chapter Twenty-Two-
"Hey, honey, what's yer name?" An obviously inebriated man leered at Sasumi.
"Oi, back off, asshole," Naruto snarled.
Sasuke ignored the urge to draw a kunai from under his civilian clothing and dragged Naruto away from the man.
"You idiot," he growled, "We're supposed to be undercover! Don't be so conspicuous!"
"Screw that," Naruto hissed back, "You have to know what the bastard was implying! You think I'm just gonna stand there and-"
"Uzumaki-san," Sasumi interrupted, "Uchiha-san is right, we shouldn't draw attention to ourselves, and anyway we need to keep moving. Hatake-sensei should be here with the target in approximately 26 minutes."
"Right," Sasuke said, with a pointed look at Naruto, "Now let's go over the mission details one last time."
Naruto let out a groan, but didn't complain.
It was almost seven o'clock and they had been waiting for Kakashi in one of the not-so-nice areas in the Hidden Sand Village for almost an hour. They had decided earlier that morning that Kakashi would meet the emissary alone, disguised as an ANBU Captain. He would give the emissary the scroll and then lead him to them under the pretense of asking the man to show him the local nightlife.
Naruto, himself, and Sasumi all were dressed in civilian clothing and thus looked easy prey for any creeps that came by. Already, two prostitutes, and an older man whom he had dispatched when no one was looking had approached Sasuke. It was a disgusting place, but Sasuke couldn't help notice that Naruto and Sasumi didn't seem to mind as much as he did. He knew that Sasumi lived in a place similar, but he had expected Naruto to freak out…much more than he had, anyway. While he seemed wary and cautious, he seemed to understand the area much more than Sasuke himself did.
It was also strange, seeing his teammates in civilian clothes. Naruto not wearing orange, but instead a plain brown haori and black pants; and Sasumi a light blue yukata, pants, and a tight, high collared black shirt underneath that covered the scars on her neck. Her short hair was also tied back, making her almost unrecognizable. Sasuke wore a sandy colored shirt and coarse shorts. It felt strange not wearing his kunai and shuriken pouches and forehead protector. It made him feel slightly vulnerable even though he had seven kunai strapped to his chest, and ten shuriken to his legs.
"So…" Naruto said, leaning against the wall of the dingy alley they were camping out in, "Kaka-sensei brings the guy, me and Sasuke watch from both sides, Sasumi 'accidentally' bumps into him, and sees his memories. If there's nothing there she'll just apologize and leave, if there is something there, she'll take the hair tie out of her hair, and then we attack. Are we done now?"
"Just don't mess it up, moron," Sasuke told him.
"Shut up, you basta-" he started, only to be interrupted by Sasumi.
"They're coming," she said from her post on the top of the building next to them.
"What?" Sasuke said furrowing his eyebrows, "I though they were supposed to be here twenty minute from now."
"Well, then I guess they're early," Naruto said shrugging inconsequentially, "So, I'll walk across to the other side then…?" He drew a kunai out from under his shirt.
"I'll do it," Sasuke said, "You're too conspicuous."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You have blond hair," Sasuke told him flatly, "It stands out."
"Sasuke, you idiot, this is the Sand, not Konoha! Half the people here have blond hair!"
"It's still too conspicuous," Sasuke argued stubbornly.
"Argh, Goddammit, you-"
"There's no time," Sasumi said, jumping down, "Go, Uchiha-san. They should pass by here in about two minutes."
Sasuke smirked at the insulted look on Naruto's face and walked quickly across the dirt road, not even glancing at the target and Kakashi only 150 meters away. He moved into the alley, but to his horror, found it was already occupied.
"Well, well, well. Look wha we have 'ere," one of them said, a short, flabby, middle-aged man with dark circles under his eyes. He took a draft of his cigarette, and Sasuke could tell by the sweet, sickly smell that he wasn't smoking tobacco. His companions laughed and leered at him.
"'Ey little boy," a scantily clad woman, wearing a large amount of eye makeup cajoled, "Come for a good time, honey?"
Sasuke made a disgusted face and glanced over his shoulder trying to determine how close Kakashi and the target were and how fast he could get out of here. This was his mistake. A strong arm grabbed him and forced him against the dirty wall. He struggled and made the instinctual grab for his kunai holder, only to realize that it wasn't there.
"Now, yer not all that bad te look at, little boy," another man said, this one much taller and with bigger muscles than Sasuke. He smelled of sweat and smoke, and the stench of it all made Sasuke lightheaded.
"Let. Go," he snarled angrily, Kakashi's words about not getting civilians involved ringing in his ears.
They all laughed at him and another man with dirty blond hair came up and grabbed him by the hair, forcing his head back and exposing his neck.
"Not bad, not bad," he leered, showing Sasuke his dirty yellow teeth and licking his lips, "'e'll be a good lay."
"Oi, hey now," an attractive woman with olive colored skin interjected, "Let 'im alone. If you wanna make some good memories, they why don't you cum over 'ere? You know," she said, winking, "double meanin' and all?
"Maybe later, sweetheart," the large man who had grabbed Sasuke said. And to Sasuke's horror, the man forced his legs apart and grabbed the back of Sasuke's thighs with dirty fingers. Ice-cold fear filled him to the brim and he lashed out with wild chakra throwing the man against the opposite wall of the alley, Sharingan eyes whirling.
"Ye little bastard!" the large man yelped, getting shakily to his feet, cursing all the way, "I'm gunna kill ye, and then…" he trailed off as he saw Sasuke's eyes.
Adrenaline flooded through Sasuke's veins and he drew a kunai from under his shirt.
"Get out of here," he snarled, shaking with anger," Now."
Sasuke had never seen anyone run so fast.
As soon as Sasuke was sure they were gone, he found it nessacary to act swiftly, as Sasumi had just bumped into the target.
"Watch where you're going!" the dark haired man whose picture Sasuke had studied only hours earlier shouted angrily, obviously in a bad mood. He shoved Sasumi out of his way and to the ground.
"Goddamn whore," he growled, "I don't know why you want to see this part of town, Hatake-san," he said contemptuously, "All there is is filth."
Sasuke had to physically hold himself back from tearing the man apart.
Sasumi muttered something and the emissary went white, then red with anger, and backhanded her in the face.
"What did you say to me?!" he said angrily, turning all the people in the area into spectators and ignoring Kakashi's plea to let the matter pass.
Sasumi lifted her head and stared unflinchingly into his eyes, "Traitor," she spat and pulled the hair tie out of her hair.
By the time Sasumi had let down her hair, Naruto no longer cared whether the emissary was a traitor or not. In fact, he was glad, because he now had a reason to tear the asshole to shreds.
When Naruto had first viewed the man from his place on the roof after Sasuke crossed the road, he noticed that the man looked angry. Sasumi had told him that it looked like Kakashi-sensei had had to really appeal the man to get him to show him around the district.
Now, Naruto thought as he launched himself at the man, teeth bared, he was going to pay. He attacked from the behind, colliding with the man's back, knocking him to the ground in a cloud of dust. A few people screamed and the man groaned.
"You piece of shit," Naruto growled, slamming his face back into the dust when the man tried to get up. A kunai was pressed to the emissary's throat and Naruto looked up to see Sasuke's red eyes glaring down at him.
"You're under arrest," Kakashi-sensei said in the coldest voice Naruto had ever heard him use, "for treason. I suggest you come quietly."
"What the hell is this?" the emissary grimaced, ignoring Kakashi-sensei's words, "Get your hands off me!"
"Like hell, you bastard!" Naruto grates out, "Why I oughta-"
"Uzumaki-san," Sasumi said monotonously, getting to her feet, "Please don't overdo it."
"Sasumi!" Naruto cried out, shocked, "The asshole whacked you! You think I'm not gonna make him pay fo-"
But before he could finish his sentence, his teacher hauled him off the man's back.
"What is the meaning of this outrage!?" the emissary said furiously getting to his feet, trying in vain to brush off his pristine white clothing, "I should have you locked up for this!"
Kakashi-sensei paid no attention to his words, took out a pair of chakra restraining handcuffs (though he needn't have considering the target wasn't a ninja,) and cuffed him.
"I said," the gray-haired man repeated, "that you're under arrest. Now come quietly or we'll have to knock you unconscious."
"You would dare," the man said, "How dare you! Do you know who I am? I demand that you let me free this instant or I'll-"
Unfortunately, exactly what the emissary would do to them would be forever unknown due to a sharp jab to the head, courtesy of Kakashi-sensei.
"Was that really necessary?" Sasumi asked, as they all put their forehead protectors back on and shooed away curious onlookers with the badges the Sand officials had given them.
"Well, he was being rather irritating," Kakashi-sensei said vaguely as he cuffed the emissary's feet as well.
"Not to mention he deserved it," Naruto added, feeling particularly smug.
Sasuke didn't say anything, which surprised Naruto. Usually, he would have had something insulting, and for some reason he looked disturbed.
"Oi, Sasuke, what's wrong?" Naruto asked him, slightly concerned.
"Nothing," the taller boy scowled, and deactivated his Sharingan, "Let's just get out of here."
Unfortunately, that was easier said than done.
In retrospect, it really wasn't anyone's fault. Tsunade-baa-san couldn't have known, because the Sand themselves hadn't known until after Team Seven had arrived. And even then, no one had told them that Team Seven should be informed, so they weren't warned.
Naruto would later think that they should have foreseen it. Emissaries weren't uncommon in the Sand, which had always had slightly less than stable diplomatic relations with other countries, especially in light of the past war.
The Chuunin exam was different, though, Naruto knew. The only ones who could've known had been wiped out before the third round, and even then, they were all around Sasumi's age and would've been too young to remember or be told exactly whom she was. Also, Sasumi hadn't participated in the final part of the third exam, in which nobles from every allied country attended.
But still, why did no one think, no one; not Naruto, not Sasuke, not Kakashi, not the Hokage, and not even Sasumi, think that there was the possibility that emissaries from the Rain would be there?
"Good idea," Kakashi-sensei said, "Let's go drop him off at the embassy jail and head back to the room."
"Huh? Jail?" Naruto inquired, "We aren't taking him back to Konoha?"
Kakashi-sensei shook his head, "Our mission was to figure out if he was leaking information to other countries and if he was, apprehend him. We just have to drop him off at the embassy and they'll send an ANBU team to pick him up and take him back to Konoha."
"Right," Naruto said, not completely sure if he understood, but didn't really care to ask again, "So, anyone up for ramen?"
"Absolutely not," Sasuke said, deadpanned.
"Shit," Naruto muttered, "What crawled up your ass and died?"
He nearly didn't duck Sasuke's fist, because usually it took more than that to rile Sasuke up enough.
"Okay, what the hell, asshole?" Naruto said, after throwing himself to the ground at the last second to avoid being hit, "What's your problem?"
"Nothing," was the cold answer.
"That's bullshit," Naruto growled back.
"Hey, why don't you two just stop for a second," Kakashi-sensei said tiredly, adjusting the traitorous emissary on his shoulder, "Save it for enemy nin."
"Not until he-"
"What's going on here?" a cold voice asked.
Naruto turned to see five Rain ANBU standing in the middle of the road. There were three men, two women, and they all wore light blue vests, black pants and were looking irritated. If Naruto wasn't too busy staring in horror at their forehead protectors, he would've noticed that all the people in the area had disappeared; even the most professional streetwalkers had slid away into darkening alleys, and shopkeepers had disappeared into the gloom of their decrypt stores.
They stood frozen there for a moment, the Rain nin looking expectantly at them, as if wondering why they were deigning not to answer their question.
Naruto opened his mouth to say something, anything, to yell and distract them so they wouldn't recognize-
Too late.
Their eyes went from Naruto, to Sasuke, lingered on Kakashi and the unconscious man slung over his shoulder, and then finally to rest on Sasumi.
The man who had spoken did not appear to recognize her, however a tall blond man on his left, a brown-haired woman behind him, a black-haired man did. Their eyes widened, and the women's mouth fell open. The two men looked dumbstruck.
"The hell?" the woman said in shock, eyes the size of dinner plates, "You're-"
"Huh?" the man who had first addressed them said in confusion. The only distinguishing feature he had was a nose ring and a stud, and they repulsed Naruto for some reason.
"Modoka," the tall man snarled, and drew a kunai.
Time seemed to freeze. Naruto wanted scream, wanted to fight, wanted to do so many things, but he couldn't. All he could do was stare at the dawning comprehension on the faces of the Rain ANBU, and then the fury in their eyes.
He looked to Kakashi-sensei first. It was instinctual; the only adult there to look up to, their teacher and leader. The gray-haired man was face is blank. Naruto had seen the look before. It meant he doesn't know what to do. He glanced at Sasumi next. She had a strange look in her eyes. The sort of dead look that Naruto had seen before, but never with this intensity.
Strangely enough, Sasuke made the first move. He activated his Sharingan and looked the ANBU up and down coldly.
"Back off," he said boldly, drawing a hidden shuriken out of his pocket.
It was his anger that really throws Naruto off. He didn't understand how Sasuke could be angry. Naruto himself was terrified. He was so scared that they will take Sasumi away and torture her again and-
Naruto grabbed a kunai from its holster hidden under his shirt and pulled it out. Kakashi-sensei soon followed suit, the wayward emissary forgotten.
Sasumi didn't move.
"You're-" the brown-haired woman started, glancing at their forehead protectors "Konoha? All this time, she's been-"
Kakashi-sensei attacked. One swift jab and the woman fell unconscious, unable to finish her sentence. The tallest man roared in anger, drawing his wakizashi. Kakashi-sensei kicked it aside and landed a powerful blow to the man's chest, causing him to fall to his knees. It was amazing to see his teacher fight like this. The only other time Naruto saw Kakashi-sensei fight all-out was when he was fighting Zabuza; however, they were almost of the same ability, while here it was completely obvious the Kakashi-sensei was superior. The man with the nose ring leaped around Kakashi-sensei and went for Sasumi. Naruto launched a kunai at him, but the man dodged it. Sasumi drew her own kunai, eyes starting to darken, when Sasuke grabbed her out of the way and blew his trademark fireball into the ninja's face at pointblank range. The man appeared to dodge somewhat out of the way, but his screams proved that he hadn't been able to dodge the attack completely.
"Sasuke!" Naruto cried, horrified at the stench of human flesh that began to permeate the area.
"I had no choice," the Uchiha snarled, but looked sick.
The smoke cleared to reveal the burnt ANBU shinobi. His other female teammate was attempting to heal him, and as Naruto and Sasuke stared on in horror they missed the final nin coming from their left.
"Watch out!" Sasumi yelled, and they turned toward the man, but there was no countering the blow-
Kakashi-sensei came out of nowhere, throwing an enlarged shuriken at the man forcing him to retreat.
"Run!" he yelled, keeping his red eye on the enemy, "Get to anywhere with Sand or Leaf shinobi!"
"Let's go!" Sasuke roared, and then the three of them were off, jumping from rooftop to rooftop.
"Shit!" Naruto swore, "We're being followed!"
The brown-haired woman had regained consciousness, and she and her black-haired teammate were gaining on them.
"What do we do?" Sasuke hissed, dodging a shuriken "They're ANBU, there's no way we can take them on our own!"
"Split up!" she said, an idea running through her panic-filled mind.
"What?" Sasuke said, eyes wide.
"That's ridiculous, Sasumi!" Naruto yelled summoning several Kage Bushin to distract their pursuers, "It's you they're after! They won't go after us!"
"Henge!" Sasuke shouted, ducking a flaming shuriken, "Good idea!"
"What?!"
"Change into Sasumi, you idiot!" Sasuke yelled, "And then we'll split up! There's only two of them! Kakashi can handle the other three!"
"Goddammit, confusing bastard…!"
All three of them dropped from the roof of a large store onto the dirt road, surprising a few geisha.
"Now!" Sasuke shouted and three Sasumis appeared.
"Now go!" Sasumi said, every inch of her self-control spent on not shaking or stuttering.
"Are you sure-"
"You won't get away!" the brown-haired woman yelled.
"C'mon, moron!" Sasuke snarled, giving one last worried look in her direction.
And then they were gone.
The two shinobi stared for a second and then swore. One chased after Naruto and the other after her. Sasumi sprang up onto another roof and ran for her life.
On and off rooftops sporadically, through crowds of annoyed people, and dodging around empty buildings Sasumi did everything she could to shake her pursuer. Nothing worked and she was running out of stamina. She leapt high into the air, intent on finding the nearest shinobi outpost when a shuriken grazed her good arm. She cried out in pain, grabbing at her good arm with her bad, doubling the effect and causing her to falls painfully back onto a rooftop.
"Now are you the real one, or not?" the man snarled.
Sasumi hissed, trying to get to her feet and backed up, only to find herself backed up into a hard, brick chimney. The only thing she could be grateful of really was the fact that her pursuer was not wearing a mask.
"ANBU for two years," she thought as memories that were not her own flashed by, "In the Sand after escorting a noble for a diplomatic conference with the Kazekage, twenty-three years old, specialty is water element, special connection with Pein? Who is Pei-
Father standing over his mother with a belt
Mother dead
Blood on his hands
A slash on his wakizashi for every assassination
A woman with copper colored skin and strangely shaped ears snarling at hi-
Sasumi's eye widened. Impossible! That was-
"It looks like you are! Scared, you bitch?" the man snarled.
She drew a kunai with shaking hands, hardly knowing why her bad, left arm was hurting her so much.
There was a poof of smoke to her right and the brown-haired woman appeared.
"You really are the real one then?" he smirked, advancing towards her.
The woman face contorted into a sick smile. What had she done with Naruto and Sasuke?
"Come on now," she said, in a mock friendly voice, grabbing the collar of her yukata, "You're coming with us."
These words jarred Sasumi into action and she spat in the woman's face.
"Dammit!" she swore, delivering the second punch in the face Sasumi had received that day so hard she saw stars.
Sasumi took the opportunity to grab a jutting out brick with her right hand and pull herself up, the kunai limply grasped in her left. A burning sensation in her eyes was the first sign of their color change.
"Leave. Me. Alone," she hissed out.
They both laughed, a cold, cruel sound.
"Just like you left my brother alone," the man snarled out.
Sasumi's eyes widened as she saw the resemblance between the man and-
Pain in her ankle, fire burning, smell of burnt flesh, her flesh-
"Only you know it's secret! Now tell us!"
"STOP IT, PLEASE STOP I-"
"Leave me alone with her," the man said to the woman, "I'm going to kill her slowly and painfully for what she did to my older brother!"
She frowned, "Are you sure? She did kill a lot of ANBU three and a half years ago."
He laughed, "If she still had that power, we'd be long dead. Now go and check up on the others!"
She gave him a worried look and then disappeared in a poof of smoke.
The black-haired man advanced, but Sasumi only saw his brother; a short, lean man with a cold smile and a penchant for burning things.
She lashed out with the kunai without thinking, fear making her irrational, cutting a deep cut in his neck. He staggered back, choking on his own blood and then falling off the roof with a thump. A perfectly executed killing…with only one setback.
Because in the end, despite all the training and years of using her good arm, Sasumi had always been left-handed.
Sasumi stared down in horror at her bad arm as warm blood poured down the sleeve of her yukata. It looked like someone had ripped away a huge chunk of her bicep, torn muscle and skin and veins sending torrents of white hot pain up her arm, and a clean, white something sticking out of it all…
Sasumi screamed.
And what seemed like eons, or seconds, later, when Kakashi, Naruto, Sasuke, and a boatload of Sand shinobi found her, clutching her mangled arm, kneeling in a puddle of blood; she was still screaming.
A/N: Ewww…I know, you don't have to tell me, that it's nasty! Really, I never meant to make it so graphic. (Stares down at left bicep) Uggh…
Anyway, on a not-so lighter note, I'm sorry I lied, Gaara wasn't in this chapter, but he'll be in the next chapter for sure.
…so, review and I hope I didn't scar you all for life.