Chapter_12: Day One
One hour, fifty-four minutes and twenty-six seconds… One hour, fifty-four minutes and twenty-five seconds… One hour, fifty four minutes and twenty-four seconds…
Naruto pulled the leather cuff of his jacket over the watch. He wasn't nervous. Just because he had been counting the time since he'd gotten home that morning, all the way to, through and from work and now, and hadn't stopped now that he was on patrol as Kyuubi, it didn't mean anything. He wasn't nervous. In fact there was absolutely nothing to be nervous about. So what if this was the first date he'd had in eight years? So what that it was with a man that he hardly even knew? So what that it was with a…a man…?
The blond groaned and slapped his forehead. The resounding 'smack' of a leather-clad palm impacting the skin of his brow echoed around the empty buildings spread out under the man's feet and disappeared into the deep shadows.
He had to get a grip. If he couldn't get himself focused, especially on this side of the Bridge, there wouldn't be anything left to go on that date with Sasuke.
A bitter wind from the South had sprung up sometime that morning and was still going strong. It pulled and gripped at the collar of his jacket, flapping it roughly against the covered skin of Naruto's neck.
The blond took a deep breath, taking in the sweet scent of ice and salt that always tinged the Southern winds. It had been days since he'd last taken up the mantle of Kyuubi and Naruto was grateful for the retreat. He actually found it a little amusing that getting shot at and threatened was his form of vacation. But he found solace in the stability here. Here the world was black and white. He was good guy, the bad guys were waiting out there. They were trying to kill him before he could take away their lucrative business opportunities in Konoha, or their lives, he always gave them that option.
There was never any second-guessing, no confusion, just gunshots, the heady smell of fear and the inevitable culmination of a nights events in victory.
The thick black clouds overhead hid what would've been a full moon from view; which was fine. Naruto preferred nights like this, where one could hardly see across the street for the blackness. It was nights like this one when he had the greatest advantage; the bad guys were on edge, nervous and he was the one in control. It was nights like this where he could expand his senses and drown in the life rolling around him.
The building was high, affording a complete vista of Konoha's south end. His red eyes traversed back and forth, following the slightest traces of movement, the barest hint of motion in the night. A van, standing out madly clashing with the high-end luxury cars that were more than likely on their way to or from 'Sound'. He tracked the vehicle as it turned, moving down a vacant street, driving a little ways and turning once more, this time into a pitch-black alleyway.
Naruto snorted. Gangs thought that they were smart, hiding in places that no normal person could see, crawling on their bellies and praying that no one would notice them. But he could see…everything.
The watch appeared again, the green haze glowing out the time. He had one hour, fifty minutes and thirty-nine seconds left… One hour, fifty minutes and thirty-eight seconds… One hour fifty minutes and thirty-seven seconds…
He was not nervous!
Recklessly he plunged headfirst off the building, reveling in the rush of wind and adrenaline, pushing thoughts of the not so distant future aside. He was on a mission, he had to focus.
The cracked asphalt rose up to meet him. Deftly, the blond tucked his head, rolling his body in midair. His feet hit the pavement first, the momentum of his fall rotating his body into a deep crouch until a bright lock of his hair disappeared into the new crack he'd created in the pavement.
Slowly, Naruto reached into himself, into his belly where he could feel his power clawing, aching to be released fully. The all too familiar rush of heat swelled out from inside of him, washing over his skin and lolling across every fiber of his being, dousing it in white hot light. The pleasure of it was almost orgasmic, but Naruto could also feel the danger underneath the power; the peril of giving himself completely over to its sweet control. So he always kept a little of himself in control.
In the blackness of the backstreet he'd crash landed, nothing but boiling red eyes were visible. A menacing growl penetrated the thick darkness, and then the nightmare was gone, leaving nothing but a fresh crevasse in the pavement to mark he was ever there at all.
.:xXXx:.
One hour, forty-five minutes and twelve seconds until the appointed meeting time.
He was not nervous. Uchiha Sasuke didn't do nervous. Uchiha's didn't do nervous. He was anticipating the coming events with something close to excitement, but Uchiha's didn't do excitement either, so it wasn't excitement.
He was…looking forward to tonight; that was the extent of his emotional expenditures into that night's engagement. But by the same token, he wasn't typically expending any emotion besides apathy and annoyance. Feeling antsy was not in his nature. It was…different.
The nearby clock was ticking far too slowly for Sasuke's taste. Obsidian eyes flicked briefly over the device's face and just as quickly moved away. One hour, forty-four minutes and forty seconds.
Sighing, the raven eased himself up from where he sat, the white leather groaning its protest of his absence. He had the time; he should make the effort to look his best.
Despite his promise of a weeks' worth of courting, Sasuke was banking on the blond not being able to last that long. If everything went the way that he anticipated, Naruto would be begging for it by the end of three days. That was perhaps the greatest contribution to his current tension. He had never before been forced to wait for something he wanted, besides Itachi, but that was not the in context he was waiting for Naruto. His patience was steadily growing thin, rare thing for someone who prided themselves on total emotional control. He had found himself regretting the promise of a week. He's found himself frustrated that he'd agreed to let the matter drop completely if Naruto wasn't convinced by the end of that trail period. The blond would not…but how could he be certain? The man could simply say he wasn't sure just to spite him; Sasuke knew enough of the blond's personality to know it was a very unpleasant possibility.
The obvious solution was to make sure that the blond was completely and utterly satisfied. But he had never slept with a virgin before. Would sating Naruto sexually drive the blond away mentally? Did it even matter of there was more to the relationship than one night?
One hour, forty-two minutes and nineteen seconds…
The Uchiha turned down the main hall of his penthouse apartment, the same one Naruto had walked down only that morning. He moved with the poise for one long familiar with his surroundings, stopping at the thirteenth door on the right.
The bathroom beyond was immense, the entirety tiled deep green, the fixtures cold, black steel.
Sasuke walked in and shut the door, flicking on the overhead fan before pulling off his clothing.
What did he want? That question echoed in the raven's mind. Was he really only after a good screw? Was the affirmation of control really worth this depravation? If all that was required was the verification of his power, wouldn't it be more productive to just force the blond, take what he needed and be done with the aggravating individual? Why was he thinking about this now? Why hadn't these questions been asked when he'd first singled the man out? Why was he pondering them now?
The hot water poured over moonlight pale skin, coursing gently through raven locks before it slid lovingly over limbs and abdomen tight with lean muscle. Uchiha Sasuke was blessed with the ethereal grace, black hair, and beautiful features of his mother's side while his body had manifested both the strength and the cunning of his father's side. He'd never questioned his good fortune, thinking on these genetic predispositions after a time as more of a curse than a blessing.
A fixed amount of shampoo was dabbed neatly into the palm of Sauke's hand. The raven gazed at the shining white viscous liquid a moment, his eyes considering it while his thoughts roamed elsewhere.
The ever persistent question remained, as of yet, unanswered. What did he want? What did he, Uchiha Sasuke want?
Control…
That seemed reasonable enough, logical even. But given that desire, would his current emotional response rationally follow? No.
The shampoo was smothered in wet ebony, the whiteness vanishing completely as it was teased into the man's scalp and hair with practiced fingers.
So if he reason was irrational, then he had some other motivation.
Lust…
The man's hands swept down to his sides and he tilted his head back. The hot water rushed through his hair, mingling with the thick white lather and washing it down his back, the bubbles only a shade paler than his skin.
That was it, it made the most sense. It accounted for his impatience, his frustration…his singular fixation on the blond.
Lust…
Sasuke grabbed a bar of soap from where it lay on one of the shelves built into the wall.
Just lust…
.:xXXx:.
They were waiting for something.
Naruto could smell their impatience, the fear carried on the harsh wind. It was a delicious spice, dappled with the fire of blood and the ripe stench of unwashed bodies.
This was a slave shipment. The blond could feel his temper rising as the whimpering and crying of those inside the truck tickled his ears.
To his disappointment, it had turned out to be a Hebi run, which meant it was off limits courtesy of his agreement with Boss Hebi. The same platinum haired man he'd seen at the last Hebi drug run he'd attended was standing in the middle of the group. It was a good sized mob of about twenty men, all burly, dirty and heavily armed. But the more Naruto watched, the less sure he was that the bleach-blond gunman was actually the one overseeing the operation. It looked to the Kyuubi superhero that he was one of the hired hands, which didn't make sense to him. People weren't demoted on the streets, they were disposed of.
He was going to have to find Boss Hebi and clarify a few terms of their agreement, after he took this shipment out, of course.
"Who are you?" Naruto's eyes veered sharply to the blond gunman. The man was pointing past the truck and away from Naruto, so he hadn't been discovered prematurely. That begged the question: who was the guy pointing at?
Before the superhuman could turn to look, the scene before him exploded into chaos.
All twenty men opened fire, filling the alley with deadly fire in such a heavy concentration that the blond didn't think that even he could've dodged them all. The flashes and sharp popping of discharging weapons went on for a solid thirty seconds and then…silence.
Had they gotten whatever it was that was down there?
A slow, even chuckle came from the far end of the alley where the gang had been shooting. The duration was short, but the message was clear: they had all missed.
"Was that your best?" A voice hidden somewhere in the deeper shadows mocked. "You should be thankful that I'm destroying you; it will save the world a good amount of pain in watching how the pathetic struggle to dominate."
"Who are you?" The leader stepped forward boldly, an action he never lived to regret. His head literally burst apart in a shower of blood, bone fragments and grey matter.
The impromptu deluge of their superior's bloody brains splattered down on the rest of the men, staining their clothing a pretty pink. The scent of panic rose to a heady crescendo in Naruto's nostrils and he watched as the formerly confident men began to back away, horrified as the headless body of their supervisor toppled, lifeless, to the ground. No blood seeped from the wound, the coagulated stump of a neck was seared shut by the heat and concussive force of the round which had taken off the man's head.
"H-he's dead!" One of the twenty cried out. He pointed his gun the down the alley and a second resounding boom vibrated the buildings around them. The man gurgled, a trail of blood dribbling down his chin. He reached around and tried to feel where he had been wounded, or he would've, if he'd had anything to feel. Half of his chest, the right side, had practically disintegrated before Naruto's eyes, like some invisible and huge creature had come along and taken a bite out of the burly male.
A second gurgling belch come from the man, spattering his chin with crimson and he collapsed.
The second his corpse hit, the alleyway erupted. It was like the man's falling carcass had been the signal flag, and this was the gang version of a NASCAR race.
Boom after concussive 'boom' reverberated through the tall grey buildings, and with each successive shot, another gang member went down, grabbing blindly at the precisely and deadly placed hole in their anatomy.
In a matter of a minute, it was over. The passageway was painted a sickening pink, it blood having mixed with liquefied internal organs before spraying onto the walls and pavement. The truck had not gone unscathed; half a dozen huge holes had been punched into the side of the metal cargo container, the jagged edges glowing orange and letting off smoke. The whimpering Naruto had heard from before had stopped; not even the merchandise had survived.
The only thing that was still moving was- "Man…" The young man with platinum hair grinned, his back pressed against one wheel of the heavy vehicle. He was grinning, not the expression of fear one would imagine plastered on his face after seeing twenty of his companions cut down in less time than it took to take a crap.
"I've got to get my hands on that sweet mofo gun." The gunman's voice was laced with admiration.
The assassin's response was a deep chuckle. "Concussion rounds, they do a nice job, but I don't think that you have the chops for this big boy's toy."
It was the bleach-blond's turn to chuckle, his hands caressing the rather large firearm cradled in his arms. "At least tell me your name, something I can put on your grave marker."
"That's big talk coming from someone connected to that powerless little gang, Suigetsu of Hebi."
The hands stopped stroking and tightened around the butt and muzzle of the weapon, protectively, possessively. His voice, though, was careless, almost jovial. "So you know who I am, give me your name of you're enough of a man."
Naruto wasn't sure what was going on, he'd never been party to this weird verbal battle, where pride was the victor's boon. Well, pride, and a really big gun.
"I am called Kisame." The voice further down called through his vapid laughter. "Now, little man, come and show me your teeth."
.XX.
Suigetsu knew in that moment that he was going to die today, tonight, amongst the remains of men he didn't even know. This was the way he'd always figured he'd go, with a gun in his hands, spraying hot lead at whatever enemy there was on that particular day. His insides would dye the street permanently, a gruesome testament to his death, one no one would ever be able to ignore. It was better than a freaking tombstone!
"Love to," He rose. Everything was so surreal, like he was simply dreaming. Heck, maybe this was all just one big crazy dream; but that would make his one strange mofo, dreaming about his own death. Why not, he thought about it enough anyway?
He sidestepped until his vision was no longer blocked by the trucks' flaming hood. A lone figure emerged from the shadows, tall and impressive, taking its slow sweet time making its way toward him.
Suigestu's eyes went wide and he fought to swallow. It was an Akatsuki…
The man who called himself Kisame approached, his impressive weapon slung carelessly over one shoulder. He grinned evilly at Suigetsu, his filed teeth gleaming in the dark.
"It's refreshing to find someone who appreciates the fine art of gunmanship." Kisame said. "Unlike many of my cohorts, who have little stomach for anything but these rudimentary methods of killing."
"I probably wouldn't mind getting killed by someone like you eventually." Suigetsu shrugged. "But a person as clumsy and inexperienced as you obviously are can't kill such a skilled person such as myself. I'll just have to exterminate you myself and take that incredible gun of yours for my own."
The man with blue skin and shark's teeth glowered at his opponent who frustratingly, didn't look in the least afraid. The bleached-blond gunner looked…excited.
Kisame snorted. "I'd like to see you try."
This was it…he was going to die…
Suigetsu found himself oddly nostalgic, wishing that he could be with Karin one last time. That hard-edged woman, who had the biggest brain out of Sasuke's three lieutenants, who kept everyone out by throwing up walls of anger; he wished that he could hold her in his arms…just one more time. They fought like cats and dogs whenever they were at work, heck they fought like cats and dogs even when they were screwing each other. No one was supposed to know, but Suigetsu knew that his boss had figured it out a long time ago and he didn't care. He loved being around Karin when it was just the two of them. He loved the way that she dropped the pretence of ire whenever he was inside of her. He loved the new way she'd screamed his name that first night, no annoyance, no aggravation. He loved the way that she clung to him, would wrap her around him, and dig her nails into his back as he drove into her tight wetness hard and fast until they both came, her tight sheath pulling rhythmically on him. She always felt so good on him, so right. Like no hooker ever had.
It was almost a shame that it had to end like this, so abruptly. Karin would probably die of a broken heart, not that she would ever admit to that, but she would…he could tell.
Kisame's fingers tightened on the butt of his gun, a subtle tell that Suigetsu wished he'd be able to pass along to whoever came along after. But there would likely be nothing left of his body after this little fire-fight was over.
Oh, well… he thought, his own muscles already contracting to pull the muzzle of his own weapon to bear. Even if I have a hard time of it tonight, I'm going to drag as big of a chunk of this guy to Hell along with me as I can.
There was a split second where everything froze; where time ceased for both men in the alley, bringing details into crisp focus. A single bead of sweat gleamed on Suigetsu's temple, a crystalline jewel with tendrils of frost playing across its surface. The string of saliva was gathering at the corner of Kisame's leering grin, the wet sheen of it glimmering evilly on the pearly whiteness of the man's sharpened teeth.
The muzzle of the gun was pointing towards the black clouds, frozen half-way between where the shark-man had kept it hanging casually at his back and pointed at his target. Suigetsu's own hefty firearm was swinging into position. They would both take aim together, they would both fire together. Their shots would sound as one voice in the abandoned streets. But who would die first?
The large round hole from where came flaming, pounding death, was scorched, a deeper black then the rest of the weapon. Guns carried their own marks from the lives they had claimed.
The triumphant leer was sealed on Kisame's thin, angular face. When the test was of his chosen profession, he had no doubts that he would be the one walking away. He was going to win.
And then everything was gone. Kisame's imposing figure blurred; nothing more than a fuzzy stick figure standing amongst the gruesome wreckage and pasty remains of twenty bad men. The fire in the truck's engine exploded a second later, but the young gunman was already two hundred feet away and counting. Everything was moving, and far too quickly. Suigetsu realized that something had him by the back of the collar and that something was responsible for pulling him away from that Akatsuki gunman.
Gratitude and indignation had a merry battle in his brain. He couldn't figure whether he ought to thank whoever had a hold of him, or if he should salvage what remained of his pride and insist on going back to that alley.
He didn't have the time to decide between the two. The blond man was thrown unceremoniously into a pile of black garbage bags. Suigetsu began to struggle out of the heap, cursing loudly, but a deep voice cut off his vehement protesting.
"Shut up!"
Suigetsu either missed or ignored the warning in the voice because he continued to struggle and curse, both with renewed earnest.
A pair of clawed hands ripped into the thick fabric of the blonds' jacket and Suigetsu was hoisted out of the trash. His back hit an unforgiving brick wall where it stayed. His feet hung uselessly and the claws were beginning to gouge painfully into his chest.
A masked face was pushed in close to his own and for the first time, Suigetsu got a good long look at his rescuer. It was the same guy that Karin had described to him; the same demon eyes, the same aura of hatred and evil. For the first time in his twenty-six years of life, Suigetsu was terrified.
"I said: SHUT UP!" The creature who held him roared, shaking the Hebi lieutenant like he was a rag doll.
"You're nothing! You're trash! You're scum!" The thing all of Hebi had come to know as Kyuubi continued to snarl. "You are the dirt that has to be swept away! You are…" A sudden sob cut off the man's words.
The claws disappeared and Suigetsu slid unexpectedly to the pavement. He watched as the other man drew back, his eyes leering venomously in his direction. And then…Suigetsu was alone in the alley. No trace that there had ever been a second person with him remained, only the scant memories, a faint hiss, and a lingering scent that niggled in the back of the blond man's brain.
"What was that?"
.:xXXx:.
This wasn't how things were supposed to be going. This wasn't like had had planned at all. He was supposed to be saving Konoha, sweeping the streets clean. He was supposed to be righting wrongs, representing justice, cracking skulls in the name of liberty. He wasn't supposed to be on the bad guy's side! He wasn't supposed to be saving them!
Nothing made sense to him anymore. Everything was coming apart, churning around him and sweeping him up in a current that he couldn't swim against.
He had to grab hold of something, anything that offered stability. He needed to ground himself, he had to anchor himself with...what?
.:xXXx:.
Forty-eight minutes, twenty-seven seconds…
Sasuke Uchiha was ready to go.
There was little else that he could think of to do that wasn't pointless. He was ready; he would head down to meet Naruto now. He'd be early, but he that would give him time to set everything up. An Uchiha was nothing if not prepared.
Sasuke glanced at his reflection in the large mirrored wall.
He was washed, dried, dressed and set. He'd chosen a more casual look for the first night, something like what he'd worn the previous night. His jeans were black, not baggy, but not that awful skinny style that had become popular somehow. The raven refused to wear them; he had enough problems with people staring at his backside without wearing clothing that didn't overtly cling to his perfectly formed rear. He'd never be able to get Karin to concentrate again.
His shirt was the biggest dress down, it wasn't button-up. The thick dark-grey cotton long-sleeve was neat and clean-cut. Under the deeply hued material, Sasuke had layered a white long-sleeve for warmth and to complete the look of the thing. Slivers of the snowy fabric were visible at the collar, wrists and hem, bringing out some much needed color in the Uchiha's pale skin.
A hard pounding echoed unexpectedly from somewhere near the front end of Sasuke's large apartment. The pace of the blows increased with each successive knock, escalating to a nearly frantic series of thumps.
The raven gave his casually clad figure one last look before making his way, unhurried, towards his front door and the source of the disturbance.
It was probably Suigetsu, Sasuke reasoned. The man always did like to brag about the jobs he did on the side, especially after it went well. He really didn't have the patience to humor his lieutenant tonight. He had other things on his mind right now.
The volume and intensity of each impact increased the closer Sasuke got to his front door. Did Suigetsu want to knock his door down? Why was he being much more aggressive than normal?
"Calm down." The raven called through the door as he deftly unlatched his locks. Carefully, he drew the door open. "What do you wan-"
Naruto had him by the shoulders, was pushing him backwards and into his apartment. Sasuke was so startled that he didn't even have time to shut the door before he was swept away by the blond tidal wave.
The raven was backtracked a good fifty feet in a matter of seconds and probably would've gotten pushed farther, except a wall got in the way.
Sasuke hissed in pain, his spine aching with the unexpected trauma. He called out the blond's name, or tried to. The name came out something like "Mard-o" and was flatly ignored by the Uchiha's assailant who continued to work on the man's lips.
Naruto was kissing him, attacking him for the express purpose of kissing him! What was going on? Questions began to crowd in, too many to be comfortably ignored. Just this morning it had made him nauseous to even think about such contact, and yet now, ten hours later, he was the one initiating such interaction? It didn't follow well enough to suit Sasuke.
The Uchiha gripped Naruto's tanned cheeks and forcibly backed the blond off his mouth. Naruto literally growled, it was an animal sound, feral.
"You're a little bit early." His voice hadn't been affected by the abuse, although he hadn't been the one going at it like a fox in heat.
The blond seemed to deflate. He seemed to shrink back into himself, but he didn't back away from Sasuke at all. He actually took a step closer, pressing his forehead against the Uchiha's collarbone.
It was one of the five moments that Sasuke could remember in the whole of his lifetime that he…didn't know what to do. He was still cupping the man's face in his hands, and Naruto was holding onto his shoulders like they were the only thing keeping him from disappearing forever.
"I need you to make it make sense." The blond's voice was strained, choked with unshed tears.
"What?"
"I need you," Naruto's head tilted upwards. The Uchiha felt the man's lips graze the underside of his chin, the soft hollow placed between his throat and the edge of his jaw. "…to make this…" Their eyes met, held as Naruto leaned in closer.
Their mouths met, clung for one second…two and then Naruto tilted his head to the side and Sasuke was lost in the delicious friction that was the blond's lips.
Chapped, the raven registered that fact and tucked it away alongside the analytical portion of his psyche for the time being. The blonds lips were chapped, the texture of rough skin subtly rubbing against Sasuke's mouth was surprisingly pleasant.
The thick satin of yellow hair tangled in his fingers. The teasing saltiness of Naruto's lips whispered of secrets further in whilst the raven nipped and played at Naruto's mouth.
The man's other hand trailed up to capture the bronzed column of Naruto's throat, Sasuke's thumb unconsciously brushing the lowest of the three thin scars.
The blond hadn't remained impassive either, just as Sasuke had predicted. He dimly registered hands gripping at the front of his shirt, dragging their bodies closer.
And then the kiss was over. Naruto was taking in air with the shaky gasps that marked him a newcomer to the world of lip-lock.
"Make this make sense to me…" The Uzumaki gasped out, his eyes pleading. "Help me understand…just this one thing…"