"Let's go," Sai said from the doorway, startling the two girls sitting on the front step. Both were huddled together and shivering a bit from the cold temperature. They stood and took in the grim look on their friend's face.
"What happened?" Sakura asked, worry lining her voice. She tried to look behind Sai for Sasuke, who had disappeared into the house not long ago, and he was there just behind Sai. They both stepped out and Sasuke closed the door behind them.
"Let's go," Sai said again, walking past the girls with Sasuke and toward his car. The two girls shared a look of confusion and followed after him hurriedly.
"Sai-san, what happ—"
"Are you cold?" Sai asked suddenly, stopping and cutting Sakura's question off. He received two looks of confusion. Sasuke just kept walking to his own car.
"Yeah, but that doesn't—" Ino started.
"Then we'll go get warmed up and after that, I'll tell you," Sai replied, cutting in once again. He resumed his trek to the car with Sakura and Ino not too far behind. They all climbed in and Sai drove off with Sasuke following behind. It was silent the whole time. They stopped at a small café and walked in. Sai nearly laughed when he recognized the place. It was the same café he and Naruto had gone to that one time after he had tricked the blonde into letting him take him out. He nearly turned around and walked right back out, but the hostess had already spotted them and was asking how many of them there were.
"Four," Sasuke grunted when Sai didn't reply to the woman.
"Right this way," she replied, showing them to a booth. They ordered some coffee to warm themselves up. Sai sighed as he felt the expectant gazes of Sakura and Ino, while Sasuke's silent brooding cloud took up the space to his left.
"Well…?" Ino said, prompting him.
"You have to know, I knew about Naruto-kun hiding his gender," Sai started and continued before the girls could say anything about it. They had left before he'd revealed that he had known. But Sasuke already knew.
"The first day I came here I realized it. So we went to Tsunade-san's and they explained it to me. I told him I'd keep it secret until he was ready to tell everyone. I suggested that he start dressing more masculine so you all would get used to the idea of seeing him in boyish clothes."
"What does this have to do with him now? What happened that we couldn't see him?" Sakura asked.
"He was kidnapped by that damn—!" Sasuke started to say before shutting his mouth and clenching his fists. He looked away from them as all eyes settled on him.
"What happened?" Ino said breathlessly. She'd never seen Sasuke loose control of himself, even for such a short amount of time, over someone else. Shikamaru's words echoed in her head and suddenly she really understood what he meant. She wondered briefly in the back of her mind if Sakura had seen it as well. Sai took a deep breath, drawing the attention back to himself.
"Naruto-kun was kidnapped by Snake sometime yesterday after school," Sai told them solemnly.
"Snake? As in…Snake?" Sakura asked with disbelief. Sai nodded. Ino gasped and covered her mouth with her hands.
"Tsunade-san said that she came home yesterday and found his mother dead with a note in her hand. Naruto-kun and Snake were already long gone by then," he explained. He was looking down at his hands with his brows furrowed. Sakura and Ino waited for him to tell them anything else while Sasuke continued staring away.
"He… Snake never takes hostages. He finds his victims, plays his games or runs his experiments on them, and then they die before anyone even knows he's gone to kill them. He's only taken a hostage one other time," Sai said finally after a small silence. He could feel Sasuke tense beside him. "When they first told me about why Naruto-kun had been pretending to be a girl for so long, they didn't tell me everything. When I went in today, Tsunade-san told me the rest."
He looked at the two girls sharply.
"What I'm about to tell you, no one else can know. Got it?"
They nodded quickly. They didn't know what Sai was like when he was angry, but they could imagine from the look in his eye that he could be very vicious. He closed his eyes and sighed before opening them again, the sharp look gone. And then he told them. About Naruto's parents, about his mother, about Snake kidnapping him the first time, about what happened then and what happened after. Everything came out and was laid before Naruto's closest friends by a third party person because Naruto wasn't there to do it himself. Sai wasn't even sure if Naruto would be able to tell them everything himself, but Sai knew they deserved some sort of explanation, just like he knew Naruto deserved a welcome crowd to greet him if—no, when—he got back. He waited for their reactions patiently, nervous and tense for the blonde and curious for himself to see exactly how they would react. He took a sip of his coffee, still watching the other's expressions as the girls gathered the words they wanted to say in response. He didn't expect anything from Sasuke, but surprisingly, he was the one who spoke first.
"Tch, usuratonkatchi," he mumbled with a frown. Sai glared at his friend.
"Is that all you have to say? An insult?" he demanded, watching Sasuke's nearly impassive face. The Uchiha turned and met his glare unflinchingly and Sai immediately backed down. He could see the struggle going on in his friend's mind through his eyes.
"What do you expect me to say Sai?" Sasuke asked. "You've explained his entire life story to us, basically. Should I just say oh well, that's nice? Or how about I go into a rage about why he never told us all of this? I really don't know, so why don't you tell me Sai. Please." His words were sarcastic but his tone was serious.
"You don't need to insult him," Sai replied softer than before. Sasuke looked down at his untouched drink.
"You know I don't mean it like that," he whispered.
"Yes, yes, I know. Sorry for snapping oh emo one," Sai replied hoping for a reaction from the other than just his brooding silence. He got none.
"I feel horrible now," Sakura said finally. Sasuke clenched his fists tighter. He'd nearly forgotten that the girls were there. He wished that they weren't.
"I do too. To think…Naruto-kun has been through all of that," Ino agreed, hesitating in saying the blonde's name only because she wasn't quite used to it yet.
"He never seemed like he was having trouble with anything, or like he needed help. I guess we just assumed everything was fine and normal for him when they really weren't," Sakura said.
"Naruto-kun's a strong person. You shouldn't feel as though you were neglecting him or anything. He's coped with everything in his own way, but I think he always knew you two were there for him. He wanted you two to be there for him when he told you the truth and say it was okay, but you didn't stay. You just walked out on him, and that hurt him to see the two people he'd known the longest reject him," Sai told them. The two girls lowered their heads as he turned to Sasuke.
"And you hurt him the most you cold bastard. He was hoping you, most of all, would stay with him." Sasuke made no response, but Sai could see his shaking fists. "But, I understand the misguided anger you all must have had. Being lied to by a close friend hurts. Still, now you know everything, and the only reason you do is because I want Naruto-kun to come back to people who accept him. I don't want him to be hurt anymore than he most likely will be."
"How can you be so sure he'll even be alive by the time the police catch Snake?" Ino asked.
"Faith, little lady, faith. I trust in Naruto-kun to be the strong person I know him to be and make it out of there alive. He's gone through it before and survived, so I want to believe that he'll make it this time too," Sai replied.
"I…trust that he'll make it too," Sakura said quietly. She then looked up with determination, mirroring the conviction in her voice. "I want to be there when he gets back. I owe him that much, after everything, to be there for him like I have been ever since we met."
"We both owe him that," Ino agreed with a nod. Sai smiled at them gratefully.
"That's all I ask," he replied. Both girls glanced at the Uchiha, expecting him to say something as well, but he remained silent and brooding. None really knew what exactly was going through the boy's head.
Sasuke was determined though. His thoughts were like Sai's. If Naruto had made it through that kind of experience, and been strong enough to be any semblance of okay and even better, then he believed the blonde could do it again. He refused to think otherwise. He wanted the blonde to come back. He wasn't quite ready to fully forgive him for lying, but Sasuke wanted him back.
That was why he was determined to make Itachi let him help with the case in any way possible.
As they left the café, Sai walked Sasuke to his car. The girls had already settled themselves in his car, but he wanted to give the Uchiha something. Something he knew Sasuke would want.
"I know how you think, so here," he said, handing a slip of paper to Sasuke. "It's a copy of the note. Just make sure your brother knows you are going to help. He knew you might want to so he made a copy of the note. Snake likes riddles, so go home and try to figure it out. Itachi-san also said he was staying at Tsunade's to work with her tonight."
Sasuke stared at the paper, drinking in the words on the paper. A shiver unrelated to the cold temperature crawled up his spine as he read it. He looked up with a glare as Sai's hand ruffled his hair.
"See you in school tomorrow. Feel free to sit with us again," he said simply before turning on his heel and walking away. Sasuke watched him until his friend had started the engine of his car and was pulling out to drive away. With a sigh, he finally opened the door to his own car and got in.
He blocked the haunting words from his mind until he got back to his own house, not wanting to be distracted while driving. He threw his school bag on the floor of his room and forgot about anything he had in it. Falling onto his bed with his legs still dangling off the edge, he held up the slip of paper Sai had given him and stared at it again. He wasn't reading the words. They were already burned into his mind and were starting to shift, and change, and become different things and possible meanings. He stayed like that until hunger pains told him it was long past dinnertime, and even then, he lost his appetite when the words bombarded him again. He had to keep thinking. He needed to figure it out so that he could be useful for once to his brother and to his precious person. He didn't want to waste time. He'd already wasted enough. He didn't want to lose another person he held dear. Snake had already taken enough of them, and Sasuke refused to allow him another.
Naruto ran as quickly and quietly as he could, but he couldn't help himself from tripping as he felt another painful shock spread through his body. He bit his lip and breathed heavily, trying not to scream from it, because he was strong. He needed to be strong. If he wasn't strong, then he knew it would all be over, and he wasn't about to let everything end as it was. Scrambling to get up, he could hear footsteps on the hardwood flooring below him walking toward the stairs. Naruto ran down the hall, rattling a few doors and then closing one loudly before choosing one back the way he had come from to toss himself into. He closed the door quietly, and then looked around for a place to hide in the mean time.
He paused as his eyes fell upon the bed. It was large with fluffy, decorative pillows and a soft looking comforter strewn about it. Feathers from other ripped and slashed pillows stirred from the sudden flow of new air, and as he moved closer to the bed, he could see white sheets stained a dark brownish red. He could easily guess what had made it.
Naruto clenched his lip in his teeth once again as electricity ran through his body once more. He groped at his neck where a shock collar for animals had been placed, trying fruitlessly to rip it off. He froze as a dark laughter floated into his ears.
"Naru-chan…come out, come out, where ever you are!"
The blonde dropped to the floor immediately and squeezed underneath the bed. The footsteps got louder as they neared the door, moving at a steady pace.
"I know you're up here somewhere."
Naruto held still, not even daring to breathe as the footsteps continued past the door. He began to let out a sigh, but instead he sneezed quietly when dust tickled his nose. He froze as the footsteps halted in their path and then slowly began to retrace their steps back to the door they had just passed. A moment later, the door opened slowly and the footsteps entered. Naruto shifted back further under the bed and then froze again as he heard Snake moving across the room.
"Oh Naru-chan…" the murderer said. The blonde could nearly hear the creepy smile that went with his name and shivered. He held his breath as Snake walked through the room, along the wall, and looked into every possible hiding spot. He could just barely see the psychotic man's shoes from under the long bed skirt, but watched the man's movements as best he could. Eventually, after he'd circled the room, Snake approached the bed, slowly, deliberately. Naruto shifted as quietly as he could to the side opposite of his tormentor as Snake got closer and closer, until he was right next to the bed.
"Here you are!"
The bed skirt was yanked up and Snake looked underneath to find nothing but dust. He frowned and got back up, looking around. He hummed and casually pressed a button on the small remote he had in his hand as he moved to exit the room. Loud thumping could be heard followed by a crash at the bottom of the stairs.
Naruto grimaced and gripped the back of his head with one hand where he was beginning to bleed. It wasn't deep, but it hurt like hell and head wounds always bled a lot anyway. After fleeing from the room while Snake had been distracted, he had made for the stairs. He'd been about to step down on the first one when the shock collar had gone off again; surprising him and making him falter. He fell down the stairs and crashed into a table near the bottom that had a vase with dead flowers in stagnant water on it. The table toppled over and the vase smashed against the floor, spilling its cool liquid and the dried plants on the floor. Pain flared in his left arm, stemming from his shoulder. When he tried to move it, it didn't respond and only fanned the flame of his pain. It was dislocated.
He moaned quietly and went to get himself up because he knew he couldn't stay there for long or Snake would get him, but it was too late. Snake was there, right in front of him, with that sadistic grin set on his lips and a hand on his shoulder squeezing and hurting him even more. Naruto cried out as Snake squeezed hard and dug his nails into the blonde's skin. Naruto looked out through pain glazed eyes, his hatred for the man leaking into the gaze. The man only continued his grin.
"Oh Naruto," he said wistfully. Naruto shivered in disgust hearing his name roll off the other's tongue in such a familiar way. "I've missed this. You were fun always so fun to play with. I'm glad we've been brought together again."
A burnt hand came up to caress his cheek and Naruto jerked away, a little surprised. Then he remembered. When he'd seen 'Kabuto' at first and still believed it had been his old babysitter, he'd been wearing gloves. The blonde had assumed it had been because of the cold weather, but he realized now that it was to hide scarred hands. It made him wonder how he managed to cover the rest of his burnt body, and then led him to think of how he could mistake the madman Snake for Kabuto. Although Kabuto was pale there had been healthy color in his skin, while Snake, if he remembered correctly from the first time the man had taken him, had had a papery white pallor that looked as though he had never once walked out of the shadows and dark rooms he liked to lurk within. Snake had also had long black hair, although Naruto could understand that it would have been burnt off, but Kabuto's hair had been silver.
As he looked at Snake now, he could still see Kabuto's pale face, stretched and malformed with eerie, molten yellow eyes that were misplaced and not hidden behind glasses this time, but instead of the silvery hair he'd seen before, black hair now was. It had only been a wig. But if the hair had only been a wig, it made him wonder what his face was, because surely Snake's face had been burnt as well.
"I still look like Kabuto to you, don't I?" Snake asked, weaving disfigured fingers through blonde hair. The hand on his hurt shoulder made Naruto stay still instead of pulling out of the man's reach.
"But you know I'm not him. You know I'm not him because you've seen me before, and even though I'm wearing his face, I am the only one who can do this to you," the man said. Naruto heard two clicks before a shock stronger than all the others before assaulted him. He cried out and tried to wrench himself from the man's grip on his shoulder. It was no use, and he remained where he was, writhing.
"I am the only one who can cause you pain like this because ever since then you've been mine and no one else's. Kabuto did try to protect you when I went to him, but he was weak. That is why I killed him so easily right after he told me where to find you when I threatened his pathetic family. Yes, I killed him. Right up there, in that room you were hiding in before. And his family was easy picking as well."
Naruto felt sick. He'd been staring at Kabuto's blood. Kabuto had been killed on that bed. Nothing had looked out of place, but Naruto was sure Kabuto had struggled; otherwise there wouldn't have been so many ripped pillows on the bed.
"So how…why do you—?" Naruto started to ask.
"Ah yes, why do I look like him? Why is my face not scarred and burnt to a crisp like the rest of me was? It's a very simple thing to answer," Snake replied. A wild look crawled into the man's eyes and Naruto was suddenly even more afraid than he had been before. "It is because, little Naru-chan, I am wearing his face. It's his flesh that I skinned from his skull and made into a mask to cover my own distorted features, and his scalp that I wore to hide my hair. But since you wish to see my face as it was, and not your beloved Kabuto-niisan's while I torture you, I suppose I could indulge you."
Keeping his hand still firmly on the blonde's shoulder, Snake took his hand from the boy's long hair and reached up to his face. He gripped the edge of the skin at the base of his neck and pulled up, revealing his true face. It was charred black in some places, while some pieces of his pale white skin had somehow managed to be left unscathed. Raw pink muscle showed or rippled beneath the thin layer of skin that had healed over it. Snake gave him a toothy grin with chapped and cracked lips that had a chunk missing at the edge of his mouth to show off his pink gums in the dim light of the house.
"You see this? This is your mark on me. This is all because of you, Naruto." Snake moved closer, looking into the blonde's eyes with a wild intensity that he couldn't look away from. "And now I get to leave more of my marks on you."
He laughed as he released Naruto's shoulder in favor of grasping the blonde's hair. He dragged the younger through the hall by the hair and into the kitchen, ignoring the struggles of his captive. He tossed the remote for the collar onto the counter as he entered and took out a thin rope from a cabinet. He then tied Naruto's limbs to each of the legs of the table as he spread the blonde across it. The table rocked a little as Naruto pulled and moved about, trying to loosen his restraints, but to no avail.
"Don't bother trying to get loose. This is going to happen sooner or later, so why not get it over with?" Snake said nonchalantly as his fingers traced over the handles of knifes in the drawer he'd pulled open.
"Fucking do it then," Naruto said with an icy voice. He no longer struggled and his eyes had gone hard. Snake pulled out the knife he liked best, long, thin, and razor sharp, before turning to face the limp blonde with a smirk.
"I see, so my other playmate has come out to see me. Have you missed me, lovely?" he asked.
"Go to hell you fucking psychopath," Kyuubi responded with a glare at the man. Snake merely smiled.
"That much? Oh dear, you must understand that I missed you terribly as well. I just couldn't wait until I could get my hands on you again and repay you for everything you've given me. Especially you, though. Naru-chan is quite entertaining, I must say, but you…you are far more amusing. I always enjoyed seeing how far I could go with you until you let out a scream. You always lasted much longer, you see, and so I will very much enjoy this now," Snake told the blonde. He moved to Naruto's left side and grinned down at him, looking as though he really was thoroughly enjoying himself. His gaze shifted to the knife in his hand as he brought it up and examined it again, running a finger along one sleek, metallic side.
"Now…where should I mark you? Ah yes, I do think your stomach will be a lovely place for this mark."
And with that, Naruto's shirt was cut off and then the knife touched coldly upon his warm skin, chilling him slightly before it was pressed into his flesh and blood spilled forth, marking the beginning of a new scar that would stay with him for years to come.
Days had passed, only a few, but they had dragged on so long that Sasuke felt as though they were years, and as another passed he felt that he was even further from seeing Naruto again. Sasuke had told his brother that he was going to help whether he was allowed to or not, and Itachi had simply shrugged at him, too busy to even bother with arguing. And so, he was allowed access to files regarding Snake's investigation. He'd taken the time in between going to school, only because Itachi was forcing him to if he was to be helping with the investigation, and any homework that had been given, to read over each of the victim's cases (trying not to get hung up on Naruto's specifically), along with any observation Itachi had made about behavior and connections. Itachi's notes on Tsunade's findings were what he was reading now.
He glanced up at his older brother, wondering what he was thinking, before returning to the notes. Just as he finished, a mug of tea was placed before him and Itachi sat beside him.
"Any thoughts now that you've read through everything?" his brother asked before sipping on his own mug that was filled with bitter coffee.
"Well, there's obviously some connection between Snake and Kabuto. Either Kabuto is working with Snake or is working under him because of threat," Sasuke replied.
"Yes, we have come to this conclusion as well. At first, we decided to believe that Kabuto is working with Snake, but it was an anomaly in Snake's behavior. He has always worked alone. From all the murders we've amassed to be his, it looked as though he didn't look at anyone else as if they were really a human being. His victims, although not at first, we're almost always killed inhumanely as his experiments. Therefore he wouldn't work with someone. His disregard for life would have made him kill his partner long ago," Itachi explained.
"So then he's working with Snake because of a threat and will probably either be killed soon, or is already dead," Sasuke concluded.
"Exactly," his brother agreed.
"Have you gotten any farther with the note?" the younger asked. Itachi shook his head.
"All we know is that he has taken Naruto-kun to a house somewhere to torture him until we find his hiding place. There doesn't seem to be a time limit set by him either, other than Naruto-kun's own will to live. He wants us to find him, and he knows that taking a hostage close to us is more than enough incentive to make us work ten times as hard at doing it," he replied.
"The house, it screams with the souls of the dead…" Sasuke mumbled, repeating the note's lines as he thought about them. He looked up at his brother. "Have you considered where he could be, at all?"
"We have. Although not all of his victims were killed in a house, we have people checking all of the houses that were murder sites, since the first two lines of Snake's note implies that he is at the site of one of his murders. Nothing has turned up. Either a family is already living in the house, or there is no trace of anyone throughout," Itachi replied.
"Right," Sasuke said with a sigh. Itachi downed the rest of his coffee before standing and putting his mug away. He ran a hand through his hair with a weary look.
"I need to go to Tsunade-san's again. She wanted to look for anything we might have missed the first time, and asked me to help her. Deidara might be over later. Just tell him where I've gone and that I'll be back late tonight," he told his little brother. Sasuke nodded and stood from his seat at the table. He moved to leave the room, but paused as he heard his name.
"Sasuke," Itachi said. The younger turned to look at his brother and saw Itachi wave him over. Obeying, he approached his brother and ended up being poked in the middle of his forehead. He glared at his brother, but it softened at his next words. "Don't worry so much, foolish little brother. We'll find him soon."
Sasuke nodded again and then left the room, rubbing his forehead. He may have been used to his brother poking his forehead from his younger years, but it hurt. Still, it was a bit of a comforting gesture, although it did nothing to stop him from worrying. He knew Itachi was doing everything he could, but it wasn't enough for Sasuke. He wanted to see Naruto.
Of course, it was so obvious! How could he have taken so much time to figure out that Naruto and Snake were there? Sasuke resisted the urge to hit himself for being so utterly idiotic, even though he knew no one was there to witness his self-abuse. He was excited. He knew where they were. He'd figured it out.
He dialed Itachi's cell number as quickly as he could, but scowled as he received his brother's voicemail immediately. It was either off or dead, and since Itachi rarely turned his cell off, Sasuke assumed its battery had run out without his brother's notice. Sasuke paced his kitchen rapidly, trying to think what he should do. And then he stopped. He knew what he was going to do. He was going to go make sure that they were where he guessed them to be. He was going to the old Uchiha manor.
He didn't want to sit around and wait until his brother came home to tell him, and he didn't want to go to Tsunade's and tell him. Itachi would never let Sasuke go with him to check it out. Deidara still hadn't come as Itachi had said he might, so he had time and the chance to go, but he would have to hurry in case Deidara came soon.
Immediately, he dashed to Itachi's study, where he kept any files he brought home from work. He opened the left drawer of the desk and sifted through the papers that occupied it to find Itachi's spare gun at the bottom as well as a new magazine of bullets for it. His father had taken him to a shooting range a few times before he had been murdered, so he knew how to load and shoot a gun. Sasuke wasn't sure he'd be able to use it to kill, but he knew he'd do anything to get Naruto away from the psychopath. Besides, it was for his own protection as well.
"Oh Sasu-chan!" Loud knocking on the door was heard that could only have been caused by one person. Sai.
"I'm coming in!" Sai called. Not long after, the front door could be heard opening and closing, followed by footsteps. Hurriedly Sasuke shoved the drawer closed and put the gun in the back of his pants, covering it with his shirt, and the magazine in his pocket before he calmly walked from Itachi's study. He saw Sai and raised an eyebrow at him. The boy wore pants, which was rare for him.
"What are you doing here?" he asked.
"My Sasuke senses were tingling so I came a calling," Sai replied. "In sensible clothing too, I might add."
"…Right," Sasuke said with a sigh. Knowing that Sai would want to go anyway because he could see how anxious the other was about Naruto, Sasuke headed for the front door. Sai followed along.
"We going out?" Sai asked, putting his shoes back on as Sasuke put on his. The younger Uchiha simply nodded before moving to write a note, telling his brother where he was going and why. Then they were out the door and in Sai's car. Sasuke directed him onto the highway that would take them where he wanted to go, and Sai followed his instructions without question, having noticed the dangerous air floating around his friend. Finally he wasn't able to contain himself any longer.
"So are you going to tell me where we're going or not?" Sai asked. Sasuke reached behind him and pulled out the gun.
"To my old house," he replied, ignoring how his friend nearly swerved into the car next to them at the sight of the firearm.
"Damn it Sasuke, I was right to come over this time," Sai said, shaking his head. "What are you gonna do with that gun?"
"I don't know," Sasuke replied as he examined the gun. He pulled out the magazine he'd taken with him and replaced it with the empty one in the gun. Then he looked at his friend with a determined gaze. "All I know is that I'm tired of waiting or sitting on the sidelines watching everyone be useful except for me. I know where Snake is, and I want Naruto safe Sai. Even if it means I have to use this."
Sai glanced at his friend and then shook his head, but he kept driving.
"So then you're certain that Naruto-kun is there?" he asked quietly.
"Completely," Sasuke replied confidently. Sai sighed wearily and glanced at his friend once more.
"You're an idiot and possibly even more impulsive than Naruto-kun. But I guess that's due to his influence on you. No matter what I say to dissuade you from doing this, I know you won't listen because of your damn stubbornness and pride, so…give me the gun, Sasuke," he said, holding his hand out in expectation.
"Why?" Sasuke said, eyeing his friend with suspicion. Sai threw a frustrated look at the younger Uchiha.
"We both know I'm a better shot than you so give me the damn thing. You know I'm not going to let you go in there alone, right?" Sai explained, hand still out, before muttering, "Probably haven't even gone to a shooting range for a year now."
"And you have?" Sasuke relented. He handed over the gun to his friend who put it in the side pocket of his door.
"Actually yes I have. Most recent was yesterday because I was frustrated about everything, so there. The people I'm stuck with now were kinda surprised at first, but the stupid husband encourages it. I think it's because of all the skirts," Sai replied.
He turned off the highway and continued on to Sasuke's house, knowing the way now that he knew where he was going. They were silent the rest of the way. The closer they got to their destination, the more the tension and apprehension grew. Finally the large house came into view and Sai passed it. Sasuke who had been getting ready to throw himself from the car turned with an expectant face.
"If we stopped right in front, don't you think that Snake would notice and be ready for us? Then we wouldn't stand any chance against him in getting Naruto-kun out of there. All I'm going to do is park a block or two away, and then we can run over there and get Naruto-kun out, hopefully without Snake's notice," Sai explained. This seemed to satiate Sasuke for the moment, but it didn't stop the impatient bobbing of his knee.
As soon as they were parked, Sasuke and Sai were out of the car and darting through the yards they used to pass by coming back from Sai's house when they used to live there. They didn't stop for nostalgic thoughts though, but kept on to their destination. Before they entered the yard of the old Uchiha compound, both took a second to examine how exactly, they were going to get in. It was dark out since it was rather late at night, but they could make things out by the light of the street lamp.
Most of the windows were boarded up (Sasuke wondered when that had happened), so they couldn't get in through those. Sasuke then spotted the window in the ground that led to the basement of the house. It was small, but large enough to allow a thin teenaged boy to pass through. It wasn't boarded up, so it was their best bet to get in unnoticed. Sasuke dashed over first, too impatient to really tell Sai where he was going. He peered in and, after seeing nothing but a few boxes and darkness, lifted the window and slipped in. It wasn't long before Sai had slipped in as well. It was pitch black as the two felt their way through the basement's maze of boxes and other things neither wanted to know of, to get to the stairs. They froze as they heard footsteps above them making a slow path to the back of the house. Both assumed that they belonged to Snake and waited to see where the man was going. Soon enough, they heard a door open and close.
"He just went out the back door," Sasuke told Sai, who nodded even though he knew the other wouldn't see it.
"Alright, let's hurry," Sai replied. They found the stairs and went up them as quietly as possible, not wanting to take any chances that the psychopath could hear them. When they got to the top, they opened the door carefully and crept out, looking about. Seeing the coast was clear, both immediately started searching the dimly lit rooms on the first floor as quickly as possible. They found nothing and Sasuke was growing more impatient each second he found no trace of the blonde. Every room was clean and smelled of bleach, making them think that it had been used to clean the blood that had been spilled there.
"He's not down here," Sasuke whispered harshly, still searching fruitlessly through the last room on the first floor.
"Then let's check upstairs. Come on," Sai replied in a hushed voice.
Both headed for the stairs to the second floor and climbed up them, keeping as quiet as they had been. They paused as they heard water start. Sharing a look, they went to the bathroom and tried the door. It was locked. The water immediately stopped when the doorknob had started to move. They knew he was scared. They knew that Naruto thought they were Snake.
"Naruto-kun," Sai said softly, hoping to sooth the other. "It's okay. Sasuke and I came to get you out."
"Liar. Snake I know you like games but you don't need to torture him like this. Don't give him false hope," came a rough voice from the other side of the door. The two looked at each other in confusion.
"Naruto-kun? Is someone else in there with you? If there is, we'll get you both out, but we need to hurry. Snake could come back any moment," Sai said.
"Stop it Snake. You know I'm him. And I'm not coming out unless you force me out, which I know you'll have no qualms about," the voice said with malice. The water turned on again, and they could hear splashing.
"Dobe," Sasuke said finally, frustrated that Naruto wasn't responding to their offered help like he was supposed to. "Stop being an idiot and let us help you. We don't have time to argue."
"So you're Uchiha then?" the voice asked quietly, more subdued and sounding tired. Both boys waited anxiously for what would happen next. Finally the water shut off and they heard the click of a lock before the door opened to reveal a messy looking boy with short, choppy blonde hair.
"You're a bastard, but thanks for coming to the brat's aid," he said. Before the other two could ask anything, he continued. "I'm Kyuubi, Naruto's other personality created the first time he was in a situation like this. Now how the hell did you get in here?"
"Yes, how did you get in here? I would be delighted to know."
All eyes widened as they landed on the one man they were hoping to avoid. Snake grinned down at them.
"Oh this is just splendid. Thank you so much for coming to me, my dear little Sasuke-kun. Naru-chan said he didn't want to see you when I asked if he wanted a playmate, but I guess you missed him too much, as I thought you would, and just had to come running. And you even brought another friend with you, how thoughtful."
Sasuke glared hatefully at the man, ignoring the shaking of his body with being in the presence of his family's murderer. He ripped the gun Sai had been holding from his hands, undid the safety, and pointed it at Snake. The man's grin dropped into a frown.
"Now, now, Sasuke-kun. That's no way to treat an adult. Children should listen to those older than them, and I'm telling you to put that thing away. Children are too impulsive and never know what to do with those things, so they should just leave those toys for the adults to play with. Adults like your brother. Where is the charming man now? I'd have thought he would come along on your little rescue mission," said the psychopath.
"Don't call me a child, you murderer!" Sasuke yelled at the man, keeping the gun pointed at the man. Snake ignored it and took a step forward, followed by another, and another. Sasuke backed up with each step the man took, forcing the others back as well, further from the staircase and their escape route.
"I see. Sasuke-kun is an impulsive little child, isn't he? Going all alone to rescue his precious person. Oh, with the exception of his friend, of course. I wonder when Itachi will figure you are all here? My guess is," the man said, his grin growing with every word, "when you're all dead and buried in the ground."
With that, the man lunged at Sasuke, who fired the gun and managed to hit Snake's shoulder before he was knocked to the ground. The gun flew from his hand in his surprise at the attack and slid across the floor, away from them all. Snake took no notice of the pain in his shoulder and merely grinned wildly down at his captive as blood trickled from his wound and he held Sasuke beneath him, pinned to the floor.
"Thank you for the present, dear Sasuke-kun. I'll put it to good use when your brother comes looking for you," he said. He then punched the boy's stomach so hard that Sasuke blacked out as he tried to regain his breath. Suddenly two people attacked him, but he easily threw them off. He grabbed the remote from his pocket as the two started to get back up, and he quickly pressed and held the button. The blonde cried out, clutching at his neck, and dropped to the floor again. Sai, seeing that Naruto was in pain, glared at Snake and ran at the man again. Snake went to strike him down, but Sai somehow managed to dodge it and latched on to the arm that held the remote. He grasped at the remote, trying to rip it from Snake's grasp, but the murderer was already trying to pull him off. So Sai bit down on his arm, surprising the man into dropping the remote. Sai then stomped on the remote to break it as he let go of the man's arm. Seeing the remote broken, Snake howled and moved to kill the boy, but was knocked to the side. Naruto had punched him in the ear with all his might.
"Come on, we need to get out of here," the blonde said, pulling at Sai. Both ran for Sasuke, intending to bring him with them, but Naruto fell to the ground as Snake's hand grabbed his ankle. Sai turned around as the blonde tried to kick Snake's hand off uselessly, and he kicked the man's arm as hard as he could. Snake let go as a sickening crack was heard and Naruto scrambled up. They picked up Sasuke, put him on Sai's back, and rushed down the stairs. Sai made for the front door, but Naruto stopped him.
"I don't know what he did to it, but the front door won't budge. We have to find another way," he said before wincing and grabbing his stomach.
"What's wrong?" Sai asked.
"Nothing. We need to get out of here first," the blonde replied. He could handle the pain, as long as they got out of there.
"…Alright. We came in through the basement, but—the back door. We can get out there," Sai said, already heading to it. Naruto followed after. They could already hear Snake coming after them.
"Come back," he called out, "We haven't finished playing yet, Naru-chan, and you only just got new playmates."
Just as they saw the door, Sasuke came to. He looked around groggily and wondered why he was being jostled about before he remembered. Thinking that Snake was carrying him, he struggled and fell as he hit his carrier's head.
"Damn it Sasuke," Sai said, turning around to glare at him before his eyes widened as they looked past his friend. Sasuke froze as he saw color drain from his friend's face, and didn't get to feel the rush of relief that the one carrying him hadn't been Snake. He turned his head slowly to see Snake standing in the doorway with that psychotic grin on his lips and the wild look in his eyes. An abnormally long tongue slipped out to wet his lips as he stared them down.
"My turn," Snake said, bringing his good arm up to hold out the gun Sasuke had dropped. He pointed it at Sasuke and casually pulled the trigger, shooting the boy in the stomach. Sasuke's eyes widened as pain exploded in his body and he fell to the side.
His vision went blurry and every sound that reached his ears seemed far away, like someone had stuffed cotton into them. All he knew was the pain in his stomach and the feeling that something in him was slipping away, even as he wanted to grasp it and bring it back. There were lots of shouts, but he couldn't make out the words. He knew Sai was beside him at first, telling him to stay with them, before he left. There was a loud slamming noise, but he couldn't tell what it was. And then there were more voices and loud bangs that he guessed were gunshots, but he couldn't concentrate. Then suddenly the shots stopped and in his blurry vision he could see one yellow and two black shapes. He knew they were trying to tell him something, but he was just so tired. He really couldn't concentrate. So he went to sleep, but he knew he wanted to wake up with those shapes there next to him because they were familiar and gave him a warm feeling that he didn't want to go away since it overshadowed the pain he felt. Besides, he still needed to tell that yellow one something, and he didn't want to put it off any longer.
A/N: Eh heh…sorry for making you wait so long again…? (dodges deadly objects) Wah! I'm sorry! Really, I am! This was supposed to come out, at the latest, by Christmas, but you can see how well that tuned out. Eh heh, yeah. So really, I am very, very, very, very, very, very, very, veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrryyyy sorry for making you all wait so long. But! The good news is that I will hopefully have the next chappie out soon since I made you all wait so very long for this. Unfortunately we are pretty much at the end, so I'm sure you're all sad this is all coming to an end. At least you won't have to deal with me and my super late updates anymore. Until I start another story that you may like, that is. But for now, I must congratulate all the people who guessed correctly last chappie at where Snake took Naru. So, congrats to Tenichi Shigo, LeiseFlustern, PurpleCranberi, Ariel, Boejangles, and LoveNeverWantedMe for guessing correctly! Beany09 had a good guess (Beany guessed Naru's old house), but sadly it wasn't right. It was a good idea though. Also, yes I did make up the note in the last chapter on my own. I actually made it shortly after the idea for this story first popped into my head. Thank you for all the wonderful compliments on it, I'm glad you guys didn't think it was crap like my poems usually turn out to be.
Um...side comments. Yeah. I was just going through this again because I like to see if I can find all my mistakes, and I noticed something. I used emphasis with Snake a lot, but it needed to be there. Snake's just a creeper I guess...
And now, I shall say my last words. Thank you everyone for following me on this story's journey of late updates and fun-ness, and thank you ever so much to everyone who has reviewed on any chapter. You are all amazing and you have my love for keeping this train rolling. I hope you all enjoy the last chapter (or chapters, I'm not really sure as of right now. Maybe I'll just do one more and then an epilogue…nah, I'm crap at epilogues) whenever it may come out, and please review, for reviews make me happy and will lessen my sadness at the ending of my wonderful story. Thanks once again!
Disclaimer: nope, don't own. Jeez, you'd think you'd learn by now.
(Happy belated holidays and Happy early New Year, in case I don't get the next one out soon enough.)