.2. Crazy Thing Is
(Shit happens)
"And where the hell have you been?" Sasuke asked him none too gently, his dark gaze sharp and commanding. He had always been a brassy, arrogant little shit, and they had bumped heads often. But he was in a generous mood today and didn't really want to get into it with his classmate. At least not now, while he was still basking in the sweet afterglow from yesterday. But of course the little turd wouldn't settle for anything less than the truth so he sighed, pausing as he bent over to lace up his boots.
The empty locker room was eerily quiet, but hell- this late on a weekend? You couldn't pay any of those academy ass wipes enough to be here. Lucky dicks didn't know how good they had it. Meanwhile here he was, up so early it was practically late, getting ready to go do fucking work. He groaned aloud at the thought.
'...Who the hell am I kidding though?'
That was the same no matter what day of the week it was, reluctantly dragging himself through torturous, brutal, nightmarish hours of combat training, analyzing geographical maps, memorizing historical texts...then there was cultural studies, foreign language, cyber security, strategy, psychological warfare (and aside from the magical starry eyed love time he had with Hyuuga-sensei) every other day really did suck ass. But he had been (somewhat) prepared for that. The reputation of Konosha's most prestigious Military Academy really did proceed its damn self after all.
But speaking of Hyuuga-sensei...
"It's a funny story actually..." He began, fondly reminiscing over the sweet, sweet scent of Hyuuga-sensei's lustrous dark hair, and the adorable flush that seemed to always be present on her face whenever she found herself in his vicinity. He sighed aloud, clutching his own cheeks at the memory. Her skin had looked so warm...and the thought of the cool silken touch of her hand on his forehead had him releasing a tortured sigh.
What had followed once he had dragged himself (still kind of drunk) back to his shitty apartment and fallen into an uneasy slumber (no thanks to his damn 'uncle', fucking a chick loudly through the EXTREMELY thin walls) was the most magnificent wet dream he had EVER HAD.
It had been practically poetic! The delicate lines of her body beneath the moonlight, the silken whisper of her skin against his, smooth and tender beneath his palms. But as always, everything came back to the comforting cool of her hands against him, and the soft, hesitant look of quiet understanding in her pale eyes. The way blood had risen in her cheeks, blossoming beautifully beneath the skin of her delicate neck and supple shoulders. The soft fullness of her hips and thighs in his grasp, and of course he would be rude not to give the proper adoration to those delicious, mouth watering, delectable breas- "-I'm waiting."
He scowled, growling low under his breath. Of course that fucker couldn't give him five seconds to wrap up his daytime fantasy. Granted...he had kind of went AWOL last night and kind of owed his partner some kind of explanation but...shit things had happened! Like he had gotten drunk...and...(something with some chick?...Right?)...more drunk...(Had he been lost in an alley in the dark drunk?)...SOMEHOW managing to remember the address he had bought off of that punk ass freshman Konohamaru (who really knew how to get a hold of extremely classified information)...and THEN...there was his wonderful, adorable, cute as fuck Hyuuga-sensei...and then he had been in her house and throwing up in her toilet drunk, which was now his favorite kind of drunk.
'Of course-' he thought with an expression of focused concentration, 'having hot, sloppy sex drunk with Hyuuga-sensei would have been even bet-'
"Naruto. Fucking. Focus." Sasuke ground out sharply, snapping his fingers in his face was if he were a badly trained mongrel. Which was kind of true...but he still didn't appreciate the damn gesture! He scowled, slapping his sometime-friend-but-always-a-bastard's hand out of his face. Sasuke's eyes narrowed, his expression of consistent boredom and annoyance venturing briefly for a moment on the verge of complete exasperation.
"It's almost impressive that your attention span consistently lasts about 4.5 seconds..." He added drily, with a slow shake of his head.
He scowled again in reply, briefly considering telling Sasuke for the 100th time that he was an entitled shit-dick BUT-! As far as he was concerned he was a changed man from now on. Something about half dozing nauseous on the bathroom floor of the woman you loved was enough to make you re-evaluate everything else in your life, slightly shitty friends included.
'You poor asshole.' He couldn't help but think, almost with pity. Most guys considered Sasuke lucky because so many girls wanted his dick- but it seemed he was the only one who knew that despite all of that his friend was still a bitter betty on the inside. All the pussy in the world couldn't change the fact that he was a somber, spiteful, arrogant shit with an ALARMING brother complex.
To think of all of the sexual experience and prowess that Sasuke had gained from his few short years of academy life plucking flowers without a care, leaving broken hearts and wounded women in his wake...he crossed his arms with a shake of his head, surveying his friend with a look equal parts pity and sympathy. 'To be fair- it wasn't too long ago that you were doing the same...' 'I'm ignoring you.'
Sasuke had given poor Sakura the cold shoulder for YEARS before he had finally seemed to take her affection seriously, but up until then he had honestly thought his friend was just a little queer. (Which wouldn't have been THAT big of a deal...although if he was then he was mildly offended that his so called friend hadn't propositioned him considering his boyish good looks-)
...But sure Sasuke had got girls when he had the mind for them. He had banged his fair share, heck they both had quite frankly. That's what tended to happen when you threw a bunch of hormonal teenagers into an extremely dangerous and life threatening profession. You never quite knew who was coming back to class with good marks and battle scars, or going home to their folks in a body bag. War was crazy like that. You had to make the most of every moment! At the time when he had first been admitted, whoring it up around the academy had seemed like a good idea, to take a page from his uncle's book-
'BUT that was waaaaaay before Hyuuga-sensei came into my life and took my heart. Now I'm a one woman man! Who would have ever thought though?' he thought with another love lorn sigh. These days he wouldn't waste even an ounce of boner on developing rapturous fantasies about anyone but her. No longer were his thoughts filled with a pink haired, green eyed temptress. That girl had been eclipsed by a pale skinned, dark haired goddess, and like a disciplined disciple '-or a lunatic-' (murmured none too quietly) he worshiped at her altar from the time he woke to the time he slept.
'Hm. One can't help but wonder where drunken sexual excursions with random women fit into this so called 'love' inspired mentality- ' He rolled his eyes, scoffing aloud. 'Shut it! You're just as bad as this simp! What the fuck do you know?! And for the record-' 'Let me guess...you were drunk?' ' Don't use that tone of voice with me like I'm making this shit up you asshole! I WAS drunk! You were there! And for the record- I don't recall hearing you fucking complaining!' 'Right...' 'What's with that?! Fuck you! You're just as bad as this hedgehog!'
Sasuke didn't do anything with anyone with any kind of passion, but with the same cold, detached precision. He did shit just because he could, because he had the strength to take, and wanted to take even when things were being thrown at him. 'There has to be something in that Uchiha blood...'
As far as he was concerned, Sasuke hadn't tongued Sakura down just for appearances sake- but because he knew it would low key piss him off. They had been friends and rivals for so long, it sounded exactly like the type of shit Sasuke would do. 'I mean...we do have a really fucked up friendship...' But whatever Sasuke thought he felt for Sakura, it wasn't LOVE.
"Have you ever been in love?" He asked suddenly, with the utmost seriousness. Sasuke paused for an extended moment, visibly struggling to muster enough energy to even turn and give him a blank eyed stare in response. "...What?" "You heard me. Have. You. EVER. Been. In. LOVE." He enunciated, not too surprised to find that his dear friend was in fact, an idiot when it came to matters of the heart. Sasuke raised an eyebrow, looking at him as if he had just grown a second head. He sighed, rolling his eyes. Of course it figured he would have to explain.
"Have you ever been so in love that you just can't stop thinking about someone? Ever been so in love that all you want is to see them smile? So in love that you spend all day fantasizing about them nake-er- I mean all you want is to be with them every minute, every hour, every single day?!" He asked honestly, feeling extremely deep and philosophical with the thought that he did in fact love Hyuuga-sensei with every ounce of his pathetic excuse of a being and had known this long before he had wound up drunk as shit on her bathroom floor.
If he was being an honest lad rather than a potentially deranged psychotic stalker- '- an extremely dangerous, deranged, psychotic stalker with military training, backing and support I'll add-' -if she wanted it at this very moment, he would be more than happy to gnaw off his own arm and give it to her gift wrapped, bow tied, signed, sealed (with a kiss!), and delivered.
"True love!" He stated, his face as somber as a tombstone. "It's the final test of manhood. Without it, your entire life has no meaning!" He added dramatically, feeling that they were about to have a moment that would bind them forever. And he couldn't help but think that there was some weird freak in one of his classes who spouted some eerily similar shit about manhood...but now he was deep in an extremely sentimental and heartwarming internal dialogue. ('Yeah you're right' Sasuke would say and they would clasp hands as brothers and pour out their hearts and souls and-) Sasuke only continued to eye him doubtfully as he pulled on his gloves.
"...What is wrong with you?" He asked, almost managing to sound concerned. Almost. He scowled immediately. Of course Sasuke had to ruin this beautiful moment where he was just about to really bare his soul the fucker. He shouldn't really have expected an answer, and especially not from Mr. Steal-your-bitch himself.
"Ugh. I should have fucking known." His sigh quickly turned into a grunt of frustration as he stood up, violently ripping open his locker and pulling out his dark vest. "You just don't get it you bastard...god! I don't know why I waste my time talking with you. You fucking disgust me!" Rather than growing alarmed at his partner's sudden shift in mood, Sasuke instead returned to his preparations with an uncharacteristic roll of his eyes. His friend's exhausting energy and sudden mood swings were all a matter of course.
"Your precious senpai went missing and you haven't even had the decency to ask even ONCE if I'm alright?! Too busy playing tonsil hockey with Sakura eh!? I'll have you know that I was SEXUALLY ASSAULTED against my will no thanks to my so called FRIENDS!-" He added loudly, much to his dear friend's continued annoyance at his dramatic antics.
"Right..." Sasuke added drily in reply, reaching into his neatly organized locker to pull out his own vest. "That's not what that girl's been saying. And according to my nearly flawless recollection of events...that's not what I recall either..."
He scoffed at this, seeing no need to remind the dark haired shit that he had spent the majority of the evening with his face stapled to Sakura's. "Ahh what the fuck would you know? I've never even spoken two words to Hazumi! I don't even like her!" He added with more than necessary fervor as he strapped on his vest with an overly violent motion, much to Sasuke's chagrin. 'Or wait...Was her name Hasumi? Or Asumi? Izumi? Wait- what was her name again?'
But what did it matter anyway, when he had spent the night being consoled by a goddess in the flesh instead? He still didn't like the look on Sasuke's face though. He scowled as he reached in his locker, withdrawing to crack a beer. You would think after the shitty night he had just had he would be done with the stuff for awhile, but if he was going to be forced to do this then he was gonna need a hell of a lot of extra motivation.
"That's right. You don't." Sasuke added, a little too smugly as he carefully counted out his kunai. He rolled his eyes in reply, throwing his head back to take a hard swig as his partner continued. "What you do like are short...pale...light eyed...dark haired women-"
He choked at that, spitting a mouth full of lukewarm beer all over his locker. He spent a few painful moments gasping aloud, doubling over as he choked. 'Oh SHIIIT!' "W-What the FUCK did you just say?!" But Sasuke was already closing his locker and ignoring his visible struggle, motioning instead for him to follow in his wake.
"Break time is over. It's time to get to work."
He hurriedly chugged the beer, reaching in his locker to haphazardly grab a handful of kunai himself, shoving them into one of the many additional pockets tucked into his vest. He hurled the now empty can into his locker and slammed it shut, nearly stumbling over his own feet in his haste to follow after Sasuke. "Hey! Don't change the subject! I asked you a question!"
"Then hurry up if you want an answer 'senpai.'" He said the words with such cold contempt he was half tempted to take them and shove them back into his mouth. "We have to make up for that assignment we missed because you wanted to go off and get blackout drunk you loser. Thanks to you I have to waste my time doing work on a Sunday..."
He sighed with resignation as they exited the locker room, entering the dark corridors of the Academy after hours. It was quiet enough during the day once they had all been given their daily assignments, but it was even more so this late on a Sunday evening. Without a doubt everyone else had already finished their weekend homework- give or take the last team in question of course. At this point no one would be really surprised to find out it had taken them a little longer to finish their assignment than usual, especially considering Team 7 was unfortunate enough to have the academy's number one problem student in its ranks.
"Well pardon me your highness. I didn't know a few lousy extra points meant that much to you." He grumbled beneath his breath as they navigated the dark, gilded halls with the ease that came with doing so countless times. His companion eyed him doubtfully, as if he had just been reminded that his team mate had run out of cares to give quite a while ago.
"...Are you even trying to graduate anymore? Or did you just decide to give up?" He asked seriously, pausing before a darkened portion of the hallway. To the untrained eye he would have been eyed curiously for the action, but he did not pause. He placed his hand against its surface, and was immediately rewarded with a panel etching itself out of the stone, sloping upwards soundlessly to reveal a darkened passage. They casually stepped into the gloom, the security lights already triggering to illuminate the dark path forward to the pick up point.
"I'll have you know I'm on track to graduate by the end of the semester!" His 'senpai' growled in the dark, much to his continued amusement. "AND I happen to know what the fuck I'm doing." He stated, giving him the finger in the dark for good measure.
"Hmm. Do you now?" And then, smugly again- "Just based on the conclusion I've drawn from your extremely awful, inconsistent track record...does Hyuuga-sensei believe that I wonder?"
He felt heat flood his entire face as his mouth hung open, blushing to the roots of his hair. For the first time he felt like he finally knew how Hyuuga-sensei felt all the time when he was teasing her. 'Wow. Is that all I had to do to get you to be quiet for once?' There were few times in his life he had been left speechless but even he knew he was catching flies.
"W-WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOU-"
"Stop yelling so loud. We've got work to do. And for the record the entire class knows alright..."
"EVERYONE?!"
"...More like Ino...Sakura...Shino...Chouji...Shikamaru...Kiba...TenTen...Lee...Me...practically everyone but Neji. Although that is probably to your benefit considering how much Neji hates you." He added, unable to resist throwing in a callous quirk of his lips.
"For fuck's sake!" He growled, visibly cringing at the news- it really figured! Leave it to his nosy ass classmates to quickly get to the root of why Hyuuga-sensei's class was the only one he went out of the way to consistently attend. Was he THAT easy to read? '...is this a real question? Yes.'
"Hmm. Does Hyuuga-sensei approve of you using such foul language?"
"Fuck You!" He screeched, his cheeks blazing with embarrassment as his scowl deepened. He huffed, visibly sulking as he crossed his arms. 'I'm NEVER going to hear the end of this now...'
"You'll get over it. Be pissed off about it later." Sasuke murmured, deftly reaching into his pocket to pull out his palm pilot. They were standard issue, and were always set to auto update with the mission specs they had already heard in their Friday briefing. Apparently HE couldn't be trusted so it was almost always in Sasuke's possession.
"For now we still have to get this guy...remember?" He added, being sure to flash the face of the asswipe they had been scoping for the past week. The man's surly face served to only blacken his mood even further.
"-Or did you forget? This was the one that got away because my team mate was in the back of a club getting blown by some random Chounin...remember? That's not bad enough on its own, but then he disappeared without warning, abandoned the mission, made us miss our window of opportunity, vanished without a trace...and he didn't even bother to return any of our calls...ring any bells?" He added drily, with that scathing sarcasm that tended to make girl's hearts flutter. As far as he was concerned, only kami knew why. Still- '...He does actually have a point-'
"Shove it!" He snapped, in equal parts to them both. "For the record it was YOUR fault for letting me get that drunk in the first place! You know how I get when I have too much tequila! I know we were trying not to look suspicious b-but...I trusted you to know better!"
His blank eyed expression in response was almost comical. "I wish you could hear yourself sometimes. You trusted me...to stop you...from getting yourself drunk?"
"Uhh...yeah?" He scoffed with a roll of his eyes, tossing his hands behind his head. "Why the hell else did Kakashi-sensei name you team leader for?"
Honestly, tequila made him feel good. Too good. Not to mention really fucking friendly. Now that he thought about it- it was a miracle he hadn't actually tried to get Hyuuga-sensei naked versus just joked about it. Maybe it had been balanced out by all of those fireball shots somehow (and thanks in part to the alcoholic assholes at the academy, fireballs shots in Konoha these days were legit being made with actual fire from unauthorized use of jutsu...)...so maybe he should give his tolerance for alcohol more credit! But still-
'Damn...that was a missed opportunity now that I think about it...aw dammit I am one stupid son of a bit-'
'Did you...really just say that? As in...I heard you correctly?...sure. Why not give the poor woman even more ammunition to use for that restraining order case she's building. Sexual assault and harassment would fit in well there with stalking don't you think? You're lucky that she didn't have the gall to ask you how you knew where she lived, considering that is extremely classified information-'
He came to a complete stop, mulling over the words rattling around in his head before he felt all of the blood leave his face in one foul swoop. 'Aw shit! You're right! She's probably wondering how in the hell her problem student showed up drunk on her doorstep! I bet she thinks I'm a psycho-!'
'Somehow I've gotten the impression she realized that long before you wound up drunk and vomiting on her doorstep...and if memory serves, didn't you...vomit ON her? That woman truly is a saint-'
Internal dialogue aside- it was only thanks in part to his extremely well developed eyesight that he caught Sasuke's expression of sheer disbelief as he continued.
"...Let me do this one more time, just to make sure I follow you. You get blackout drunk. You get taken advantage of. You abandon the mission- and somehow it's my fault?"
'Again...He's got a point.' But he was still stuck on the fact that his dumb ass hadn't realized that he was potentially in deeper shit then Sasuke's hurt feelings. What the hell was he going to do if she told that hag? He would be lucky if she didn't sentence him to a MONTH of hard labor or just have him committed to service in the disciplinary department for the rest of the semester! He shuddered as he remembered the crazy ass torture specialist Anko-sensei, and the HELL she had put him through the last time he had been unfortunate enough to be condemned for bad behavior.
'You thought last time was bad? Bitch almost killed you. You couldn't lift a finger for weeks. I doubt even your precious Hyuuga-sensei will be sympathetic if that gets around. Poor little kit. Again, no matter what- you always-'
"...Shut up!" He snapped a little too loudly, rewarded with Sasuke pausing and raising an eyebrow at the excessive volume. "Oh- Sorry! I was just- I meant him not y-" He could almost hear the groan in his head. 'Smooth kid. Real smooth.' He fumbled over the words, hurrying to explain- "ACTUALLY what I meant was-" 'That you were talking to the monster in your head? That you're depraved? Sick? The worst kind of sick there is?' 'Do you ever shut up?!'
Sasuke was literally looking at him as if he were the most pitiful thing on the planet.
'Well in other news, he already thinks I'm fucking slow so that probably didn't really change anything...shit...just change the topic...'
"A-Anyway- is Sakura coming?" He finally added lamely, nearly sighing in relief as Sasuke rolled his eyes and kept going.
"No. After the mess you pulled she decided to opt out. Besides...unlike you our grades are impeccable. Honestly- I might even graduate early at this rate. At this point I feel bad for you. Keep blowing missions like this and you'll never graduate." He stumbled with a curse, Sasuke's words hitting him like a well aimed strike to the chest. It was kind of true...but he didn't have to say it so...brutally. 'But he's right you know. At this rate you'll wind up just like them. Just like-'
"Fuck off." He stated quietly, more so to the voice then his friend. But even so, Sasuke seemed to catch the odd note of emotion lingering there, in that oddly perceptive way he was known for. But he didn't address it- and for that he was grateful. He merely kept plowing ahead, responding with concern in his own way-
"You really should consider expanding your vocabulary. There's only so many times you can tell someone to fuck off."
There was a funny thing about high rise buildings- they looked fun when you were looking up at them from the pavement. But when you were- oh, let's say- 40 stories high- shit was another matter entirely. Thankfully they had managed to coerce (hint:harass/bribe) an off duty member of the deployment squad to give them a lift to the target's location despite it being so late on a weekend. The stealth copter had dropped them off at the top, which made things a lot easier. Climbing from the bottom up versus the top down would have been a real pain in the ass. Granted it had cost him at least two weeks worth of some pretty high quality rations, but he would have done anything to appease Sasuke and his sullen expression of contempt as the guy had bargained with them.
The deployer Ishimoto was also a motor mouth, so no doubt by tomorrow the entire Jounin class would know that Team 7 was the last to complete their mission...("-Again." Sasuke had added for emphasis, being the rude son of a bitch that he was.)
Thankfully their target was still in Konoha. He had apparently decided to stay one extra night to recover from his coke and hooker fueled binge from the night before. If he remembered correctly (he didn't), the guy had really been living it up at Ichiraku's last night.
Ichiraku was one of Konoha's more seedy nightclubs, ironically placed in the basement below one of the best damn ramen shops on the planet. You really had to be in the know to get in. Thanks to their intel they knew he would be there, and luckily enough for them all he was really tight with old man Teuchi who owned Ichiraku's. Seeing his favorite customer had been more than enough to convince him to let in a group of minors in the first place. Of course, only KAMI knew how much of his monthly stipend he had blown on buying mountains of ramen there but that was another story...
The perp in question was one Takenao Watanabe. He was your typical snake in the grass with no allegiance to any nation, who was en route to sell some classified information that supposedly revealed the location of a few of Konoha's hidden safehouses out on the war front. In the right hands that information could prove inconvenient to their deployed troops if he wasn't intercepted and properly handled. Despite being a B rank mission, it was little more than your typical clean up job.
It had up until recently been C ranked, but it seemed as if he had taken to spending a solid portion of his dirty money beefing up his personal security to safely escort him out of Konoha. He had no earthly idea why Kakashi-sensei had thrown them this stupid mission like it was some sort of prize when any chounin squad could have handled it. 'This is going to be a piece of cake...we might even get back early! Which is great, because I could use the sleep...' He couldn't help but think through a bleary eyed yawn as Sasuke relayed their detailed report to him again on the ride over.
Sure he had fucked up the night before- but his head was clear now, he wasn't drunk, and there was the very pressing reality looming in his mind that he really needed this damn grade. You always got extra points for assassinations- and he remembered again why now, as they carefully shimmied their way down the side of a fucking high rise. Thank kami Sasuke had decided they were justified in using jutsu for this too!
Typically you would lose points on assignments if you used jutsu either unnecessarily or without the proper authorization, especially since the Academy prided itself on creating lethal soldiers who didn't have to resort to their more unique talents. But desperate times called for desperate measures- and he was sure Kakashi-sensei would understand. They were scaling the side of a damn building, the last thing they needed was for some jack off to stare out of his window to see two teenagers shimming down the side of it. Using cloaking jutsu to avoid detection shouldn't be that big of a deal! He would just leave it to Sasuke to explain it to Kakashi-sensei in his end of the report.
'But knowing that bastard...' He thought with a grimace, as he thought of their team 'advisor'. Every team in the academy had a staff member who oversaw their missions, negotiated payments on their behalf, graded them on their work for ranked missions, and otherwise gave them personal evaluations and skill assessments.
That was how it was supposed to work anyway.
'We'll be lucky if he even remembers giving us the damn assignment in the first place.' He thought with a roll of his eyes. A legend in his own right, Kakashi had really made a name for himself back in his ANBU days. He had recently decided to teach in his retirement, but it was clearly NOT his forte, if his constantly being late to his OWN evaluations was any indicator. Not to mention he was a shitty grader too! Son of a bitch had even had the nerve to fail him on his last field exam-
'If my rank doesn't go up by an entire letter after this shit...I'm calling foul!' He thought with a sour grimace as the biting chill from the night wind whipped through his ears, tickling his nose and causing him to sneeze snot violently into his shoulder.
Typically advisors would always be on hand to personally monitor and oversee the progression of missions, not only to accurately assess their skill and ability to complete assignments, but also in case any unforeseen threat should appear. They were all lethal soldiers in their own right, but compared to the decades of service and battle experience their advisors had there was still much to learn. Advisors were also allowed to use and authorize the use of jutsu as they saw fit, which could be handy should a mission prove too difficult for a team otherwise.
But Kakashi-sensei had told them straight to their faces that he would not be bothered with helping them with work on the weekend. 'Probably to busy blowing Anko-sensei's back out...' He thought with a scowl. 'Would serve him right if we blow this mission to hell and back...' And aside from concentrating on NOT falling and going splat on the pavement, there was also another far more pressing concern...
"...so EVERYONE knows?!"
"Yeah." Sasuke quipped easily enough, somehow managing to maintain perfect balance in his harness, pushing himself lightly outward and downward with precise movements, while simultaneously texting. 'Fucking show off.' He thought as his scowl deepened. 'He's probably telling Sakura how much I suck and how he can't wait to tongue her down later.'
"It doesn't help that whenever Hyuuga-sensei is around you can't even function properly. You can't focus and you're a bigger idiot then usual. Not to mention how much you start to harass her." Sasuke interjected smoothly, his eyes never once wavering from the screen of the device in his hand. "You're usually pretty unbearable- but your extremes are pretty exacerbated whenever she's around."
'...Exacerbate?! How the fuck can I be offended when I don't even know what that means?!' He sulked, resisting the very real urge he had for a moment to reach over and unbuckle his friend's harness. "I'm not really sure what you're trying to say but I think I should be pissed off..."
"...Point noted." Sasuke added dryly, carefully placing his phone back into his vest pocket. It was odd. He was usually such a stickler about having cell phones on missions that didn't specifically require the use of burners. 'Hm. Wonder what's so important? He wouldn't want to risk losing focus just to shit talk me...'
"Anyway-" He added, less Sasuke start to question the silence, considering he supposedly couldn't be quiet longer than five seconds. "They're never going to let me live this down are they?"
"Nope. The only reason we've kept quiet this long is because it's mildly entertaining."
"Wow. Glad to know I have the support and love of my classmates. All of you guys are assholes."
"Don't worry about it." Sasuke stated almost gently. "It would never work anyway. You know the Academy has a very strict code of conduct when it comes to acceptable relationships. It was only recently that they even started allowing romantic relations between students without repercussions. You're an even bigger idiot than I took you for if you really think they'll allow a relationship between a student and an instructor."
He scowled, nodding along with a frown at the irony of the statement. The academy didn't give a damn about them all fucking like rabbits, but kami FORBID it be due to emotional ties and genuine affection. There was an entire class offered for students to get their jollies off to 'alleviate their tension and stress' in order to make them better soldiers, but let a proctor or advisor catch you holding hands in a hallway for the simple reason of 'I like this person' and you would be lucky if they didn't drop you a full rank on the spot.
He got it. That fucking uncle of his had given him the whole spiel already. There was no place for love in war. Having any kind of romantic attachment to your classmates beyond the usual camaraderie that sprouted among people laying their lives on the line- was dangerous. Romantic attachment made you weak. It made you vulnerable, and hindered your ability to think clearly in times of extreme crisis and duress, which comprised most of a soldier's life.
Entire missions had been compromised, and teams had been wiped out because squad leaders had sacrificed the well being of their comrades for the ones they loved. Love had killed in their line of work. Consistently. And especially now, when demand for more well trained soldiers had lowered the age of conscription even more. You know it was a pretty fucked up time when you had brats Konohamaru's age prepared to kill if they had too.
"I get it! I know!" He ground out with annoyance, not wanting to be pissed off at Sasuke's matter of fact tone but angry for no reason anyway.
"Do you?" Sasuke continued, his dark gaze sharp as steel. "An instructor's job is to give us the skill set we need to protect Konoha- by any means necessary-and to come back alive when we do. We are trained to kill Naruto. To steal, to maim, to torture- to survive. I don't really expect you to listen since you treat everything like a joke- but it would be nothing short of absurd to compromise such a delicate balance simply because you lack the self control to keep your dick in your pants." He finished somberly, his expression enough to set his blood boiling already with a quick retort. But even so-
'He's right you know. You know this is crazy. You're not being rational or sensible. Think about it for once-'
"Yeah yeah I hear you." He added with a scowl aimed at both the man he called friend and the beast he did not. But it quickly turned into an easy smile. "But according to my team mates I'm an idiot. So I'm going to just do what the hell I want anyway."
Sasuke sighed, but didn't really seem all that surprised. "...fine. Aside from the very real threat that they will probably throw you both into the torture chamber as a result...she's still too mature for you."
"What?! Fuck you!" He bristled, "-Five years isn't that big of a deal! She's just 23! How the hell is that considered old these days?! If she were like that hag that's one thing- but Hyuuga-sensei is nothing like that! Like how the hell can you be in charge of such a prestigious military academy and still dress like you need to be doing 'comfort' missions?! Hyuuga-sensei is a wonderful, modest, respectable, kind, BEAUTIFUL, well mannered, classy girl and I can't believe you had the NERVE to even-"
He sighed loudly, from the dark, depths of his being as he interrupted his friend's passionate tirade. He sounded old, tired, as he sighed. "I said mature not old."
He paused, letting the word roll around in his head. "Oh...Isn't that the same thing?" Sasuke had this way of just looking at him with such a blank expression that it was enough to make him feel insulted.
"...No. I am saying that your level of emotional and mentally maturity is nowhere near that of Hyuuga-sensei. That's one of the many reasons it wouldn't work. You have all of the tact, social grace, emotional depth, intellect and mental stability of a five year old. How you manage to get ANY girl to take you seriously is honestly beyond me."
He scoffed, shaking his head in disbelief. "It's cause I'm fucking kawaii that's why. Who can resist this striking smile and these boyish good looks!?" He grinned in reply, tossing the shaggy blond mane and batting the blue eyes that had netted him many wayward glances. Combined with his rugged grin, it wasn't any wonder he'd had girls a plenty when he had the mind for them.
'Well since you brought it up- there were plenty of women who didn't go for those-ahem- 'boyish good looks'- there was Shishi, Momo, Akari, Emiko- Sakura turned you down pretty spectacularly too- and then Rei, Mina, Kiyoko, Natsumi-' 'You really do your best to piss me off don't you?'
"Moving on-" Sasuke murmured in reply, pausing for a moment before the dark of a gloomy window pane. Pulling the palm pilot out of his vest pocket, his eyes skimming it briefly. "This is it. "
"Finally!" He practically screeched, sagging with visible relief into his harness at the thought of finally being free of the damn thing.
"Around 20 targets not including Takanao." Sasuke continued, blatantly ignoring his theatrics. "Based on an estimated evaluation of their skill, points are as follows: 10 targets worth 5 points. 3 targets worth ten points. Takanao is worth 20 points. The additional targets don't count for points, so they should be easy to handle. If we can complete the mission in under 30 minutes after entry with minimal collateral damage for the clean up crew, we'll get an extra 10 points. That means there are 110 points possible. That's enough to make up for that last field exam you failed." Sasuke added with a smug quirk of his lips, much to his continued annoyance.
"Ugh. Don't remind me!...let's just get this over with, I've got shit to do." He grumbled, clearly sulking at the reminder of the last F Kakashi had plastered over his report. 'Things to do? Ah let me guess- you're going to eat ramen till you puke...ignore your adult responsibilities...harass that scheisty uncle of yours...and then spend the rest of the night fantasizing about your precious Hyuuga-sensei and masterba-' 'INAPPROPRIATE CHOICE OF TOPIC!' He nearly screeched, the thought echoing painfully in his head.
The LAST thing he needed was to be 40 stories high hanging precariously next to his shitty friend with a boner. Why the hell was he being attacked so personally today? Couldn't a man think fondly of the woman he loved and her delicious body in fucking peace?!
"Get ready dweeb." Sasuke murmured, bracing his heels against the side of the mirrored window, he launched himself off of it with a strong push, and as his body swung back towards the window, he quickly made a series of hand signs faster than he could blink. Kabe-nuke no Jutsu.
As if he had been a specter or shadow, he watched in slack jawed awe as Sasuke phased through his harness and through the mirrored window with improbable ease, disappearing and vanishing on the other side of the mirrored window pane. 'That asshole has perfected the wall removal technique already?!'
'That's a genius for you...quite admirable.' He scowled, puffing out his chest as he repeated the hand signs (admittedly not nearly as fluidly.) 'I can do it too you know?! Give me a little more credit!' Of course all he got in return was sulky silence. Granted his entry wasn't nearly as smooth as Sasuke's, but he managed to stumble forward out of his harness into the dark of the room, rewarded with the sight of Sasuke raising an eyebrow at his semi noisy entrance.
There had been three men standing guard, but in that short span of time Sasuke had already dealt with them, judging from the kunai firmly lodged in the base of their skulls. He whistled at the precise blows- done so skillfully there was hardly any blood. "Well there goes 15 points!" He added with a grin, not that Sasuke seemed to care. He was bent over examining one of the corpses, his expression suddenly solemn.
"Look." He murmured, turning the man over to reveal the symbol etched into the steel plates on their vests. It had been scratched through, but even so they both recognized it immediately: Otogakure.
He frowned, feeling his brow furrow as he examined the steel plate. "Disgraced sound ninjas?" He sounded just as confused as he felt. The steel plates embedded into the fabric of their own vests bore the logo of Konoha, a visible display of their allegiance to their country and served as a badge of pride. It was also used to identify bodies in many cases, so it basically doubled as ID.
When a soldier committed some heinous crime against their home country, he was stripped of his title, and his plate was struck through as a sign of their shame. To be 'burned' by your own country was a fate that forced many former soldiers to auction their skills on the black market. After being burned it was technically illegal for soldiers to operate in their home countries, or to practice and utilize jutsu for any reason with the penalty of immediate execution. Of course many of these former soldiers took to doing shady shit abroad to make ends meet. You couldn't blame them really. War and death was all they knew. But still...
"Huh...that doesn't really make any damn sense." Even disgraced, burned and booted from the army, well trained soldiers were always in demand. 'Why the fuck would they lower themselves to guarding some bottom barrel criminal?' Sensing his confusion, Sasuke's own brow arched over his dark eyes.
"Hmm. There was nothing in the recon report that said we would be dealing with other soldiers. A few unaffiliated mercenaries perhaps, but this..." He paused, and he could see the gears swiftly turning in his head. Unfortunately for them, those guys must have really been some low level soldiers from how easily they had been to dispatch. Probably genin with less than a year of formal training. Even 5 points felt like too much. But regardless, the fact that they were here opened the door for even more shit.
"There's no way soldiers disgraced or not would take orders from some slimy scum like Takenao. And that ass wipe may have two nickels to rub together once he sells the disk he got ahold of, but there's no WAY he would be able to afford to hire this many former soldiers at once. Random mooks and back alley thugs sure. But even if these guys suck they're still worth a ton." Sasuke stood back to his feet, his expression pensive.
"Takaneao either has a solid underworld connection who cut him a deal, or a potential buyer for the disk who didn't mind giving him the financial support to make sure he reached his destination safely. But you're right. If all of them are disgraced sound soldiers they didn't come cheap regardless of skill level. It's also possible there is a more well trained ninja here managing them. We should be careful just in case."
He palmed his pilot out of his vest pocket, tapping its surface intensely for a moment. "This changes things for us. I'm going to suggest changing the status of this mission from an assassination to a target retrieval mission. It may be worthwhile to bring Takanao in for interrogation instead. Determining his connection to the black market is worth just as much if not more to us than retrieving the disk. I'm going to alert Kakashi-sensei-"
"Wait what? Really!?" He nearly screeched, practically snatching the pilot out of his hand. What was he slow?! Hadn't he bene paying attention during their last briefing?
"Kakashi-sensei told us to our faces he would leave us to DIE if we called him on a weekend! Fuck him Sasuke! We're Jounin now! I think we can handle this!" He added with the utmost confidence, disregarding the momentarily surprised expression on Sasuke's face. "Look- you're the Squad Leader aren't you? Did you forget how much you kept rubbing that shit in my face before? You're in charge here! If you say let the dick live, then that's fine with me! We can just bring him back gift wrapped instead. I trust you on that. And if all the targets are bottom tier like this, what do we really have to lose?"
Sasuke eyed him doubtfully at the expression of bravado on his face, before sighing as he took the palm pilot from him and slid it back into his pocket. He sighed like he was over all of this already, but he knew the bastard well enough to realize that he was actually kind of touched. He rolled his eyes at that. 'What a drama queen. He should just say that it made him happy to hear me say that I trust his rude ass.' But he couldn't help smiling anyway. He really had meant everything he said. But leave it to Sasuke, to ruin the mood as his expression reverted back to closed off and sullen. "I hope you're right."
Sasuke may have annoyed the shit out of him a solid ninety-three percent of the time, but he would be damned if they didn't work well together. Eleven minutes in and they were still doing great on time, cleaning the floor quicker than either of them had expected. They were making quick work of the guards stationed on the floor, reminding him for the upteenth time that Konoha soldier's reputation for being the best on the continent was well earned. 'We had better be good after all the shit they put us through though.' He thought with a grimace, as he expertly executed a particularly unfortunate soldier struggling in his grasp with a swift twist.
A poison grenade was hurled at them with excessive force through an open doorway being investigated by Sasuke, and without missing a beat he caught it before tossing it back into the room and deftly slamming the door closed. He rolled his eyes at the sound of the resulting clamor. After waiting a moment he raised the high collar over his mouth and nose, quietly entering the doorway. He was about to follow, but of course leave it to that hedgehog to come back a moment later with a satisfied smirk on his face.
"Wow already? Doesn't that make 80 points? What the hell! Were these guys genin? Or are we just that damn good?"
Sasuke couldn't help but smirk at his brash grin as he motioned for them to continue forward. At this rate they really could be back home before sunrise! Thankfully the lull in action gave him the time he needed to continue their earlier conversation, namely Sasuke's annoying (but valid) concerns as it came to his friends blossoming romance.
"-She's a Hyuuga." He murmured quietly in hushed whispers, even though they had finished dealing with all of the targets. Takenao was probably still sleeping off his hangover right now, and wouldn't know what hit him.
"They're one of the most prestigious old families left in Konoha. Do you really think they would stand for their daughter to be dating some no name screw up who failed his promotion exam last year? You still don't have any where near enough credits to graduate. And with your inconsistent track record, there is no way in hell you'll be allowed to join ANBU when you do, which is the only path to becoming the Hokage you've got. At this rate the most you could hope for is maybe being a private contractor or mercenary abroad. But good luck pulling that off without a recommendation from a proctor. And for the record- you've managed to piss off virtually every proctor you've worked with aside from Kakashi-sensei. Face it Naruto. You're barely scraping by as it is. They would sooner have you killed then potentially stain their family lineage with your crappy blood."
'...well shit.' Now he remembered why a part of him couldn't stand Sasuke. He really knew how to put a knife in your chest, and twist it just enough to make you wish you were dead. He was whispering, but he might as well have been screaming his head off from how unintentionally vicious his words felt.
"So I've had a few...er...difficulties." And there it was, hanging between them, the understatement of the CENTURY. "B-But- challenge builds character! And second- I-I happen to think I'm a damn good catch!" 'For what? If she likes emotionally immature brats? Stalkers? Sexual deviants? Half pints with psychotic tendencies? Monsters? Face it. You're going to wind up just like them. Just like-' 'Not now- not fucking now.'
"Actually- why do I care anyway?! We can always just elope!"
Sasuke paused for a moment, looking at him with an insulting alarmed expression. "...Did you hear anything I just said? The Hyuuga clan is one of the last pure bloodlines in Konoha. They're held in high esteem and have spawned many skilled ANBU agents. Hyuuga-sensei may not be a licensed soldier- and she may be distant from her clan for whatever reason- but she is still worth a fortune. The Byakugan is nothing to scoff at."
Out of all the instructors at Konoha, one of the main qualifications was that only though those who had served, with a clear history of excellence were allowed to call them selves instructors. Oddly enough, Hyuuga-sensei seemed to have no such qualifications. She didn't have a record in the military, she didn't seem to have served, hell there was no record of her even attending the Academy in the first place! (And he would know, he looked! He thought she would have really cute yearbook photos...)
But still, it was odd for a school that owed so much of its reputation for great soldiers to the experience of their instructors to hire one who didn't seem to have any military background or experience whatsoever. Not that he was complaining! Hyuuga-sensei was a breath of fresh air as far as he was concerned, and literally the only reason he dragged himself out of bed on Mondays. Sitting front row with a stellar view of the always anxious expression on her face, close enough to smell her lilac scented shampoo, and feel the heat from her blush when she caught hm staring way too intensely...'I wouldn't give that hour up for all of the ramen in the world!'
So what if she had gotten the job as a favor? Her dad was kind of a big deal so it wasn't that surprising. But soldier or not she still had the Byakugan, a very powerful bloodline trait that was nothing to scoff at, regardless of whether she used it much or not.
"Most people would do anything to marry into that family and have the honor of being added to their bloodline. Given that they rarely have female heirs, she - or her father anyway- has probably been shooting down suitors ever since she came of age. Suitors who I'm sure were worth way more then some Academy flunkie. Its more likely she'll wind up engaged to Neji when he graduates this year. Keeps the bloodline pure." He came to complete stop, feeling his eyes grow wide at the thought. And Sasuke even had the AUDACITY to keep walking as if he hadn't just said something completely crazy!
"They would make her marry her cousin!?" He nearly screeched, shuddering just thinking about it. Her and that ass wipe Neji had the same pale skin, lavender tinted eyes, and dark hair. If you didn't know they were cousins, you would have easily believed they were more like brother and sister. "Ugh I think I'm going to be sick-" He ground out, already feeling nauseous. Of course that was tempered by the very real, undercurrent of jealousy that made his adrenaline spike and the hairs rise on the back of his neck. He would be damned if anyone got Hyuuga-sensei, let alone her shitty-no-good-bastard sorry excuse of a- 'Temper.'
"-It doesn't matter anyway! Now that she's met ME- it's only a matter of time before she realizes how charming I am! Besides- you know I'm going to be Hokage one of these days anyway, so she's catching me at a pretty good time! Now she can get to know the man before he becomes the legend-"
"...It's like you have selective hearing. Are you just picking and choosing what you want to hear? Or are you just...that stupid?" The legitimately mystified expression on Sasuke's face was almost enough to piss him off all over again.
"Never mind...I just answered my own question. Listen. There is a semester left- unless kami himself bestowed a miracle on you there is no way you'll have enough credits to be masked in the spring as it is. You honestly have a better chance of becoming Hokage than marrying Hyuuga-sensei. But for the record, you have a snowball's chance in hell of doing either." He scoffed. How many times had he heard that one?
"I like those odds. Just be ready to swallow your pride and scrape your jaw off the floor when I do them both!" 'One of those more literally than the other of course...man what I wouldn't give to be doing Hyuuga-sensei right now...' But that was a dangerous train of thought, and one better saved for when he was alone, comfortable, and not being insulted by his sullen faced team mate.
"In what fantasy world are you living in?" It amazed him that despite how many times Sasuke gave him an incredulous gaze, he managed to make it look a little more insulting each and every time. It was almost impressive. "That's impossible."
He feigned injury, placing his hand to his chest as he swooned. "I'm hurt Sasuke. All the time we've spent together and you still don't get it?!"
Sasuke had been clearly jesting before- but he was being to look more and more legitimately concerned. "-That you are clearly mentally handicapped?"
His expression shifted into a scowl as he frowned. You would think his team mates would have run out of ways to call him stupid by now..."No! When have you ever known me to give up on anything?" Sasuke seemed to consider this for a moment, his expression growing thoughtful. He may not have been the sharpest tool in the shed, but what he lacked in practical sensibilities, he more than made up for with nearly dangerous levels of single minded persistence. So he may have dropped the ball once or twice- and maybe he made a thousand and one mistakes- but sooner or later he'd get it damn it! That was one of his problems- he never did know when to give up. It was clear Sasuke had been thinking of that as well, because his response was almost appreciative.
"Well...that is one of your strong points...but that's still not saying much."
"Hyuuga-sensei and I are destined to be together you know-? I just feel that deep down in my being she was put on this earth just for me- and that we have both been waiting all our lives for the moment when our paths would cross- are you even listening?!"
He was checking his palm pilot again, deftly counting how many kunai he had left with clear, focused movements. "No." He admittedly honestly, as he cast his eyes towards the dark hall before them. "I tend to just ignore you when you start spouting irrational bullshit in the hopes that you will get the hint and be quiet. Clearly it's not working."
As they reached the end of the hall he could feel his hackles rise with every step, goosebumps breaking out along his skin. 'Kit...' The tense warning, echoing in his head. His senses were sharpening to the point of pain, and he breathed deeply. The hallway stunk with the scent of blood and viscera. They had finished disposed of the enemy soldiers quickly and efficiently, but the rush of victory at their mission completion ebbed as they approached. It was silent down here- but in that staggering silence was something dark and weighted, heavy like the air of the pit.
What he could feel, what he could sense on the other side of that door- made his head swim. "Sasuke." He stated quietly, without any of his usual cheer or good natured brashness. His expression shifted, sobering into a mask of complete and utter calm. The boisterous mirth in his blue eyes cleared, leveled into a look of steely eyed clarity.
"Yeah. I know." He murmured quietly in response, sensing it as well. They both knew that no one was on the other side of that door. No one alive anyway. Even without his heightened senses, death had an odor, an aura that could not be shaken. It could be felt. They had been on enough missions together by now to know that, to recognize it. They proceeded carefully, their footsteps silent and noiseless as the doorway opened smoothly before them.
Naruto had seen a lot of shit in his four years of academy life, but nothing quite like what remained of Takenao. "Shit." He threw out quietly into the damning silence and gloom around them, as bleak as a tomb. There was an air of such finality in the room, it might as well have been a grave. The room was dark- it had clearly once been a pretty swanky bed room, but it was not so now.
The mahogany tables were broken into chunks of splintered wood, chairs overturned with ruptured legs. There were oddly spaced holes punctured into the walls as if with great force, the size of small craters. The floor was littered with debris- boot stained papers, half empty bottles of wine and cheap liquor, plaster that had fallen from the walls and ceilings. There had been a brightly lit chandelier in the room, but it had fallen to the center of the floor, leaving a ring of broken glass, twisted golden metal and ruptured lightbulbs in its wake. The only light came from the wall of windows to their left, the dull light from the moon illuminating the sordid scene. The floor gleamed wetly in the moonlight- it was slick with blood. It was everywhere- coating the walls and ceiling in a fine mist of hazy red.
Takenao's body was sprawled on the bed at the opposite end of the room, the covering tossed haphazardly away beneath him as if he had hastily risen. The sheets had been cream colored at some point- but now they were damp, dripping with blood. He was wearing a robe- he had clearly been preparing for sleep. Granted he had probably not been banking on sleeping with a hole the size of a bowling ball in his stomach. And from what they could make of the expression of complete horror etched into the ruined remains of his face, whatever he had found when he opened his eyes, had not been pleasant.
Torturing for information was one thing. And then there was...this. That feeling was growing, overwhelming. His pulse was pounding, his nostrils flaring to life as he dropped to the ground, trying to catch even the slightest scent of the one who had come before. Sasuke investigated the papers littering the scene as he carefully maneuvered on the floor on all fours. Granted his nose wasn't anywhere near as good as Kiba's, but all he needed was something, anything to hint at who- or what- had been here. But the scent of blood was overpowering, making his breath catch uncomfortably.
But there was something about it- something- 'The scent of blood smells good doesn't it? Do you want a taste?' The mocking of the dark in his head. He ignored it, his gaze focused, as he moved with precise, measured movements. 'No- not just any blood would do. Not for you. If you had to pick...if you got to choose-' He ended that before it could continue, closing off that dark corridor of thought. It came in bursts during the day- like an insect, buzzing in his ear. And then it would change in the sudden rising and falling of battle growing into something dark and unfathomable. It came when he least expected, when he wavered for even a moment- 'Watch it. Be careful. Don't forget.' He reminded himself, as he cautiously traversed the length of the floor.
Sasuke was crouched down on his knees, carefully sifting through the paper work scattered beneath his feet, his eyes searching as he quickly skimmed the pages. It seemed that this information was some correspondence from Takenao- to who? That was hard to readily identify. It was written in strings of code- and although he was innately talented at many things, it took him a moment to remember his training and all of the code combinations actively used by other nations. Considering the man's shady past in question, it was more likely that it was a mangled combination of all, to throw off any would be pursuers. While Sasuke hurriedly began to try and decode some of the messaging he had gathered from a clue, he continued to try and sift through the odd assortment of scents.
The odor of Takenao's blood was too potent, clouding the room and mingling with the scent of booze (he had been drinking?)- bile (he had thrown up somewhere in here...)- and something that was even harder to identify. 'Dirt? Mold?' He scrunched up his nose, loath to bring it to close to the blood stained floor, but hating that he couldn't seem to place the other scent. 'Start over. What was he doing before he was killed?' His scent went up and down the room-'Had he been pacing?' and aside from the bed, seemed to congregate in the right corner of the room. He stood, carefully side stepping Sasuke."Any luck?" He asked in passing, but Sasuke merely grunted with concentration, his eyes rapidly skimming the page.
The corner was a mess- ruptured wood, paper weights, more glass, shattered lamps. But haphazardly thrown into the pile of junk was a clipped folder, its corner peeking out past the debris. He crouched down, pulling it loose- Takenao's scent was thick- he had opened this folder many times. He released the clip, opening it to reveal a series of papers with text he couldn't read, and a series of photographs within. The floor and wood splintered top was littered with a few more grainy photos, ones that had no doubt come loose in the resulting clamor. He thumbed through a few of them quickly- they were all extremely pretty women from what he could see- but many of them were unfamiliar to him.
'Was this jackoff some kind of crazy stalker? Are these his favorite call girls or something?' He thought as he pulled the pictures aside one by one. Deeper in the folder, he was surprised to find that some of the images were crossed out with bright red 'x's, disfiguring the women's faces. He scowled. 'Assassination targets.' He thought with a growl, building low in his throat. 'This was this fuckers kill list.'
One of the women he dully recognized...a pretty older red head- she was the heiress from a notable lineage in Konoha! 'Wasn't her name Nanami? Of the Souzen clan?' (And to her credit, she had been an incredible lay...but he'd been a different man then of course). The intensity of the implication made his brow furrow. 'But why? What would he want with her? Or any of them?' It wasn't far fetched- women who belonged to important clans and families were always in danger. They caught high prices on the blackmarket, as many valued their powerful, pure blood and the blood art hidden therein. It wasn't unheard of for such women to be kidnapped, but it was becoming a rarity these days, especially considering those families could afford around the clock security. 'Was that really his plan then? Was Takenao here to scope out heiresses for some sicko who wanted their bloodline arts?'
He turned over another photograph, his expression pensive and searching- and felt as if all of the breath left his body in one foul swoop, the blood draining from his face as his stomach dropped. He blinked harshly, shaking his head as if to clear his vision. Was he mistaken? Seeing things in the gloom? But he hadn't been wrong. Even in a crowd, he could make out the delicate span of her shoulders, the dark of her hair and bangs. Her pale eyes were unfocused, staring into the distance away from the camera man. She was casually but still modestly dressed, holding her shopping basket before her shyly, as if she were afraid someone would run up and take it from her. Even in a still shot she looked nervous, clearly uncomfortable in the midst of the crowd.
He felt as if every cell in his body caught on fire, his adrenaline spiking in one rush of haggard breath. For a moment his vision seemed to swim, to waver in and out of focus. He bit his lip hard enough to draw blood, and could feel the deadly force to his fangs. 'Oh?'
"We have to leave Sasuke." He ground out with far more composure then he felt like he possessed, fighting the very real current of something dark and undefinable brewing in his veins. He felt tightly wound, pulled tense- on the verge of snapping. There was an odd pulse, quietly growing in volume in his head. Somewhere in the dark of his heart, the beast smiled. "Right fucking now."
He deftly gathered the images and shoved them haphazardly back into the folder before placing it into his vest as he took a step back. He turned, noticing with an odd surge of anger that Sasuke stood stock still in the center of the room, unmoving with the papers still in his hand. "Naruto." He stated abruptly, "We fucked up."
He opened his mouth to speak, but the resulting explosion devoured his words before they could leave his lips.
AN...have no idea where the hell this is going yet exactly, but this is just a fun side story for me haha. I realized this needed some semblance of plot so I'm sorry for the sudden mood shift. I got stuck trying to decide how I wanted to move the story forward as a normal slice of life like I originally intended so I defaulted back to elements of the Naruto universe, just modernized them a bit and put the story in a blender. Hope you guys don't mind too much. Also I got really lazy when it came to editing, I apologize in advance for the boo boos I was sleepy :/
About this AU:
The year is 20XX:
Sasuke & Naruto attend Konoha Military Academy, a prestigious and renowned school that prides itself on creating capable soldiers. There is a war going on between the nation of fire & another nation It has been dragging on for years. Konoha prides itself on quality versus quantity, and spends many years carefully cultivating soldiers with all manner of skills. Unfortunately, this has led to a bit of strain on Konoha's military powers, with the more capable soldiers being sent out to the war front.
The protection of the city, and minor missions dealing with defense, and occasional assassination missions are handled by teams of students from KMA. First years start out as genin (soldiers in training), promoted to chounin and then finally jounin. Students are trained in hand to hand combat, use of small fire arms, and kunai. Supplementary education includes the learning of foreign languages, learning cyber warfare, battle strategy, torture techniques, poisons and more. Depending on their field of interest and ambitions for the future they can customize their choices to become a more specialized soldier.
So many credit hours is required for promotion, which is comprised of taking on missions ranked by level of difficulty. Teams are led by advisors, who negotiate missions on a team's behalf, and grade them on their skills. Teams also work with deployment teams, arms specialists and other support staff to complete their missions. The use of justu in the field is typically frowned upon, unless given explicit permission or left in dire straights as Konoha has pride in their soldiers ability. Once you have enough credit to be promoted, you are tested on your skill. Pass and you will be moved forward.
At any point you can leave KMA and head to the war front to make a name for yourself, although only KMA graduates who successfully complete all 4 years & pass with honors (combo of skill/ merit/ recommendation by a proctor) will be 'masked' in a formal ceremony at years end and allowed to join ANBU. ANBU, is a renowned tier of high ranking soldiers who take on S level missions dealing with national security, espionage, recon, and sabotage. ANBU agents are highly regarded.
Naruto failed his promotion exam last year (lol), or else he would have already graduated. His grades sucked, and so this is his second time in his jounin year and his last shot at getting a high enough grade this go around to join ANBU. This is why everyone in this story will roast him haha. This is his last semester to get his shit together.