I almost forgot about this final chapter that I've written for this story. I don't know whether you guys still want to read it, since I've 'rejected' this story a long time ago. But well, I just posted it here. If you like it, give me a review! XD If you don't like it...this chapter shall be the last, huhu...
Just a warning: There is no Naruto world in this story. It has a modern setting (for now), and the characters are from Naruto (except one, who is an OC). The Naruto characters may be from Naruto, but they have different attitudes. In this story, Sasuke is not cool, Sakura is not Sakura, and Itachi is talkative. (XD) It's weird, but oh well, something different here...
For those who still want to take the 'challenge' to read it, enjoy! XD
Chapter 4 – Darkness of Menace
From Sasuke's Point of View
I wished that I could release those tears from my eyes, but I could not do that, especially not in front of Sakura.
My eyes had just witnessed something that no one could have possibly imagined it to happen in this small town. An explosion. The explosion was not as huge as the nuclear fission made from an atomic bomb, but it was huge enough to scare anyone to death. I was paralyzed to the ground, not knowing what to say or do. Sakura was weeping on my stiff shoulders, and I felt the awful wetness of her tears on my skin. It was definitely painful to see your loved one dying in front of your eyes but unable to do anything to prevent it.
The only proof of her late father's existence was the burning metallic pieces on the tarred ground. The pungent and sickening smell of smog filled my nostrils, as the terrible explosion played itself in my grey matter again and again.
"Sasuke!" A hoarse voice shook me out from my deepening thoughts, "You kids shouldn't be here! It's too risky!"
I thought I could see my inspector uncle from a short distance, but my vision was almost completely blurred by the awful black smoke.
"Uncle..." I uttered blankly, accompanied by Sakura's soft sobbing sound.
"Get out of there! The terrorists can be anywhere nearby!" My uncle shouted throatily, "Men, check for any survivors in the building!"
"Terrorists?" The ten-letter-word took a long time to register into my entangled brain, as though the word was still new to me. Bad things then came to me all at once, not excluding the tragic, heart-breaking September 11 attack. I pulled Sakura closer to my shoulder, as I had realized that I needed comfort from her as much as she needed mine. Is it really another September 11 attack? Is this really the end of humanity?
Suddenly, a screeching engine sound came to life, and a dark car stopped exactly right in front of us. The car door opened and popped out a head that made my jaw dropped.
"Itachi? What are you doing here?" I widened my eyes with pure disbelief and shock.
Itachi gave me a nonchalant look and said, "I can ask you the same thing; what are you doing here? Get in the car! This isn't a good place to chit-chat!"
Without wasting any second, Sakura and I quickly got into the car. After taking our seats at the passenger side, the car started to move in full speed.
"You're not supposed to drive, Itachi. You don't have a license," I spoke concernedly to my elder brother, while I still had Sakura's head on my shoulder. Her sobbing did not cease to stop, and I was worried that she was tearing herself apart.
Itachi looked at the front mirror, and his large raven eyes smiled confidently, "It takes more than a license to drive a car. I have the skills!"
I sighed and spoke morbidly, "But you don't have a license. I give up, bro. I don't want to argue with you."
"Yeah, no arguments," Itachi winked at the car mirror, "We don't want the ladies to be upset with us."
I did not realize that there were two 'ladies' in the car, until the girl sitting next to Itachi spoke for the first time.
"Hey, Sasuke. What's up?" Itachi's classmate, Suki turned to me with a miserable frown on her pale face, "Sorry, but I can't speak. Sore throat."
Suki coughed at her handkerchief, prompting a worried Itachi to say, "Suki, you gotta stop talking too much. It's bad for your throat."
"None of your-," Before Suki could utter another word, she coughed again.
Suki's face was groggy, unlike her usual cheerful expression whenever she came to have a friendly conversation with me. We always enthusiastically talked about environment and global warming, but the topic that would never fail to appear in our long conversations is about Itachi. She would go on raving to me about how undisciplined Itachi could be in her class, and how often she (being a prefect) had to demerit him for being late to school. No matter how much she complained about Itachi's bad habits, I could notice the small twinkle in her crystal blue eyes at the mention of his name.
That same twinkle could be seen again in Yuki's eyes when she was glaring at Itachi.
"Told you," Like an overgrown child, Itachi stuck his tongue at Suki and laughed jubilantly.
"Shouldn't you be bringing her to the doctor?" I asked Itachi, while my eyes were scrutinizing Suki's ghostly-white face, "She doesn't look so good."
"That's what I'm doing," Itachi replied casually, "If you don't know, we are heading to the hospital. Anyway, what were you doing with Sakura in front of the company? Dating?"
My eyes fell sadly on Sakura, whose head was resting peacefully on my shoulders. I did not know that she was already sleeping. A huge blow had been dealt against her; maybe a short nap was the only thing she needed to recover from the unbearable trauma. Although everything that had happened just now was an act of God, was it really fair to her?
My right index finger was poking uneasily at my left palm, as I said, "Nii-san, didn't you see the big explosion? Sakura's father could be involved and he may have…"
"Died?" Itachi continued my words curtly, "You'll get used to it."
Puzzled at what Itachi had said to me, I said with faint disbelief, "Get used to what?"
"Deaths. You're supposed to know that, my little brother. I thought you're 'wiser' than that," Itachi laughed, but I was not amused. How could he take someone's death so lightly? Has he gone insane?
"Itachi, this is no joke. Someone just died, and you laughed like nothing happened. I think you're out of your mind," I said, bewildered at the fact that my elder brother did not show any sign of compassion and fear.
Itachi laughed sarcastically, "That's what you think. Her father died, so what? We all gonna die someday. It's just that…we don't need to cry, because crying doesn't bring a dead person back to life. We got to get real, you know."
"I know…" I muttered sorrowfully and turned behind, watching the bright building slowly decreasing in size, fading from my sight. A few more minutes to go before the whole industrial buildings went totally out of my sight. Unimaginable horrible, violent thoughts flooded my mind; is my father going to be all right?
That was when I decided to take things in charge, before everything bad came to worse. I did not want tears to come to my eyes again.
"Itachi," I said pleadingly, "Can we turn back to Dad's company?"
"Huh? Why? We almost reached the hospital. I can't just turn back!" Itachi's voice grew annoyed.
"Nii-san, we can't leave our father alone. We got to…huh…get him out of there…" I ended hopelessly, wishing that I had the courage to say 'We got to save him!' like any heroes from the blockbuster movies.
"Okay!" Itachi said abruptly. He quickly turned the car steering to the far right, causing us to jerk suddenly to our left. Sakura's lips twitched, but she did not wake up, fortunately.
"Itachi, we got to save our Dad! If we have to, we'll fight! Anyway, that's from a movie I watched yesterday on T.V," Itachi said with a wink, before pushing to the fifth gear and drove the car in an inconceivable speed, which would have given me a heart attack on any other days…
Dad, hold on.
From the author's point of view – Just after the explosion
Deidara watched the bloody remains of the helicopter scattering among themselves in the air before disappearing from his sight. His long fingers ran through his silky blonde horse tail, as he smiled silently but proudly.
"You are wasting our time, brat," Sasori said with piercing maroon eyes. His cape was still swaying in the sombre night, due to the strong breezes that came flowing from the large window.
"Your problem, not mine, mmhmm," Deidara smirked cockily, his blue eye then switched to observe at the growing masses of people on the ground below him. His fingertips rubbed his forehead with full pleasure, as he sang under his breath,
"One little, two little, three little mutts, bang…"
From the seventh floor, Deidara could see three tiny dots burst into red flames, which then ran in frantic circles before they fell onto the hard floor as charred bodies. Paramedics got down from their ambulances, and professionally brought their stretchers along and rushed to the dead policemen. Chuckling secretly, Deidara's eye burnt with fires of hell as he continued singing his song of death,
"Four little, five little, six little mutts, bang…"
Three more red dots were added into the view, and Deidara held his breath excitedly. A sinister laughter spread across his handsome face, signifying the contentment and satisfaction that flowed into each corner of his stone heart. Sasori watched at his nineteen-year-old junior from the corner of his misty red eyes.
"What is so funny?" Sasori said with authority.
Deidara smiled widely, "Have you no sense of humour? Looking at them being 'showered' with lots and lots of fire really turns me on, mmhmm."
Sasori walked closer and closer to the open window, and peered through the opening. Six dark spots were clearly visible among the throng of policemen, who were shouting curses and threats at them. Turning a blind eye to the seemingly stubborn figures of authority, Sasori turned to Deidara with an impassive face.
"Nothing special about those 'barbeque fire'," Sasori said.
"Barbeque fire?" Deidara said through gritted teeth, as though his every last bit of honour had been robbed away from him.
"As I have said, you are wasting time," Sasori's misty eyes sparkled in the bewitching darkness and billowing smoke, "Don't play with fire, Deidara. It's pointless, and it may burn you when you least expected it."
"Well, at least I had fun, mmhmm," Deidara brushed his soft hair off his broad shoulders, and looked at Sasori in the eye, "Let's get started."
Sasori drew his long katana from the sheath at his leather belt and lifted it up high in the mid-air. The flawless silver blade was shimmering under the pale moonlight, lighting up the dark smoky room. With his eyes remained intent on the shiny texture of the blade, the tall man suddenly stabbed the solid marble floor with his sword.
A strange, blinding light was emitted from Sasori's two-handed sword.
"Oh my," Deidara shielded his half-closed eye from the great source of light with his hand, but he smiled nevertheless.
After a minute or two, everything turned dark and eerie. No light could be found existing in the town; only darkness that ruled over the fear of the bewildered policemen, who were in a very severe situation.
"Not bad, mmhmm. They can't see us in the dark," Deidara mused, smirking boyishly.
"No, they can't," Sasori automatically pulled his glittering sword from the small hole in the floor, "My sword can suck any energy from any particular place. In this case, it had sucked 'electricity'. This 'power failure' should give us some advantage in our mission."
"Electricity…power failure...mutts are so interesting, mmhmm," Deidara's grin widened broadly.
"We should get going. I can sense it. That boy is coming closer to us," The short-haired man said as he put his cherished sword into its rightful place. He then walked through Deidara, and fused himself with his partner.
And don't go overboard, brat. Just do what I tell you to do.
"Right, mmhmm," Deidara smirked once more, before he jumped through the window into the awful darkness of menace.
From Sasuke's Point of View
We almost reached Dad's company in the heart of the town, when everything around us turned dark, as dark as the night sky. The car came to an abrupt halt, as if it had already ran out of petrol. I gripped Itachi's headrest with my left hand as tightly as possible, preventing me from toppling over. At the same time, I tried not to shake too much, in order not to awaken Sakura from her peaceful slumber.
"Dang!" Itachi's voice was the first to be heard in the total darkness, "Now I can't see a thing! And the car-"
I could hear the sound of keys being fumbled frantically, but the engine went continuously dead. Other than that, I could hear the ominous sound of my heart beating furiously like a ticking time-bomb.
"Can't you do anything right, Itachi?" Suki complained, her husky voice was straining with great difficulty.
"The car won't start!" Itachi shot back.
Suki replied calmly, not betraying a hint of exasperation and fear, "Maybe it's out of gas."
"No! I just filled the tank yesterday! It can't…ah…"
Then a loud thud came to my ears, followed by another thud, which was softer than the first one. No one spoke anything. My poor heart was pumping hard, for I was very afraid of the pitch-black darkness. If it was combined with dead silence, it became my worst nightmare. With every bit of valour and determination left in me, I tried to call out 'Nii-san'. Yet, I did not know why my eyelids were becoming heavy like sinking weights…
From the author's point of view
A dark gloved hand yanked out the passenger's door by its car handle, almost tearing the metallic door off its attachment. Deidara smiled in the shrouds of darkness, his bright eye looked steadily at the sleeping Sasuke.
"Very convenient, mmhmm. All the mutts are asleep, thanks to you, Sasori."
I was forced to use my powers, thanks to you, Deidara. Next time, don't trigger uproars. It gets harder if their soldiers come in a large number, but they're not much a problem, once they are deep in their slumbers.
"Fine, mmhmm," Deidara said, his maniacal smile brightening his oval face, "So I take this mutt and we've done, right?"
Just take him, and him alone. Meanwhile, I shall open the portal.
A dark translucent figure slowly emerged from Deidara's body. Deidara's bloodshot eye pierced through the sombre darkness, watching the figure form into a perfect human body. Sasori's sturdy legs shaped themselves, followed by his abdomen, and then his immobile, expressionless face as the finishing touch. Sasori studied his surroundings cautiously; he and his accomplice were standing in the middle of a traffic jam, only that none of these cars were moving.
Sasori reached again for his katana from his sheath. He strode menacingly to a more spacious area somewhere between the stationary cars, and carefully slit his wrist, but without touching any of his veins. A few drops of shiny liquid flowed from the small cut and fell onto the black tarred floor.
A small, blackish purple gate opened on the road. Without any further ado, Sasori leaped into the mysterious gate into the unknown territory.
"Show-off, mmhmm!" Resented, Deidara muttered, as he docilely grabbed Sasuke's unconscious body and slung it over his shoulder. He made his way to the magical gate, when something definitely moving caught his attention.
"Who do you think you are?" A female voice strained hard to be heard, "Where are you going with Sasuke?"
Deidara turned to his behind, to see a girl standing alone near Itachi's car, her hand was clasping to her painful throat. Her face was already beetroot red, due to the agonizing pain she had to endure, especially after she had forced herself to speak a few 'painful' lines.
"I think I'm Deidara and I'm going to take Sasuke to his mother. Is that a problem, mmhmm?"
Deidara gave a flirtatious smirk to Suki, whose face turned redder than before, almost like a ripe tomato. "What a good-looking guy!" Suki's heart blurted out, but not without any guilt and shyness. Though the darkness had nearly blinded her, she could still make out the handsome-as-a-prince face and notice his blonde ponytail.
"So…" Deidara spoke first, his eye scanning Suki from head to toe, "You're awake. It's true. To break Sasori's 'sleep' spell, you need pain. I'll remember that, mmhmm."
Suki's eyebrows rose, searching for any hidden meanings that she could understand behind those strange words. When she woke up, everybody was already sleeping soundly in an unnatural way, as though they were under some kind of spell. Then she realised that the stinging pain of her sore throat had caused to her wake up earlier than the others, which meant that Itachi, Sasuke and Sakura were still sleeping...
"You're the one who did this, aren't you?" Suki spoke, her blue eyes glaring through the stillness of the night.
"Not me," Deidara shook his head honestly, his high ponytail flailing a little, "I wouldn't want to make you mutts sleep. I want to make you mutts scream."
Suki was taken aback, but she managed to keep her composure. Her hoarse voice answered, "Whatever, blondie. Let-Sasuke-go! Or-else…"
Clenching his fangs at the word 'blondie', Deidara seethed, "Or else what, brownie?"
"I'll kick your butt!"
Suki lunged towards Deidara, who was standing still, undaunted by what was coming towards him. With all the strength she could muster and all the 'Tae Kwan Do' skills she had learnt, she threw a punch in the direction of Deidara's smirking face. Deidara caught the moving fist with his free hand, his smirk widening even more. Suki's jaw dropped, but her laser blue eyes made contact with Deidara's. Yet, she knew she could not last long; her throat was burning like hell…
"Are you still going to kick my butt, mmhmm?" Deidara smiled manically. He tossed Sasuke's body to the cold ground ignorantly. Sasuke twitched a little, but did not wake up.
Suki stared at Deidara's face in horror, wondering why he had dropped the body, if he wanted it so much.
"I like your guts," The criminal said with a proud smirk, "No mutt had ever tried to 'kick my butt' before. You're the first one, mmhmm."
"Really?" Suki sneered, droplets of cold sweat from her forehead hitting the ground, "So what are you gonna do now? Kill me?"
"No," Deidara said, "I want to keep you."
Before Suki could make sense of what he was uttering, Deidara grabbed her by her slender waist. Her rude shock transformed into a struggle to break free, "LET GO OF ME! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, YOU PERVERT?"
With the horrified girl on his shoulder, Deidara jumped into the swirling magical portal, which then closed itself into nothingness.
End of Chapter 5