Chapter 3
Let's Go, Team! Mission: Catch Tora!
組
"Myaaa~n…"
Sakura stretched contentedly, yawning comically as the morning sun shone on her face. Eyes still fuzzy and body still half-asleep, she stumbled down the stairs of her parents' apartment to the scent of cooking eggs and bacon. Nose in the air, Sakura shuffled down the hall and into the kitchen, where her mother Mebuki stood at the stove, flipping an omelet with a look of extreme determination. Around her, various pots, pans, and utensils lay soiled and charred.
The blonde woman turned, the wrinkles around her mouth deepening as she smiled at her pink-haired daughter.
"Ohayo, Saku-chan!"
"Ohayo gozaimasu, Kaa-san! Do you want help with breakfast?"
"Hai, please. Since your father left on that B-Rank mission, I've been having a little trouble keeping up, and I wanted to make you breakfast before your very first ninja mission!"
It was a well-known fact that in the Haruno household, Kizashi cooked the meals. Why? Mebuki simply could not be allowed near food. She burnt everything she touched.
Sakura sighed, smiling softly, before taking the pan from her mother's hand. Her father had taught her how to cook, as he was a highly skilled Chuunin who was often called out on missions for weeks at a time. The memory of the lilac-haired man with cerise eyes made Sakura smile. Kizashi always made her grin and laugh effortlessly. In fact, his nickname among the forces was "Last-Laugh Kizashi," because of his tendency to crack jokes and exchange banter with an opponent before disposing of them.
The omelet sizzled on the hot iron of the skillet, the scent of breakfast wafting up into Sakura's face with the moist steam of the eggs. A final flip, and the thick, springy, golden, breakfast calzone was flopping onto a plate, waiting as it was beside a fork, knife, and cup of orange juice.
"What's in it?"
"Ano…bacon, green peppers, tomatoes, and…I think a bit of hot sauce?"
Sakura giggled at her mother's utterly confused expression. Really, the woman couldn't cook to save her life. Shearing a bite of omelet off with her knife, Sakura made eye contact with her mother.
"Arigatou, Kaa-san."
Mebuki smiled at her only daughter as she finished the omelet and ran back up the stairs to get dressed.
I'm so proud of you, Sakura. You'll surpass your father, I just know it.
"Ja ne, Kaa-san! I'll see you later!"
"Alright! You have to tell me all about your mission!"
"Hai~!"
I can feel it.
組
"Ohayo, Sasuke!"
Sasuke looked up from his place, leaning against the red railing of the bridge and staring into the crystal blue waters slithering below. He nodded his head slightly in acknowledgement of his female teammate, who trotted up to him clad in her standard scarlet cheongsam.
Don't say anything to her. Don't say anything to her. You're an avenger. You don't connect with people.
"So~…whatcha doin'?"
Ah, screw it.
"Nothing."
"You were staring at the water. That's not nothing."
"Yes, it is."
"Is not!"
"Is."
"Isn't!"
"Is!"
"Isn't!"
"IS!"
"ISN'T!"
"STARING AT THE WATER IS THE SAME AS STARING VACANTLY INTO THE DISTANCE, WHICH IS CONSIDERED DOING NOTHING!"
"…Isn't."
"…There's no arguing with you, is there?"
"Nope!"
Rather belatedly, Sasuke realized that he'd just blown his plan out of the water and had a completely pointless argument with a girl with natural pink hair, who'd turned away with a brilliant smile on her face to stare over the other side of the structure.
It won't matter once she finds out what you are. She'll be disgusted. All of them will.
No, she won't. She won't find out.
And if you get hungry on a mission?
…
It's only a matter of time. They'll abandon you, too. Just like everyone else did.
Shut up. SHUT UP!
You know I'm right…just give in to me…listen to my truths and make them your own…
NO!
The bridge railing splintered beneath Sasuke's hands, whose nails seemed to be sharpening and lengthening. The tendons stood out, shaking violently as they pulled at seizing muscles. With the full force of his will, Sasuke stopped the transformation before it could occur, elongating fangs halting in their course just before they split twin gashes in his lip. A thin trail of blood oozed from a deep cut on the raven's palm, but he ignored it. The red paint would hide the gore's trickling path down the wood anyway, though he wouldn't be able to conceal the cut or the destroyed portion of railing. Shaking his head to clear it, Sasuke walked beneath the scarlet torii archway, leaning against a sturdy support as he attempted to figure out his life.
The voice in his head wouldn't go away. Sasuke didn't know who (or what) it was, only that it curled in the back of his mind like a malevolent snake, always coiling, trying to twist his thoughts with its potent poison. He could ignore it, but he had a feeling that it would come when he was at his most vulnerable. Unfortunately, Sasuke thought he knew exactly when that was; the day his life had fallen to pieces.
And he didn't like it. At all.
組
Naruto arrived at the bridge meeting point about thirty minutes late, muttering something about bad milk, spatulas, and spilt pork ramen. Sasuke sighed; if Kakashi's previous tardiness was anything to go by, they'd be stuck waiting for him for at least two more hours. Deciding to take advantage of the fact, the raven leapt gracefully on top of the torii, alighting gently, almost like a sparrow. Assuming the lotus position, with his legs folded beneath him and hands resting, relaxed, on his knees, Sasuke closed his eyes, evened his breathing, and delved into the recesses of his mind.
組
He's standing in a wide, open courtyard, surrounded by twining ivy and blooming roses and the scent of fresh rainwater. Before him, a huge archway, leading to a cobblestone path amid a huge field with knee-high reeds. Sasuke steps forward, feet making no sound, as he passes through the doorway.
The path branches off into three parts; the left leads to a huge structure of white marble, shimmering in the light (though it seems flawless, Sasuke can distinguish tiny cracks in the armor, because he knows they're there). The center winds towards a Shinto temple, ornate rooftops curling into the sky like the horns of some massive demon, ringed by Kanji and draped with thousands of scrolls. The right goes to a long corridor made of flame, flickering in the breeze, the tongues of fire forming faces, figures, and various items. Directly in front of him, however, is the object of his interest.
Embedded in the stone are five thick iron bars, each emblazoned with a different elemental Kanji to keep the being they house trapped in its prison. Sasuke knows this is where the voice is from; that's why it sounds so faint. It is being repressed, by seal or by instinct he doesn't know.
A clawed hand shoots from the abyss, snaking through the bars to rend the air where Sasuke's legs once were. The teen in question is several feet away, studying the hand through narrowed eyes. A low, menacing growl sounds from deep within the earth beneath his feet, like the ruble of thunder before a lightning strike.
"You dare to disturb me, child…you're stupider than they give you credit for."
"Stop speaking to me, oni. I don't want to deal with your pressuring while I'm on a mission or in a battle."
"Damned arrogant gaki! You dare to presume that I will deign to cease bestowing you with my holy advice?!"
"…Aa."
"Heh…mortals. So absolutely naïve, ordering favors from a demon the likes of me! How brash of you. I'll leave you alone when you wish me to. But there is a price, gaki."
"What price?"
"I will be released from this infernal cage!"
"Iie."
"I won't be free to do as I please, gaki. I'll just shut up about freeing me (it would be pointless anyway) and see the world through your eyes, hear it through your ears, touch it through your hands. I will be free, in a way."
"…"
"Oh come on! I'll be able to give you advice through a telekinetic connection, as well as loaning you my chakra. Damn it all, mortal, just accept! You have far more to gain than I!"
"…Fine."
Sasuke notices the demon's voice has taken on a somewhat whiny tone, like Naruto's when he is forbidden to eat at Ichiraku's. Pulling down his right arm warmer, Sasuke activates the rune Dimittere, the rune of Release, and watches as the bold, swirling matrix spirals down from his inner wrist to his palm, forming a complex design ringed with hundreds of tiny Kanji. Pushing chakra to his hand, Sasuke slams his palm to the earth as the tip of each finger sparks and ignites with blued flame.
"Ninpou: Ryuunotamashii no Shiruu!"
A loud clanging fills the air as the five elemental bars crack and shatter, the shards of metal evaporating into pure white mist. The hand reappears, pulling the rest of the demon's body through the hole. Sasuke turns to examine the immortal, onyx eyes betraying no emotion.
It has a humanoid body, with pale, almost-translucent skin coating chiseled muscles and a slight, yet powerful frame. It stands about five feet and seven inches tall, a good head more than Sasuke, and the tips of its wildly spiked silver-gray hair reach a good six inches up from his scalp before being pulled into a high ponytail that touches the small of its back. Deep, orange-red eyes survey the Genin, the absence of visible pupils giving the effect of an eerily blind stare. The demon grins, revealing long fangs where its incisors should be. Its torso is bare, but long black pants (bandaged at the ends), gray shin guards, and matching sandals cover its lower half. Two tiered, deep red plates of armor protect the demon's hips, and a long, elegant broadsword with a batwing hilt and ruby-set pommel hangs from a dark leather strap stretching across the torso.
In all, the specter is unearthly beautiful. Crimson and charcoal clash, and the demon's smile widens.
"You may call me Zian. I am the inner personification of your vampirism. I am also male. Without my release, you would never be able to transform willingly. As it is, the vampiric traits that were previously sealed along with me have surfaced."
One piece of the statement attracts Sasuke's attention.
"So it's possible."
"Yes, but now is not the time to discuss it. I sense another chakra drawing near, one of a purifying nature. Withdraw from your meditation, gaki. We'll talk later."
"I'll hold you to that."
Sasuke exits the mindscape to the sound of Zian's roaring laughter.
組
Sasuke opened his eyes again, noting stiffness in his muscles that hadn't been there before he began his vigil, and immediately had to shut them once more. The newly vivacious, jewel-bright colors of the world burnt his retinas with their intensity. Squinting, Sasuke risked another glance around him, marveling at the incredible detail with which he beheld the landscape. It was a little disorienting, being aware of the movements of an insect fifteen feet behind him. His auditory senses fared no better.
Two loud sets of rhythmic beats battered Sasuke's eardrums, accompanied by a strange, almost-silent whooshing sound, like the waves on a beach. Momentarily forgetting what he was, Sasuke looked down at Sakura and Naruto, trying to see their reaction to the immense sound. However, the two just continued talking, unaware of his silent observations. Then, he realized; he was hearing their heartbeats. Another change, however, took the focus from his hearing to his sense of smell.
A small, brief breeze splashed twin scents in Sasuke's face, accompanied by the pine-and-oak smell that pervaded all of Konoha. The first was warm, almost sunlit, with hints of musk and broth and was that cinnamon?
Naruto.
The second reminded Sasuke of his mother. The smell of fresh spring flowers, with an underlying baseline of vanilla and strawberry and sky.
…Sakura.
The ninja took a moment to bask in the familiar-but-not scent, a bittersweet prospect considering the fact that his mother had died five years ago, along with the rest of his family. A crushing weight settled on Sasuke's chest as he once again vowed to avenge his fallen clan; he would not let the deed go unpunished, no matter what he had to do to achieve his goal. Shaking his head in an attempt to clear it, Sasuke leapt down and away from the torii as a poof of smoke erupted behind him, signaling the three-hour-late arrival of their errant sensei with his signature little orange book. The silver-haired man's eye closed in a smile as he saluted them with two fingers.
"Yo! Sorry I'm late; I got lost on the road of life. You know how it is."
The blonde-and-pink duo sweatdropped as the scarecrow jumped from his perch, where Sasuke had been sitting until a mere moment ago.
"Where's my last cute little student?"
"Yeah, where'd the teme go, 'ttebayo?"
"But Sasuke was just here a second ago…where could he have gone?"
Sasuke smirked confidently, quite a feat considering he was lounging quietly on a branch and swinging his legs in a fashion that could be considered girly if he wasn't an Uchiha male. He almost made a smart-alecky comment, but restrained himself.
From now on, I won't talk to them. I open myself up a little more every time I interact with them, and it influences my emotions. I'm an avenger; emotions are a hinderance. Ergo, I cannot converse with the members of my team except for when the situation requires it.
And so, instead of alerting the three to his presence, Sasuke dropped from the tree and landed in a crouch, directly in front of Naruto. The blonde started, obviously disconcerted by his "sudden" appearance, and snarled.
"Teme! You're later than Kakai-sensei—"
"—Yare, yare, don't be mean Naruto-kun—"
"—and for our first mission! Where the hell were you, 'ttebayo?!"
Sasuke let his eyes flick sideways, meeting Naruto's angry gaze out of the corners of his vision.
"Hn."
The I don't have to explain myself to a dobe like you went unsaid, and hung a little thickly in the air between the two boys. Kakashi coughed somewhat awkwardly, and turned to his students.
"Your mission is simple, should you choose to accept it; you are to pursue and intercept your target, then report back to the mission assignment office located on the second floor of the Hokage Tower. Your client will be waiting for you."
"Target description?"
"Yeah, what's it look like, 'ttebayo?"
"Hn."
"Mid-sized brown feline with a red bow on the right ear; estimated weight is 15 pounds, estimated length is 20 inches including tail. Got it?"
"Hai, Kakashi-sensei!"
"I got it, 'ttebayo!"
"Aa."
"Good. Your mission begins…now. Team Seven, turn on your throat mics and scatter!"
Three streaks of black, red, and orange split off, soaring away from the little red bridge where a Jounin waited, smiling slightly, for his students' return.
組
Sakura resisted the urge to simply obliterate every obstacle in her path. She'd seen the cat alright, but it'd disappeared into an immense crowd of old civilian women who, to her regret, were too frail to shove out of the way. Tuning into her teammates' channel, Sakura spoke softly into the mouthpiece strapped about her neck.
"I've seen the target, but it got away. Stupid civilians."
Naruto's voice crackled over the wireless, a little distorted thanks to the wind in the background.
"I'm in the forest, 'ttebayo! Nothin' here but bugs and old civilian cans!"
"Sasuke? Where are you?"
There was nothing but static; the white noise shockingly loud in her ears.
"Sasuke! Come in!"
Finally, his voice came through, albeit a little strained.
"Found it."
"Really? Where?!"
"…the Uchiha District."
Even Naruto had the grace to refrain from responding. Everyone knew that the massacre had changed Sasuke for the worse. The once happy-go-lucky, sweet, kind boy they once knew was gone, replaced with a cynical and cruel person scornful of almost everything.
The only thing that didn't fit with his image was the way he'd been acting around her that morning, as well as the instance in the training fields…come to think of it, Sasuke's behavior had been rather erratic as of late, all starting when he was assigned a team.
Maybe he'd been acting oddly because he was on a team?
Sakura would've mulled over the thought more, but Sasuke spoke again.
"I have it cornered in the district, but it's still a fairly large area. Meet me at the gates; I'm the only one who can open them."
"…Be there before you can blink, teme!"
"I'm on my way!"
"Hurry up. The longer you take, the longer it has to hide."
Sakura could almost hear a hint of emotion in the Uchiha's voice, a barely-there trembling in the words that suggested fear or nervousness.
The question was…why?
組
Sasuke sighed, running his right hand through his bangs. In retrospect, it probably wasn't a good idea to "invite" his teammates into the district. He himself hadn't been there since the massacre, and the dreaded feelings were beginning to surface again. While talking over the mic, he'd hoped that the white noise and distortion would be enough to hide the tremor in his traitorous timbre, from the strong, crushing waves of emotion he'd tried so hard to repress.
Stay in control. You do not feel. You are a tool.
"OOOI~! SASUKE~!"
In a whoosh of displaced air and a blur of pink and red, Sakura appeared behind and to the right of him. Turning slightly, Sasuke nodded in acknowledgement of her presence. He fought to keep his eyes flinty and his expression neutral as he beheld her rather disheveled appearance.
Sakura's hair was in disarray, random pieces spiking out from the sides and back. Her clothes were dusty and wrinkled, and he could see small scrapes, cuts, and smears of dirt on her skin. Her mouth hung slightly slack as she panted, trying to recover from her flight across the rooftops and power lines of Konoha.
"So we're waiting on Naruto?"
"Aa."
Sakura swallowed audibly as she padded to his side, staring up at the huge wooden-and-stone gate adorned with the red-and-white uchiwa fan. Immense walls of smooth, sparkling gray stone ringed the compound, enclosing a world with which only Sasuke was familiar. The old shops, market, houses, training field…only Sasuke truly knew what lay beyond the gates and within the walls.
Naruto arrived a short while later, and stared up at the gates in awe. He reached to push them open, but a thin, calloused hand captured his wrist.
"Don't. The traps on the entrance are still active."
Naruto gulped as he stared into Sasuke's fathomless eyes.
"T-traps?!"
The raven nodded and looked over to Sakura with a wordless answer to her question. She doubted him; he could sense it.
Stepping up to the huge structure, Sasuke closed his eyes, allowing the matrix of energy to flow and twist around him. The fiery orange and red patterns of the gate before him contrasted heavily with the cool blues and greens of the ambient chakra in the area and the deep purples and grays surrounding the compound, the last emotions of the dead that still haunted the walls. Suppressing a flinch, Sasuke mentally activated his Callidus rune, used for keenness of inner sight, utilizing the newfound increase in his perception to pick apart the traps set on the door, engineered so that only a rune-bearing Uchiha could decode and deactivate them from the outside.
Suffice to say, it was easy to get out but extremely hard to get back in.
Three separate jutsu-based triggers were set on the door; one would cause a minor earthquake when a non-Uchiha contacted the wood, one would set the newly-upheaved earth aflame, and the last would exude a shockwave of lightning chakra to shock the intruders to death. Another rune-based ploy stretched over not only the gate but the huge walls surrounding it. It would ensure a speedy and "accidental" death for a non-Uchiha in the event that they evaded the first three dangers.
Slowly, Sasuke channeled chakra into his hands, pushing it out to the tips of his fingers just as Itachi had once shown him. The energy formed tiny needles of light blue that he ran through the first tripwires, effectively deactivating the first jutsu, then the second and third.
Now for the rune.
It was one that Sasuke himself had never seen, and he didn't know if he could solve it. He knew he could just walk into the compound, but what of his teammates? As much as he was loathe to admit it, Sasuke needed their help to complete the mission. And so, he scanned the construction, seeing the kanji for seal, protect, kill, honor, valor, righteous…he suddenly remembered a snatch of a conversation he'd had with his father over the gates.
"Ne, ne, tou-san, what's that huge inky kanji thing?"
"That, Sasuke, is the Rune Archangelus, the Archangel's Rune. It is the strongest there is, so strong that ambient chakra cannot sustain it. It needs to be recharged every five years to replenish its power and ensure that no one is able to decrypt it and generate a counter-rune."
If he remembered correctly, that had been about five months before the massacre, which had been five years ago. The rune's power should be on the wane, if his guess was correct.
Still working in the pseudo-mindscape, Sasuke began to write counter-kanji around the originals, working the opposites so that they would cancel out the Archangel's effect.
Release. Attack. Save. Dishonor. Cowardice. Sinful.
And so, a new runic structure began to take shape, new, bold lines weaving strongly around the feeble ones of the old. Sasuke decided to call it the Daemonum Commutationem, the Rune of Demonic Exchange. He could sense the Archangel's energy shutting down, being siphoned off into the neutralizing rune until the balance was equal, effectively negating the old rune's effects.
組
Sakura and Naruto watched as Sasuke approached the gate, almost as if he was in a trance. Onyx eyes glazed over ever-so-slightly as the teen laid a hand gently on the worn wooden surface, observing something only he could see. The fingers of the hand contracted slightly, then relaxed as long, thin chakra needles erupted from their tips. Sasuke brushed his hand over the gate, the needles flaring brighter in certain spots before returning to normal.
Then, he stopped in the center of the structure and closed his eyes. Before their eyes, a huge, glowing rune bloomed, surrounded by thousands of kanji, glimmering a fiery orangey-gold. As they watched, a new rune began to take form, all twining lines and elegant characters. Compared to the existing one, the new symbol seemed almost evil, with its dark purple matrix dimming the luminescence of the other. Both runes flashed brightly a moment, then disappeared back into the gate as Sasuke retracted his hand and opened his eyes, pushing gently at the gate.
It swung open soundlessly, and Sasuke turned his head to watch them over his shoulder.
"Welcome to the Uchiha district."
組
"Welcome to the Uchiha district."
Sasuke prided himself on his control over his voice; it didn't betray the level and depth of the myriad of emotions coursing through his body at the moment. He spun on his heel and strode through the gates, keeping his eyes down as his teammates followed him down the main street, letting out small gasps of shock and horror.
Kunai and shuriken were still buried in the walls, spidery cracks bolting from the points of impact. The paper lanterns that hung from the eaves were shredded, some parts still hanging, others decaying in the dirt. A single katana, with a long red tassel fastened to the hilt, was embedded deep in the earth. But the most shocking thing?
The white chalk outlines of body after body, propped up against walls, lying limp on porches, arching through ripped rice paper doors. The weapons that killed them remained in the walls, a testament to the force with which they were thrown. Dried blood coated the area, a dark reddish-brown with age.
Sasuke could sense that it was hard for them to believe that the outlines had once been his family. He did, too.
Every memory from that night rushed back in vivid detail, from coming home late from the Academy to a crime scene to watching as his kind, passive elder brother brutally murdered their parents. His fists clenched involuntarily as he lowered his vision into the second-sight of the chakra world, reading the energy signatures throughout the compound.
A mere second later, he swallowed audibly.
"What is it?"
Sakura always was too concerned for her own good.
"I found the cat."
"Where, 'ttebayo?!"
"…in the main house."
The where my parents died was rather obvious. Sakura and Naruto shared a look behind his back as he turned away.
"Come on. Let's go."
組
Sakura was thankful they had Sasuke; without him, both she and Naruto would probably be dead because of the traps on the gates, or seriously injured, or lost in the maze of buildings.
It's almost like a scaled-down version of Konoha in here! The Uchiha probably didn't ever have to leave the compound to shop or train…
She and Naruto were running after Sasuke, who had been unusually silent over the course of the trip, leading them through the alleys and streets. Sakura could tell that he'd travelled this route many times before (which he had) and knew it by heart. That much was apparent, she mused, as Sasuke took another sharp turn, his zori skidding over the unpaved ground and sending up puffs of bone-white dust, and bolted down another alleyway, using the narrow width to his advantage and jumping from wall to wall to clear a blockade of old timbers and ruined weapons.
The only sounds were the claps of their sandals against the earth and the gusty rush of their weary breathing. After what seemed like forever, Sasuke slid to a stop, so suddenly that Naruto narrowly avoided crashing into him, before a grand house, like a Gothic-styled mansion with an Eastern twist.
The wind whistled through the dead branches of blackened trees and hollow leaves of browning reeds. The imposing figure of the mansion split the sky with long, thin spires and sharpened edges. Sasuke looked up, a storm of emotion whirling in darkened eyes. His breath hissed through clenched teeth as he stared up at the castle-like structure. Sakura could see the rise and fall of his ribs through the slightly-loose shirt he wore; she could tell he was stressed, but hiding it well. Suddenly, he turned to her.
"You've encountered the cat, right?"
"Hai…?"
"Can you track its chakra?"
"Hai!"
Sakura clasped her hands in the ram seal, closing her eyes in concentration as she allowed her outer sight to fade away into darkness. Sasuke appeared as a glowing nebula of blue-swirled red, with lavender and mauve spirals interspersed throughout. Naruto was surrounded by ripples of orange, with a nova of deep red encasing the azure of his normal chakra coils. Up three flights of stairs and down a hallway was a smaller signature, deep green in color, which Sakura assumed belonged to the cat.
"Found it. Third floor, down the hall."
Wordlessly, Sasuke strode through the front yard, brushing against the reeds and past the trees to arrive at the front door, swinging it open on silent hinges and slipping through the crack. Sakura looked over to Naruto, who looked incredibly creeped out, took a deep breath, and passed over the threshold after their teammate.
組
The memories were haunting him again. They swirled about at the forefront of his mind, brought forth by his presence in the place where he'd been raised for eight perfect years. Memories of his mother's gentle smile and kind words, his father's reassuring smirks and firm pats on the head or shoulder, his brother's warmth and the sound of his heartbeat.
Sasuke remembered the rhythm of Itachi's blood the most of all; after he'd been bitten by a carrier of the virus, he'd had awful nightmares consisting of darkness, blood, and death. It had gotten so bad that he was afraid to close his eyes.
He recalled clearly the first time he'd gone to Itachi; the teen had offered a small, soothing smile that put all of Sasuke's fears to rest and scooted over a little on the mattress. The boy remembered curling up on his brother's chest and listening to the lulling throbs of the cardiac muscle beneath his ribs, the steady rush of air through his lungs, and the occasional soft triple-beat of a heart murmur. It had become a routine, over time, for them; Sasuke couldn't sleep without the sound of a heartbeat, and Itachi had trouble resting without the comforting weight of his little brother's head over his sternum.
After Itachi's betrayal, it had taken him over six months to begin sleeping regularly again, and he was once more plagued with nightmares. Over and over again, Sasuke watched his family die before his eyes, for hours and hours at a time. At one point, he'd attempted to give up sleep permanently, but stopped when the nightmares invaded his conscious mind during the waking hours of the day.
So, he'd resorted to training almost constantly, in the hopes that he'd exhaust himself so much that his mind would have to refrain from sending him the visions. That was the only thing that worked, really; however, it came at a price. Sasuke was the most injured Academy student, often coming to school with bruises, cuts, scrapes, strains, sprains, and the occasional broken bone, completing at least sixteen hours of training each day, only getting seven hours of sleep a night. It was a precarious balance he maintained; less than seven hours, and he would begin hallucinating, but any more than seven and the visions would be back. He wouldn't admit it, but he needed help; a permanent solution to the problem that in no way involved Itachi.
A creak sounded from behind him, on the stairs, and he smirked. The tricky step; the one Sasuke had avoided to steal many a midnight snack, the one that always, always, creaked unless one knew exactly where and how to step. Another creak, and the smirk widened. His hand slid over the age-smoothed wooden banister, the roughness worn away by the sandpaper of time. The rail slipped from beneath him, and Sasuke stopped on the landing of the third floor; where his and Itachi's rooms had been.
Trailing his fingers over the old, cracking paint on the walls, he couldn't help but smile slightly, seeing an almost-outline of his younger self, running down the hall, smiling and laughing, as his elder brother chased him, also laughing.
My memories are superimposing themselves on my perception.
Sasuke blinked, banishing the image, upon hearing the hesitant footsteps of his teammates. He then realized how he must look, one hand on the wall, staring into space with a small smile on his face when he never showed any emotion.
Quickly, he let the expression slide from his face, returning it to its normal, apathetic state, and took his hand off the wall, instead choosing to drop it back to rest on his weapons pouch. Sakura's voice called from down the stairs.
"Sasuke? The cat's in the room to your right!"
"Aa."
He said softly, prowling forward with a hunter's tread, twin kunai gripped in his right hand, twirling by the pommel rings about slender, dexterous fingers. His feet made barely any sound as he slithered through the cracked-open door. He didn't allow the brief, sharp pang of pain in his heart to hinder him as he crept into what was once his room.
The walls were covered in torn blue wallpaper, the hardwood flooring no longer polished and bright but dusty and splintered. The bed and mattress were covered in a thin sheen of grime that billowed up from the comforter when he brushed against it.
The cat must be under the bed.
Sasuke thought as he lifted the edge of the duvet, meeting two glowing amber eyes. The scent of feline assaulted his nose, and his sensitive hearing picked up on the soft sounds of fur against wood. Night vision kicked in a little late, allowing Sasuke to make out the animal's form, half-hidden in shadow as it was.
Got you.
He smirked, slightly-sharpened incisors showing as he maneuvered them past his bottom lip, ensuring that he didn't split it open on the needle-like points. The muscles in his arm flexed rapidly, then snapped open, sending his hand shooting for the cat. Tora screeched in anger as fingers closed in her scruff, lifting her by the back of the neck into Sasuke's arms. Holding the squirming, screaming tabby, Sasuke walked out of the room, muscles tensed to withstand the insane cat's scratching attacks. His sandals left treaded footprints in the thick layers of dust covering the floor. Tora let out another round of yowls when she spied Sakura and Naruto peeking from around the corner.
Sasuke took a moment to reflect upon just how odd this would look to them; him, standing, coated in grime, dispassionately in the empty hall clutching a struggling brown cat. The many scratches the beast had inflicted on his chest and arms stood out fiery red against almost-white skin. The tattered red bow hung forlornly from her ear, drooping in a rather depressed fashion, the ends flicking out when Tora's ears shot back to rest flat against her head.
Suddenly remembering his brother's ninja cat summons, Sasuke's hand almost automatically slithered up to rub between the agitated animal's ears, reducing her to a contented bundle of fur in mere seconds. Gently massaging one of her ears with his thumb, Sasuke looked up to find Sakura and Naruto's shocked faces.
"Come on. Let's finish this mission."
組
"Team Seven is here, sir, with their first D-rank mission!"
His secretary called from outside the door. Sarutobi shared a glance with Iruka, sitting at his right, before yelling his answer back.
"Send them in. We can't keep the Daimyo's wife waiting!"
"Hai~!"
The heavy wooden door slid open to reveal the trio, covered in dust, bruises, scrapes, small cuts, and (in Sasuke's case) long, painful-looking scratches, standing in the hall. Tora was curled in Sasuke's arms as his fingers trailed along her spine, purring in sync with the rhythmic movement. Kakashi chose that moment to Shunshin into the room, and gawked (as much as a masked, eye-patched, emotionless shinobi can gawk) at the sight that met him.
Sasuke looked of to the side, slightly embarrassed.
"My brother summoned cats."
After the sentence, Sasuke seemed to trip over himself, shaking his head slightly and biting his lip. Years of reading even the most emotionless shinobi allowed the old Hokage to see that the boy was mentally slapping himself. Sarutobi sighed. This was exactly what he'd feared would happen.
The shock and pain of losing everyone he'd ever loved had left a huge impact on Sasuke. He was afraid of the bonds he'd once cherished, afraid that his life would splinter and come down around him again, afraid of love. The emotions the boy had once displayed for the world to see were now crushed and locked away before they had the chance to bloom. It was Sasuke's way of coping, he supposed, along with training himself to exhaustion. Yes, he knew of the young Uchiha's method of self-torture, knew that Itachi's betrayal had shattered him more than the many deaths, knew that it was that and that alone that had left him unable to trust, to love, to feel.
At least Naruto had a bond with another living, breathing person. Sasuke didn't even have that much.
He was alone, and drowning in his loneliness, no matter how much he tried to deny it.
And as those cold, dark eyes bored into his, Sarutobi could see that even if Sasuke seemed cool and tranquil, inside, he was screaming.
組
~Tsuzuku~
A/N: Kami, guys! I am SO SORRY I couldn't update any sooner than this (I've had to deal with training, life, and muscles that hurt whenever I walk thanks to excess running) but I couldn't really find a good stopping point for the chapter, and I didn't want to stop in the middle when I could have gone on and done a double-length chapter, so…yeah. I am aware, again, that Sasuke could seem OOC, but he is supposed to be tsundere in here (pretty sure that's in the summary…if it isn't, well, now ya know), which, for those of you who don't know, is tough on the outside but soft on the inside.
Sasuke: Why the HELL am I tsundere?!
KBA: …Because I wanted you to be. Dattebayo.
Itachi: Never, ever say that again. Please.
Sasuke: Blondes scare me.
Naruto, Ino, and KBA: HEY!
KBA: Wait, when did you two get here?!
Naruto: …Just now? *sheepish grin*
Ino: Blame this baka. I was arranging my beautiful bouquet for Sasuke-kun when—
Sasuke: D: NO.
Ino: But—
Sasuke: NO. JUST NO.
Itachi: Don't treat girls like that, foolish otouto.
Sasuke: I don't like girls.
KBA: Then…does this mean…that SasuNaru is a plausible fan pairing?
Sasuke and Naruto: HELL NO~!
KBA: *holds hands up innocently* Hey, hey, I didn't mean to offend you! One of my friends is a SasuNaru/NaruSasu fangirl!
Itachi: *mutters* More like most of them.
KBA: *sweetly, with rather insane grin* What was that?
Itachi: Nothing! *gulps*
KBA: Good. Now, Naruto, put yourself to good use and do the teaser for next chapter!
Naruto: *clears throat and says in announcer voice* Our favorite ninja—*gags* I can't do this! It's a violation of my ninja code!
Ino: Fine. *in slightly-higher-pitched announcer voice* Our favorite ninja gets his newest mission, but why is that drunkard so obsessed with his hair, and what is Sakura hiding? Join us again next time, for: Protect Tazuna! Land of the Waves Arc, Begin!
This chapter's page break is kumi, or team.