TO NEVER LOSE
By Reverse

Chapter 3- Lair of the Damned

I took three steps forward before coming face to face with who Tsunade had told me was my informant. He was apparently one from Konoha; somebody who fought for his friends very hard and suffered.

It was not hard to recognize him; the noted orange swirl mask covering whatever was left of his face. For a moment it reminded me of the orange swirl on Naruto's clothes before I suppressed the thought and decided to get this over with, even knowing what I was up against I was impatient in dealing with informants. I had no respect for spies.

"As far as I am concerned my dept is paid. I owe Konoha nothing, I owe you nothing," he emphasized. I glared at him with quickly narrowing eyes. His voice sounded child-like and simple. But on the very last part, the strict address to me, he had sounded spiteful.

As a Red Op it was my responsibility to remind the ninja of his fate. "Then you would acquit and betray your mission to Konoha?"

My voice betrayed nothing, a simple statement, he sounded like he was unused to such diplomatic talk. I wondered if this was his real mask; the mask of personality. "My mission was over when I left the ranks of subornation and joined the ring-bearers in hell."

Without warning I punched his mask with my inhuman strength. Unsure of its material, I kicked him hard enough in the chest to wind him enough that, if he was a natural human being, he would pass out.

He did of course; he was caught completely by surprise. "If it means that much to you…"

I reached down to remove the ring from his finger, not bothering to study the kanji as I slipped it onto a chain around my neck. "Of course I'll take good care of it!" I muttered offhandedly before slipping past the shadows to the hidden entrance I knew of. Once inside I would be on my own, slipping and sneaking until somebody saw fit to add my name to the death toll. I would be only a casualty, villages suffered those often. I knew my village wouldn't suffer. Maybe they would rejoice.

I slipped on the ring to open the door. Whomever I had spoken too was dumber than anybody else that would be inside. With the infamous Uchiha Itachi, whom I had been carelessly compared to yesterday, and the several other high priority targets, this wasn't gonna be a picnic.

Unless of course the cannibalistic one decided to eat me… Still; not my picnic. I slipped the ring back on the cord, staring through my mask at the poorly-lit hallway. My chakra was masked out of habit and I felt no need to worry about anything going right. Everything… would go wrong in this mission, there was no way it couldn't; and I didn't want that hope.

I tried to feel for the power that would come from the sealing on the scroll, they weren't secretive about things here, and they felt safe maybe. Either that or they were watching me fall into their trap. I never considered the possibility they were curious.

In the lair of the damned, twelfth door to the right was the place that I needed to be. Shamelessly I walked down these halls. I supposed I appeared contemplative, if people were to often contemplate their own demises.

I turned the handle; opening it without the slightest inclination that it would be the last I entered. Off to the side, offhandedly thrown on a desk was what I was looking for; a sealed scroll.

I felt the seal to discover if there were any tricks to it. There weren't. Maybe they didn't expect me to find it. I checked the room again, plain gray walls, wood floor, desk with the smell of stale liquids and old, dried blood. Maybe it was a workroom at best.

My chakra flared in my left hand as I broke through the seal with brute force; simply shattering it against my fist.

I slid the paper apart, reading every last word and instruction.

Here was the thing that would end up killing Naruto in the end, how to release Kyuubi's seal and set him free… Only to let the Akatsuki cage him again. I had read it in a very short amount of time and was unsurprised. But there was nobody else that had read it, except the creator, judging by the seal that was untainted. I brought heated chakra to my palm. The Akatsuki were here, barely masking their chakra signatures.

"Shit!" I heard a hoarse whisper as the door was forced open. The hinges protested roughly as two members of this organization burst through the door. I set the scroll alight.

Ghostly ashes drifted as the blond Akatsuki, Deidara—I recognized—pushed me against the wall, his hand molded against my vulnerable throat.

I stared simply at the ashes. This was it; I owed nothing to anyone anymore. My dept to Tsunade was repaid on my first mission as a Red Op. My dept to Kakashi was paid when I told him that Sasuke had killed Orochimaru. The dept to Naruto was on the floor in ashes. To Konoha, I had accepted death as a risk. To myself, I had played out on this risk.

My mask was untied as Deidara also recognized my face; I could see it in his expression. I had been wanted by Sasori, that's how he knew me.

"You shouldn't sneak into places you can't sneak out of," He spoke; a complementary "un" sound was added to the end of his sentence, I suspected a speech pattern.

My wide jade eyes snapped coolly onto his, I seemed for naught to care that he was holding my life in his vague hands. I glared; I was not going down as a weakling. "What makes you think I wanted to sneak out?!"

My demand caught the attention of the other, I knew him instantly, Itachi Uchiha. "Trying to be a hero little ANBU?" he asked distantly.

I nearly sputtered; it was my goddamn teammates that were always trying to be heroes! My calm was kept as a grace to my training. "No."

The statement may have sparked mild interest; he took a stop closer as Deidara held me a little looser, it made it easier to speak and I took full advantage. "My dept is paid. My bonds are broken."

I felt him curiously fiddling with my armor as he unbuckled my cloak and removed my arm pieces. I couldn't even bring myself to care or hate him. Deidara still held me in place but released me as Itachi shot a glare at him. My armband was undone. It was black and not the regular known white.

"You're not ANBU?" He faintly asked.

I smirked lightly, a face that was part of my feeling. The great Uchiha Prodigy, the thirteen-year old ANBU captain, was even the slightest bit puzzled at my differences from the norm. Even my mask was abnormally black, sitting carelessly on the desk.

I took my sleeve and wretched it above the crimson tattoo. Itachi knew the mark, himself carrying a black one that he likely despised or relished in turns. Maybe his relationship with the ANBU was an allusion to mine. "I'm not a Black Op."

"The Red Ops." He seemed overly polite for the usually silent criminal, but he was just going to kill me anyway, so I figured I would oblige.

Deidara looked puzzled and I knew Itachi would not explain.

"The Red Ops are only the kamikaze version of the gentle Black Ops." I stated blankly.

"Are they?" Deidara seemed unfazed and unimpressed.

I laughed. "Of course! That's why Konoha had to find an acceptable way to kill me; and a way I couldn't refuse." My voice changed darkly on the last part. My last bond had been cut. There were different ways to break them, mine were paid up front. Sasuke made his disappear. It was hard to remember him, but I was used to pain, it seemed to have become my testament and religion. Maybe pain had even become a culture.

My voice was still dark. "I had lived for too long. I got too good at surviving. Nobody lasts over three months without dying—I just hit seven."

I lectured anyway, wanting to just throw the life I had been stuck in away. "We signed our death warrants with the red ink they force into our arms… Death, either by enemy or suicide from emotional torture and insanity. The stuff we do is just as bad as the stuff you do so don't look at me like a saint. I'm not a goddamn angel."

Diedara smirked. "Your one fucked up angel."

Together Itachi and the annoying blonde with the awful mimicry tied my wrists together in front of me. I wasn't gagged. They probably hoped I would scream and fuss. I just stood somber and proud as I was escorted to the place I knew would be a dungeon and a torture chamber.

Itachi smashed my black cat mask against the wall. From the sharp pieces of the shattered object, the shattered life, he raked it against my cheek, drawing blood. I ignored the cut as the first of a million.

"You will survive." He coolly stated. "And you will suffer."

He slammed the door on me, leaving me in the dark, a place where I was unafraid and not uneasy.

I decided this mission was no more about suicide. It was about taking the beating as seeing how long I could withstand every possible torture. My prayer and promise was murmured softly behind the Uchiha. "You will too."

(Itachi)

The mask was still in my hand as I disregarded my hate for the place I was destined. Hate would only bring you down; I realized how foolish my little brother was to not realize it. Hate could stop you if you dwelled on it.

I threw the mask on the Hokage's desk, flung it mercilessly, the blood still dripping from the edge. There was no call to arrest me, no alarm. The blonde just stared at me and the purple-inked mask for a moment. Her words sounded haunting as I showed that her little red ANBU was dealt with personally; dead or just as gone.

"Thank you." She thanked me, I was disgusted. I wasn't some garbage disposal. I almost smirked as I recognized the emotion in her voice. She was relieved that the little red ANBU was gone.

I had done nothing. "It was not proof." I sated as I turned to leave. "It was a promise."

All the color drained from her horror stricken face as I threatened to send the former Red Op after her.

By the time she could raise the alarm to race after me, I would be outside the gates. And I would be contemplating going through with my promise. And I would be deciding that I had best keep my promises.

And did you guys notice her changes in attitude when she's on a mission compared to going on one?
Oh, and we got a taste of Itachis' P-O-V. That may happen occasionally to outline the plot.

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