O.o; Sorry if this seemed rushed… xD

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO! MASASHI KISHIMOTO DOES! I also do not own any of the OCs introduced in this fan fiction, except the following:

Tsukuyomi Clan

Nero

Roku

Old Man

Roku's parents

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Chapter Twenty-Two: Way Too Young To Be A Mother… BYEBYE!

After the sight in the prisoner hall, I was having trouble sleeping. I just couldn't get comfortable, so I got up to start walking around. I had been there for three days now and so far, there was no sign of Orochimaru anywhere. I was getting anxious. A lot of times, I purposely went searching for Sasuke, but I hardly ever found him. Once I found him, but he was busy talking to Kabuto about something that I wasn't going to get involved in.

At one point, I started visiting Roku, sneaking him food. He was way too skinny and I didn't want to find him really dead by the time Sasuke came up with a way to get out.

Oh yea. I was supposed to come up with a plan too. I had a pretty stupid one in mind, but I was going to wait for Sasuke to come up with one first.

One day, I was heading to a visit with Roku with a small little bag of the dinner that I was supposed to be eating, but my mind was on Roku's health. I rounded the corner to head to the door, but I suddenly got the sensation that I wasn't alone in the dreary hall.

I whipped around to find Sasuke leaning on a wall just one hallway down, watching me with a flat expression. I glared.

"What do you want?" I asked, trying not to show how annoyed I was. When I didn't want him around, he was there, but when I did, he wasn't. What the hell? Sasuke pushed off the wall, walking up to me, eyeing the sack.

"You're feeding someone." He stated. I put the bag behind my back, glaring still.

"So what? It's not like anyone else is going to do it."

"If you're going to be softhearted, I don't want anything to do with you." Sasuke stated. I snapped.

"Fuck you! He's just a fucking kid! You may be cold and heartless, but I certainly am not! Che! You rant about how you hate your brother, about how he's a bastard, but the only real asshole I see is you! Standing next to him, you're more of a devil than he is!" I shouted at him. Sasuke's eyes darkened and he grabbed the collar of my shirt.

"Don't ever compare him to me." He seethed.

"It's hard not to." I snapped. He went to grab my throat and instinct made me duck my head, biting into his hand, which he tore back. He glared at me, my eyes mirroring his annoyance and hatred.

"You're supposed to be gaining my trust and yet, you keep lowering your chances."

"I don't care," I snarled, "I'll just get out of here myself and find Akatsuki myself! I'll just kill your brother before you can, letting you live with the fact that you fail at life!"

"Stop talking!"

"I would kill you myself, but that'd be too much of a relief… I'll just watch you tear yourself apart. That'll be a lot more fun than being merciful and killing you." I muttered and spun on my heel, heading for the door, but I heard the sound of a sword being whipped from its sheath. I frowned, feeling the blade of Sasuke's sword touch the side of my neck.

"If you kill me know, there goes Itachi's whereabouts, right down the drain." I stated.

"I can always get to him in different ways." Sasuke retorted. I smiled faintly, but more to myself.

"Yea, let's watch you wander around aimlessly while Itachi jumps from place to place, taunting you when with me, you could be two steps ahead of him."

"What do you mean 'jump from place to place'?" Sasuke demanded.

"None of your business."

"You're in no position to be attempting a bargain."

"No, it's just fair. Help me get out of here and I'll help you reach your goals in no time flat… Kill me and you can look like a complete idiot as you run around, like a lost child." I explained slowly, ignoring how Sasuke was pressing the place of his sword against my shoulder, drawing a thin stream of blood.

"If you think you're putting me in a helpless position…" Sasuke began, but I waved my hand back and forth as if to say no.

"Eh, eh. I know you'd be able to do it eventually by yourself… After all, the Great Uchiha Clan is capable of anything, aren't they? No sarcasm. My studies include the Uchiha's history. Very bloody… However, I'm simply saying that I want to help you… I'm sure there's no conflict with that, right? You were trying to recruit people all week, weren't you?" I asked. I could tell Sasuke was frowning now as he lowered his sword. I turned to look at him seriously now. His expression had grown cold, hard, angry.

"I've got a plan of my own… Although it never included you in the beginning…"

"It will now." I murmured. Sasuke glared at me.

"If you so much as look at the path that's off course, I will have no qualms about slaughtering you." He stated. I nodded, giving him a little two-fingered salute.

"I, Tsukuyomi Ruriko, give you my word that I will not veer off the path that you seek, that I will lead you to wherever you want to go. I'll even get rid of any obstacles that you can't be bothered with… Of course, I request my freedom from this place as soon as you leave as well… And as soon as your goals are realized, Uchiha, Sasuke, I will disappear from your life." I informed. Sasuke frowned.

"… There's something you're not telling me." He stated, raising an eyebrow in annoyance. I blinked, then glared at him.

"What the hell am I missing?"

"That boy that you're feeding. From the way you were acting protective of him, you were going to drag him along without telling me." Sasuke summed up with a glare. I blinked, then shrugged, averting my eyes.

"Okay, yea. I'm going to have to be honest with you. However, a pit stop in Konohagakure is all we need to do."

"Konohagakure? Hell no." Sasuke snapped. I raised an eyebrow.

"And why not? It's the best place for a child like him. I know some people there who would gladly accept Roku."

"… Be ready tonight," Sasuke said, ignoring me, "I'm going to grab the others before I go for you… Don't do anything stupid."

"Yes, little Uchiha."

"Don't call me that!"

After the confrontation, I fed Roku, watching him nibble on the bread and gulp down the juice. He had gained a little bit of weight since I started feeding him. I was glad too. I even gave him my old clothing so he could wipe the dirt and smudge from his face.

"I'm going to give you to some good friends of mine," I told him quietly, ignoring the other men, who seemed to continually yell at me, "They'll be very nice to you… I would keep you along, but Sasuke's a brat. He'll complain about you coming along." Roku blinked, then smiled a little, tilting his head at my stomach as soon as it growled. I laughed a little, more ashamed as I clasped my hand over my empty belly.

"Haha, ignore that." I replied. Roku pouted, then tore off a piece of bread and reached through the bars, shoving the bread into my mouth. I flailed a little at first, coughing before I swallowed. I sweat dropped as Roku beamed at me, holding out another piece of bread. I smiled, shaking my head and pushing his hand back.

"Not yet, Roku… I'm saving my appetite for someone." I replied. Roku's eyes glowed curiously. The old man, who always hung around Roku, snorted.

"Cannibal. Ya just like the kid. All ya kids no days, have no respect."

"Shut up, grandpa, before I tear out your tongue!" I barked before patting Roku on the head, standing up to go. Roku stopped at grabbed my hand, pulling it to his face. I stared at him, confused at first. He licked the tips of my fingers before smiling up at me and licking his lips. The old man chuckled.

"Ain't seen him do that in a long time…"

"What's it mean?" I asked, confused still as Roku licked my fingers again.

"He's thanking you. You know how a dog does that after you feed it? That's what he does. Used to do that to me when I could get him food, ya know, after his ma died… Course, now we don't get fed anymore. We're all scheduled to die sooner or later."

"Che," I glared, "Not on my watch. I promised I was going to save you all. I'm going to do it."

"Even if you're with that Uchiha kid? I wish ya luck. He's a stubborn asshole and he'll leap at any chance to kill us." The old man growled. I frowned, then I heard a creak and whipped around to face the metal doors. They were still closed, but without a doubt, someone had been listening in the conversation. I grimaced and headed out the door, but no one was there. I frowned and started down the hallway, still feeling pretty uneasy at whoever was listening in.

I decided it was nap time. Why? Well, duh. So I won't have to be bored, sitting around and waiting for Sasuke to go into action mode.

I finally found my way back to my room after about an hour of walking. Yea, this long and two things still shock me. A) No sign of Orochimaru and B) I still had troubles finding my room…

I walked into my room sleepily and flopped on the bed. In no time, I fell asleep. A first in this place. My sleep was pretty heavy since I had hardly slept at all since my first night here… It was too eerie.

I felt like I had slept only an hour before a loud explosion shook the building. I was awake in an instant, bolting upright. I jerked my head up as the ceiling crumbled a little. I scrambled out of the way as a huge shower of dirt rained down. I rolled across the floor and onto my feet, wincing. I heard clanging and some shouting, followed by more explosions. Shit, that was fast, Sasuke!

No, I wasn't going to give him a special title like they did to 'Lord Orochimaru'. Sasuke was still getting the 'little Uchiha' treatment from me and nothing else. Although, I knew that if I continued to test Sasuke, he'd end up killing me, so I think I would have to come up with a new nickname for him.

I could hear things going quieter outside and I bolted to the door, pulling it open. I grimaced when I did. Dirt had piled up in the hall as well as boulders and leftovers from failed earth jutsu. Dead bodies from sound ninja seemed to be scattered everywhere.

I hurriedly hopped through the opening over a corpse, bolting toward the cells. Yea, I know Sasuke said not to do anything stupid and going right after Roku and the old man was definitely not smart, but I had to do it.

Instinct made me bolt, jumping over bodies and rocks. I ran around the corner toward the metal doors to the hall, only to find two sound shinobi blocking my path. I smirked as one threw a kunai at me with a wire connect to it, as well as an explosive tag. I made a hand sign, flicking my finger out at the tag and lighting it right away with a spark of electricity.

I leapt back as the sound shinobi barked at me before the explosive tag went off, also blowing off the doors to the hallway in the process. I raced right in to see that one of the cells had been blown open, releasing a flow of prisoners, who screamed for joy.

I grabbed the bars to Roku's cell, watching him leap to his feet with the old man, who stared at me as if he couldn't believe I actually did this. I concentrated as much chakra as I could muster into my fists, gripping hard and jerking. The bars snapped, exploding and scorching as I threw them away. The rest of the cell mates poured out, releasing friends from others cells. Roku immediately ran right up to me and grabbed onto my leg, snuggling his face against my thigh and licking at my fingers. I smiled a little, then looked up at the old man.

"Think you can keep up?" I asked him with a smirk. The old man snorted, poking his chest with a thumb.

"Listen here, little girl! I may be old and useless, but I can keep up!" He insisted, then his eyes widened as he noticed something behind me.

"Get down!" He ordered. I ducked right away as a kunai flew past my head. I whipped around to see one of the prisoners standing a top a pile of rubble, his eyes glowing gold. The same gold as Roku's eyes.

"Where do you think you're going with that boy, hm, woman?" He demanded in a cold hard voice. I glared at him, then winced when I looked down at Roku. He was clawing at my thigh through the fishnet and silky short material, whimpering.

"Who the hell is he?" I demanded of the old man, who hobbled up beside me.

"That man is the man who forced Roku's mother to conceive."

"Wait, are you telling me this guy raped Roku's mother?" I demanded. The old man nodded. Roku's father sneered, revealing a few missing molars and sharpened teeth.

"I needed someone to carry on my bloodline. Roku's mother, to hell with her name, was just another woman that I could use. Roku is the first son that survived this long. The others all ate themselves away, quite literally." He seethed like a snake, stepping down onto the floor. I glared at him.

"Back up, asshole! I don't care what you were trying to do! Women aren't tools!"

"Oh? Well, leave it to a woman to say that… No, you're all used for one thing and one thing only… To create new life for the men to toy with. It's like a store on legs!" The man laughed maniacally, spreading his arms and laughing at the ceiling. I fumed and pushed Roku back against the old man. I bolted forward and rammed my fist into the guy's jaw, knocking him flying through the air and into a wall.

"Come on! Get up, tough guy! Show me how strong men are!" I yelled, clenching my fists and baring my own sharpened canines. The man looked shocked, holding his jaw before scrambling to his feet.

"You bitch! I'll fucking kill you!" The man screamed and aimed at my gut, but I dodged to the side and whipped around, kicking him in the back and knocking him skidding across the floor into some broken bars. I jerked my head up, pointing at the exit.

"Roku! Old man, get outta here! I'll take care of him!" I shouted, then looked up as the man got to his feet slowly, swaying before whipping around and running at me. I winced and tried to dodge to the side, but he swung his hand around, his long nails cutting through the fish net on my back and slicing into my skin. I gasped and grabbed the man's wrist, twisting it.

Miyori's image flashed into my mind. I hurriedly twisted the man's arm behind his back and shoved him to the floor. I shoved his head into the floor, listening to him yell in pain. I jerked on his arm until I heard it pop, dislocating. The man roared with pain and swung around, knocking me back across the ground before I scrambled to my feet.

"You idiotic bitch," He spat blood on the ground, getting to his feet slowly, "Che… I'm going to eat you, bones and all."

"No kidding." I snarled and bolted to my feet, racing at him. I made a hand sign with one hand before swinging my foot up into his jaw, sending him into the air. I pointed two fingers up, a jagged bolt of electricity exploding at him as he crashed into the ceiling. I took a quick glance around as I leapt back to make sure the old man and Roku were gone.

The ceiling pretty much caved in by this point as I skidded back across the floor, frowning. I watched as the man scrambled out at me again. This was a big waste of time, I realized in irritation. And I was starving.

I caught the man's neck in my grasp before he could hit me. I dug my fingers as hard as I could, using some electricity to cause his head to pop off. Just like that. His head shot off and hit the ground with a wet plop, blood spurting everywhere.

I grabbed the handful of meat I had in my hand and crammed it into my mouth. Most of it I could easily swallow without even chewing, feeling skin slither down my throat with chunks of bloody flesh.

I bent down, smirking at the man as I wiped the back of my hand across my mouth before slamming it down, charging electricity to help me rip a hole in the man's gut. I stood up straight, taking some innards with my fist. Most people would find this scene revolting and so gross, they'd never look at me the same way.

However, I was surprised when I felt a familiar grip around my leg and I looked down to find Roku, beaming up at me and pointing at the flesh that was oozing from my fist. I grimaced at first, then blinked in shock when he bent down and trailed a finger through the puddle of blood, licking it off his finger before doing it again.

"Wow, another psycho." I murmured, then glanced up. No old man. I frowned and jerked Roku up by his shirt, making him yelp and stare at me.

"Where's the old man?" I demanded. Roku stared, then looked at his feet, shifting his shoe on the ground before pointing out the door. I frowned, dropped my meal and bolted out the door. A sound shinobi was lying dead on the ground, torn up and dead with the old man lying beside him, a sword through his chest, pinning him to the wall. I winced.

"Hey…" He looked up, smiling weakly at me.

"Little girl… I am glad that you helped Roku… And killed that dirty man… He's been a shame to his clan…" He shook his head. I frowned and bent down in front of him, Roku coming up beside me to peek over my shoulder with wide, curious eyes. The old man chuckled, then coughed up some blood.

"I won't last much longer…"

"Old man, don't say that." I whined, but I knew it was too late. The sword had pierced a vital point, giving him a couple minutes at best.

"Take Roku somewhere safe… His mother would have wanted it… Maybe he can grow up… And become much stronger… Smarter too…" He managed, his eyes slowly drooping. Roku stepped in front of me and peered at the old man with a confused expression before waving a bit shyly at him.

"Bah-ee, buh-ee…" Roku murmured, making me blink. The old man smiled a little and slipped away quietly, his eyes closing.

He was dead.

Roku then tilted his head back to look at me with a cheery smile. I felt kind of sad at this point. He didn't know what just happened. The guy who cared for him since birth had just died, gone for good. I wasn't going to tell him what happened though. I really didn't have the heart to say that the old man was never coming back.

I sighed and glanced around, finding some bed sheets that were strewn from the cell hall, throwing them over the old man after removing the sword. I turned to Roku, frowning.

"Let's finish off eating the bad man, all right?" I asked firmly. Roku beamed and nodded eagerly, grabbing my hand and pulling me back to his father's body. Roku pretty much ate until he was full. I let him have the best parts before I worked on devouring it.

It soon became just a heap of blood, bones, and some leftover flesh. I was chewing on something when I heard a whistle. I whipped around to find Sasuke step in with three other people.

The first was a very tall guy, orange hair and eyes. He wore the same clothes that the prisoners wore. The second guy was a bit shorter with silver hair and violet eyes, a huge sword strapped to his back. Kinda cute, but not the point. The next was a female with flaming hair and red eyes behind a pair of glasses, her face set in a stubborn pout.

The second tallest guy was the one who had whistled, the one with the sword and purple eyes.

"Damn, now that's a cool chick!" He declared.

"You dumbass! It's disgusting!" The girl yelled at him angrily.

"Shut up," Sasuke muttered, then looked at me carefully, "If you're finished, we should get going…" His voice trailed. I ate the last of what was in my hand and looked down at Roku, frowning as his blood smeared face and wiping it off with his shirt before turning to Sasuke, my arms over my chest.

"Sure. Let's get going." I stated, pulling on Roku's shirt to lead him. Sasuke led the way through the hideout, though, we had to stop at one point because Sasuke heard someone coming this way. We stayed silent, leaning on the wall. I held Roku against my leg, covering his mouth because he kept wanting to say his version of bye-bye like he did for the old man. We watched as a man made his appearance in the hallway, walking along side Kabuto, who had a cut across his face, his glasses smashed out in one lens.

Good, the fucker deserved it.

The other man, however, looked oddly familiar. His brown hair was spiked off in several directions, some of them coming down as his fringe, his eyes black and serious. He wore black fingerless gloves to his elbows with armor similar to the Anbu's. A thick dark gray turtleneck, sleeves to his shoulders, and a thick, lighter gray sleeveless jacket covered his torso. His pants matched his undershirt, touching his black sandals and a kunai pouch, but no headband.

"… Kuromura Kotaro, hm?" Kabuto was musing as they walked. Kotaro kept his eyes avert, his head tilted slightly as if the lower class criminal's voice annoyed him.

"You know what I want… Now that Orochimaru's gone, I'm sure there's no qualms about me taking the land… Unless you're stupid enough to get in my way." Kotaro's serious voice muttered. My eyes widened and instinct made me jump to attention.

That's how I knew his name. Kuromura Kotaro was a international criminal and very powerful, both economically and spiritually. Kotaro had taken control of several villages within the Land of Rivers, creating his own little army of subordinates. He was on the top ten list of most dangerous criminals.

Roku started squirming in my grip, trying to mumble bye-bye into my hands as he grasped at Kotaro, who walked right by us. I winced as Roku bit my hand, drawing blood. That was enough to keep him quiet as he licked my palm. I bit my lip in response and the heel of my boot clicked on the floor.

Kotaro stopped walking for a second, listening. Kabuto was talking, but stopped when Kotaro smacked him in the mouth. There was a deathly silence. I looked at Sasuke, who was right next to me, his hand in a hand sign. I frowned, then blinked when I saw a little snake slither from past Sasuke's feet toward Kotaro, who's eyes followed him flatly for a second.

Kotaro stepped forward and bent down, scooping up the snake both one hand, using his other to grab the snake's head. I flinched as he tore the snake in half, dropping it to the ground. Kabuto seemed to grimace a little to. I saw the corner of Sasuke's mouth twitch in an annoyed smirk before Kotaro turned, waving his hand a little.

"You were saying something about cash. Go on." He said as they walked. When out of hearing range, Karin squealed.

"Ugh, gross!" She whined.

"Who the hell was that asshole?" Suigetsu muttered. Sasuke glanced at me. I rolled my eyes, then glanced down the hall where Kotaro had vanished.

"Kuromura Kotaro. He's an international criminal, pretty powerful. He has some land and a lot of subordinates. He's one for loving torture too." I added under my breath.

"How the hell do you know that?" Suigetsu demanded, raising an eyebrow. I glared at him.

"Cuz I'm smart, duh." I stuck my tongue out. Suigetsu twitched and went to argue, but Sasuke held up a hand.

"Shut up… We have to be silent the rest of the way." Sasuke ordered. Suigetsu nodded, but grumbled under his breath. I pulled my hand away from Roku's mouth.

"Bah-ee, buh-ee!" Roku sang, clapping his hands and beaming. Sasuke glared at me. I flinched as Suigetsu and Karin snickered. Juugo, being the ever so silent, just cocked his head at Roku.

"Ssh," I told Roku, putting a finger to my lips, "You have to be quiet or Sasuke will beat you." I heard Suigetsu laugh out loud. Karin twitched. Sasuke glared at me. I just smiled innocently as Roku grabbed my arm, burying his face against me and giggling.

I think this was gonna be the best road trip ever!

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A/N: I really didn't want to explain Sasuke's heroic save of everyone, yada-yada. XD You all know how he did it in the manga, so hopefully that's enough explanation. O3o; BTW. I probably should have mentioned this earlier. : / There may be some spoilers in here to the manga… So be careful and make sure you're Naruto-updated, although, I'm practically altering the Shippuden entirely. -3-; Anyway, yup! That's about it. Thanks so much for reading, hope the OCs are in character, and your reviews are greatly appreciated!