Disclaimer: I will be a drag queen one day. I will. One day. ONE DAY. And in my dreams, so will Sasugay. But for now, Naruto is not mine.
Unbeta~ed, even though MayIFall is the bestest beta ever (and she'd tell me right about now that "bestest" is not a word :] )
I build myself up and fly around in
Circles
Wait then as my heart drops
And my back begins to Tingle
Finally,
Could this be it?
Should I give up or should I just keep
Chasing pavements
Even if it leads nowhere?
Or would it be a waste
Even if I knew my Place?
Should I leave it there?
"Chasing Pavements" by Adele
Disenchanted
By
JD01 (Emerald Lies)
CHAPTER SIX:
This Is How You Build
A (human) Weapon.
_
Present.
XXX
"This is how you build a human weapon," was the first thing she uttered; cold, unnaturally cold green eyes boring a hole into the wall. Her posture stiff, her generally amiable face taut.
It was probably at that instant that he knew that he was soot deep in shit. This was going to be undoubtedly one bone-breaking, death-gripping, soul-searing ride- and that was putting it lightly.
Naruto gulped the lump of saliva (nervousnessanxietyheartache) uneasily.
"This is how you build a human weapon," Sakura repeated thickly, gravely, without a trace of mirth or camaraderie.
Her hands of steel, steady.
This is how you build a human weapon.
She could have been saying, "This is how you ruin a life."
"This is how you destroy a person."
"This is how you obliterate your friends' trust in you."
"This is how you royally fuck your life over."
Naruto sat, hands in his laps, shoulders hunched forward, unconsciously trying to look as small as he felt.
"Naruto," boomed Gaara's sharp voice, resonating in the imperious chambers of the Kazekage's office.
His light emerald eyes shown eerily in the dim lighting, almost fluorescent.
Naruto tentatively peered up, only to be smacked in the face with a violent swirl of emotions. Worryfearcaring.
He clicked his tongue in irritation.
That look. That look that made him want to claw his eyes out. He didn't want to see that look. The look of Pity. The ugly word. The intense condescending gaze. The grotesque look only reserved for the lesser humans.
First Sai, then Tsunade and now Gaara.
Between Sakura's inexplicable coldness and Gaara's overwhelming uncharacteristic concern, Naruto was asphyxiating on the nothingness of it all, as though someone had stuck a two-feet iron tube down his throat.
His larynx clamped up. The bile rose, scorching its was up his oesophagus. And he's gagging on the acrid taste of Guilt.
This is how you build a human weapon.
And Gaara surveyed him like a hawk, commiting his every move, his every breath to memory with a certain morbid fascination.
"This is important," Gaara chided, perhaps sensing his fellow Jinchuuriki's cumbersome discomfort.
This is important or rather, "You should listen," went unsaid.
And he was listening! Naruto fumed silently, wringing his hand together as he glued himself further to his chair. Or at least, he was trying to listen, but it wasn't such an easy task considering he shouldn't even be here in the first place!
He should be back in Konoha, working on team bonding with the bastard and Sai and Sakura because Tsunade and Kakashi, when teamed up, form a very powerful, fear-inducing and sadistic duo. Their word is Law.
He should be back in Konoha. His home. He should be protecting the villagers, fighting for peace, fighting for his precious people.
Naruto nodded weakly.
This is how you build a human weapon.
It made sense. What Sakura said, it made sense.
He had always admired her shimmering brilliance. As children, it was her beauty that caught his attention, but it was her sheer intelligence that made him respect her as a fellow ninja later in life.
This is how you build a human weapon.
You take a demon host, a Jinchuuriki, who in this scenario happened to be Naruto.
The dumber the Jinchuuriki, the better it is- Sakura didn't say such blunt, cruel comments, but as Naruto sank lower in his seat in utter mortification, he surely felt like the world's biggest idiot.
The dumbest, stupidest idiot to have ever walked this Earth.
You then take a faction of fearsome, dangerously powerful ninjas who have access to forbidden, heretic jutsus that defy the very laws of Nature.
An extremely potent ninja will then cast a devastating jutsu should he face the aforementioned Jinchuuriki.
"The exact nature of the jutsu is unknown," Sakura declared matter-of-factly, pushing a feathery pink strand of hair behind her ear. The epitome of professionalism. "At this point, we can only assume some of the consequences of the jutsu with fair accuracy, but the full extent of its power escapes us," she uttered slowly, enunciating each word, and consciously avoiding Naruto's expressive eyes like the plague.
Suna. A month ago. The Akatsuki attack. The queer heat penetrating his pores. The blurred handseals.
It hit him like a speeding bullet train. Naruto bit his chapped lower-lip; a nervous tick he had since he was a child. He clasped his eyes shut and held back a heaving sigh threatening to cascade from his lips.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
Sakura brought diagrams.
Actual diagrams.
To… err… clarify the… um… situation.
"To humiliate me," Naruto thought bitterly, clenching his hands in a painful fist.
He deserved so much worse than humiliation though. Naruto swallowed audibly.
"Here's what we do know," Sakura cleared her throat, pointing at the anatomical figured on the descriptive poster.
The jutsu consumed chakra. It used chakra to transform his insides, morph his physiological figure.
Into a twisted, disfigured anatomy. An abomination. An unnatural creature. Inhuman. Beastly.
Naruto bit his lips. Hard. To keep the bile from spilling over.
That was what he had become. On the inside.
Inadvertently, he raised a hand to his mouth.
"The anus then functions almost exactly like a vaginal orifice. However, considering the anus cannot dilate, during birth, the baby will have to be delivered through caesarean section. " she continued casually as though discussing the weather and not some sensitive matter, without the slightest trace of hesitance or shame marring her delicate features.
Naruto blushed beet red to the roots of his hair.
She was doing it on fucking purpose! She was!
He snarled, clawing the plush surface of the armrests, until he caught Gaara's apathetic glare that allayed his boiling wrath.
A small, almost imperceptible nod.
'Calm down,' it said wordlessly.
Naruto sighed. His nose flared as he gulped down a lump of rage and offered him a small, reluctant but grateful smile.
Gaara seemed always had that kind of effect on him. Maybe it was because he was a Jinchuuriki too and therefore more than any other human being on this planet, he understood him. Truly understood him.
Meanwhile, Sakura droned on about the intricacies of the mysterious jutsu, completely oblivious.
An intrinsically complex jutsu that essentially functions in four steps:
First, the jutsu breaks the victims' reproductive and digestive systems down. Disembodies. Dissolves. Viciously rampages.
Then, it reconstructs.
Destruction is easy. Destruction is practically effortless. Destruction is natural. Destruction just consists of acceleration the natural ageing and decomposing biological process. It the transforming, the moulding of the female uterus and fallopian tubes and the whole chebang that drains one to the core.
The metamorphosis requires so much raw chakra that it literally scorches the host from the inside out.
Scorches. Like being thrown headfirst into a blazing fire, burns to a crisp.
"If performed on a weaker person with a lesser chakra reserve, the recipient is likely to die," Sakura spoke solemnly, clicking her tongue against her dry palate.
Reconstruction requires so much chakra that the jutsu is designed to suck a partner's vital energy, chakra before copulation.
Drains the heat from the body. From one's core
Consumes it raw.
Devours it greedily. Hungrily. Unapologetically. Wholly.
And the influx of such raw, violent chakra may have momentarily ruptured the chakra ducts, presumably letting the demon's energy embrace the unfertilized egg.
It is also possible that the exchange of chakra between partners has certain aphrodisiacal effects.
This is how you make a human weapon. You take a strong host to a powerful demon and add the genes of a potent ninja, preferably one who possesses a fearsome Kekkai Genkai. You get what can possibly be the most powerful ninja since time immemorial, should the kid be conditioned to perfection and should the demon's chakra have any sway on the child.
"In other words, if this child," Gaara began slowly, sweeping his emerald green eyes in Naruto's direction, "were to come in the hands of say, Akatsuki- if Akatsuki were to raise and train the prodigy, we would all be in great peril?" he focused back to the pink-haired medic-nin in his usual disinterested manner.
Sakura nodded without sparing the Kazekage a glance and, much to Naruto's relief, she took down the very explicit diagrams.
His child.
A weapon.
A mass murderer.
He bit the inside of his cheek.
His child.
A weapon.
Trained.
Like an animal.
Like a robot.
Like a fucking mindless piece of metal.
A mere tool in the apocalyptic machinations of bloodthirsty sociopaths.
The Kazekage's office was almost a replica of the Hokage's- except more barren, more foreign, more cold. The bright, yellowed walls did nothing to engulf the ashen room in warmth. Three great big windows aligned the wall- with only the bronzed grains of sand lining the horizon. Even the office floor was littered with traces of sand. Battered, wrinkled photographs that were torn up at the edges adorned the empty wall- past kazekages staring into the lens, without an iota of emotion marring their faces. Rigid, blank, serious. Were all great Suna leaders required to be so… detached? Naruto wondered helplessly, a protective hand gently rubbing his belly.
"What was in the scroll?" Sai asked suddenly from the seat beside Naruto. He threw him a meaningful glance though Naruto didn't seem to notice. He was a million miles away as he absentmindedly stroked his belly with glassy eyes. Sai threw the Kazekage before him a calculating gaze.
Suspicious onyx met careful emerald.
Both uncertain, guarded and suspicious. Both lifting their heads up in a predatory fashion, surveying the other's every move.
"The scroll warned the Hokage of some suspicious activity involving the Akatsuki that my informants have come across," the Kazekage answered finally after a pregnant pause.
Sai narrowed his eyes after hearing the Kazekage's typical diplomatic, ambiguous answer that revealed absolutely nothing.
"Activities such as…?" he asked, with a pleasantly fake smile stretching his lips.
"Namely their interest in using demon-vessels as concubines and incubating them," Gaara clarified rather casually, surveying Naruto's tense figure from the corner of his eyes.
Concubines.
Naruto grimaced at the sound of the vulgar, filthy word.
What a digusting, wimpy word. It made him sound so weak and pathetic. And used. He gasped as his stomach clamped unpleasantly as a flash of Sasuke on top of him, between his legs, all over him, inside him, invading him, his lips open, his dark eyes glazed as sweaty jet black bangs messily clinged to his forehead. Used. Cheap. Worthless.
Used as a concubine.
Naruto shook his head violently.
"Do you think the Akatsuki is aware of Naruto's cuurent… predicament?" Gaara asked presumably to Sakura, though his eyes never once faltered from Naruto. He stared with mild interest at the boy's queer antics.
"No. Hokage-sama kept the situation pretty hush hush. Only a handful of people are aware of it, the majority of which," she said, scanning the room with a professional eye, " are present in this room right now."
"But should they come in possession of such vital information…?" the Kazekage asked, noticing Naruto's figure shaking lightly.
Sakura sighed and rubbed her forehead, trying to allay her throbbing headache.
"The consequences could be disastrous for Naruto, for the child, for… for everyone," she said gravely, shooting a quick glance to the blonde ninja's slightly quaking figure. The knuckles of his clenched fists were white.
"You mean, you think Akatsuki would come after them? After the child?" Sai asked, an uncharacteristic urgent tone to his voice. He hunched forward, his shoulders tense, his face taut as he sat at the edge of his seat.
Sakura eyed her best friend carefully. Sai was worried. Sai was actually worried about someone. She shook her head and heaved another sigh. Sai was worried about Naruto. Their best friend. A pang of guilt throbbed inside her chest, yet she still couldn't bring herself to look the boy in the eyes.
"There is no doubt in my mind," she answered straight-forwardly, her unwavering tone not betraying her inner turmoil, "Hell, Hokage-sama believes that they are currently prowling after Naruto."
"Which explains your presence here, taking refuge in Sunagakure," Gaara stated simply, dully, his light green eyes never leaving the small, dazed form of Naruto.
"Umm… yes," Sakura said softly, sheepishly tucking another strand of pink hair behind her ear.
For the first time during the entire debriefing conference, Naruto looked up. He bit his lower-lip and cleared his dry throat in order to draw attention to himself. Three sets of eyes bored into him and he slowly swallowed a lump of incertitude.
"I'd like to speak with you," Naruto said with an eerily calm voice, despite his shaking, livid fists. His deep blue eyes pierced through Sakura, she didn't even have to lift her head to know that he was addressing her. It was the commanding tone of his voice. Commanding, yet gentle. The special kind of gentleness that he only reserved for her. Her breath hitched. "Alone," Naruto clarified, after a moment of silence.
"That is… if you don't mind," Naruto shifted his gaze to Gaara who sat on the Kazekage's chair behind the desk, next to Sakura.
Gaara nodded, he slowly gathered his things and got up.
Sai stared at Sakura's queer behavior. He hadn't been oblivious to her strange silence and distance during the trip to Suna. He had noticed her coldness and reluctance to pay Naruto any heed. He didn't quite understand her, or well females in general, but after all these years of getting beaten to a bloody pulp by the hands of a hot-tempered medic-nin, he learned that it is better to just bow down and apologize whenever faced with the wrath of the crazy female race, even when you're not entirely too sure what you're apologizing for.
He placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder and gave a firm squeeze to it, as he followed Gaara out the room. Naruto looked away, appreciative of his friend's support.
His steps stopped short before the door.
"Hey Sakura," he called out, placing a hand on the doorframe, "whatever Naruto decides to do, we'll be okay with it," he passionately murmured with such fierceness, such authority all Sakura could do was nod meekly in the face of such intensity.
For once in his life, Konoha's number one unpredictable, crazy, spontaneous ninja had actually sat down and thought long and hard about the future. He was growing up. Sai saw it first hand. He was growing up.
Sai threw Naruto an intense gaze, before walking out.
Naruto looked back, making sure that there were no lingering guards before focusing all of his attention to Sakura.
"You know who the father is."
It was a statement, not a question.
Naruto's deep piercingly blue eyes stared right at her, blazing.
The entire trip to Sunagakure, Sakura had walked a good three feet ahead of Sai and him, which required extra effort, considering Sai and himself were pretty stealthy. This resulted in taking extra breaks because she over-exerted herself in her tiresome attempt to avoid them. During breaks though, she would sit apart. Looking away, wilfully isolating herself. And whenever there was something that needed to be communicated, she would solely address Sai in a hardened tone, flashing a dour disposition.
She was his best friend.
His stomach clenched uncomfortably.
Being at the receiving end of her harsh treatment made his intestines churn uneasily.
Sakura shuffled the charts and diagrams silently.
He got up, walked around the table stacked with official paperwork and perched himself on a sandy windowsill, observing the browned sand grains whoosh by from the wrath of the almighty wind. A storm was approaching. No one would dare travel to Suna for at least a couple of days, which meant for the time being, he was safe here.
"You're upset," he said softly, staring at his darkened, calloused hands.
He turned around, bright blue eyes pleading. He held out his hand, an outstretched welcome.
Sakura looked up at him, hesitantly. For the first time, he saw his tiny reflection in those familiar glassy, wavering emerald eyes. She bit her lower-lip and clasped her eyes shut.
Her pale, equally calloused hand (calloused from years of training and fighting with S-class ninjas) in his browned, hardened one.
She sighed as he pulled her towards him lazily wrapping his arms around her smaller frame.
"You've been sighing a lot these past few days. You're upset," he repeated, gently caressing the small of her back.
Sakura lulled her head on his toned, hard chest, getting a waft of his familiar spicy musk. Her palms laid flat on his chest. They weren't pushing him away, just resting there in an intimate gesture of trust.
"I'm not upset," she mumbled after a pause.
"You know about the father," he whispered gently in her ear- soft as a butterfly's kiss. She purred contentedly as he treaded his hands in her short, pink hair.
"Yeah," she muttered none too enthusiastically, her displeasure over the situation evident in her acerbic tone.
She fluttered her eyes shut lazily as he gently played in her hair the way her mother used to when she was just a child.
"I'm sorry," he gulped the lump of guilt down his throat with much difficulty. "I know…" he began slowly, building up his confidence, "I know you like him."
"What?" Sakura asked, outraged, lifting her head from the warm place on his chest. "I'm not… I'm not upset because you slept with… him," she said with an uncharacteristic bitter edge.
"Sakuraaaaaaaa," Naruto said longingly, like he used to when they were kids back when he was infatuated with her. The familiarity of his voice made her skin tingle pleasantly. She hid her face, pressing it to his chest and allowing herself to smile giddily. "I know you," he finished somewhat sternly.
"Okay. You're right. I did feel a stab of betrayal at first, but it's not because of you… I mean sure, sensei is a hot little stud muffin, but I haven't felt a sense of ownership over him since back in the Academy days when we would fight for his attention," she said, wringing her hands in his shirt. "It's just…" she sighed, closing her eyes, gnawing at her lower-lip. "I thought you would tell me, you know? I thought we were close enough for you to trust me with things like this… I thought," she said hesitantly, lightly pushing him, as she was unable to look at him.
"Everything is such a secret with you," she said softly, dropping her voice to a fluttery whisper, her hand longingly cajoling his cheek.
"Why won't you let me in?"
Barely above a whisper, barely an evidence of it ever being uttered, aside from the bitter taste of yearning lingering on her lips.
"I do! We are!" Naruto cried out passionately, enclosing the dainty hand on his cheek in his warm, warm hand. "I just! Sakura, it's not how you imagined it happened," he pleaded, his warm, concerned eyes searching for understanding in her deep depths of emerald.
"Then tell me!" she exclaimed; her heart skipped a beat at the intimate contact of his hand on hers.
"Sakura, we were drunk," he sighed, still firmly holding her hand, lowering it to his chest where his heart was. "There was no precursor, no leading up to it. It just… happened. It wasn't predictable. There is nothing between us. It was a one-time thing. An accident. A mistake," he huffed, bowing his head, unable to look at her anymore. "And frankly, I was too ashamed of myself to tell anyone. Even you. I didn't want you to be ashamed of me, to be…"
In a swift movement, Sakura slapped her free hand on his mouth, effectively shutting him up.
"Shut up," she said fiercely, though the small smile playing on her lips told him that she wasn't actually upset.
"So… how was it?" she asked after a moment of silence, her green, lively eyes twinkling with mischief. She bit her lower lip to keep from grinning madly.
"Ho wash whaa?" Naruto asked as he frowned and tilted his head in confusion, his voice muffled by her hand
"You know… it," Sakura answered innocently, removing her hand from his mouth, placing special emphasis on the last word as she made vague, circular hand motions in an attempt to clarify.
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed, his eyes widening in disbelief as he flushed scarlet.
"What?" she asked dumbly, though her gleaming eyes betrayed her coy façade.
Naruto glared at her half-heartedly, but her warm smile melted him instantly. He couldn't resist her carefree smile that was too reminiscent of their genin days… the days before life started getting so complicated. The days before simple was no longer an option.
"To be honest? I don't know how it's supposed to be, I have nothing compare it to… but if it's supposed to be like… that, then I will definitely take a vow of celibacy. No sweat," he muttered irritably.
Sakura slapped him forcefully on his chest, causing him to wince. Pregnant men should not be in proximity of volatile, mood swinging women that were oblivious to their own superhuman strength.
"Don't say such horrible things! I'm sure Sasuke is a cougar in bed! You were too drunk to appreciate his skills," she
"You're supposed to be taking my side here," he exclaimed incredulously causing Sakura to giggle.
Naruto glared at his friend.
"You brought diagrams," he huffed moodily.
"It pissed you off, huh?" she asked slyly, her face breaking into a devious smirk.
Naruto's eyes widened as he stared at his demonic little friend, his mouth slacking.
"Sakura-chan!! You rott-"
In one fluid motion, she cupped his face gently and brushed her lips onto his. She kissed him. It wasn't a steamy, raunchy or passionate. It wasn't vivid or even remotely sexual. It was just Sakura- Sakura, Sakura, his childhood friend, one time crush, lifelong lifeline, Sakura- trying to be as physically close to him as possible. A chaste, butterfly kiss of affection.
"I love you," she whispered sweetly against his lips- the gentle hum thrumming pleasantly on his lips.
"I'll support you no matter what," she mumbled, burying her head against his chest.
He wrapped his strong hands against her smaller frame, clutching her close as he felt her tremble. He let his head fall on her bob of pink hair. Clutching her in a quiet embrace until forever slowly slipped away.
XXX
The sharp glare of the sun made him squint at the horizon.
The sun was nearing its zenith; even if he was by some great stretch of the word, late, it was amply clear by now that he was not going to show up any time soon. Sasuke elegantly hopped from the swinging branch without so much of a crack.
He dusted his ANBU training clothes, not that there was any need to dust them, but his neurotic side required him to scratch the itch.
So he didn't show up… Not that he was expecting him to make an appearance- he had been warned last night and just as he suspected, the idiot decided to ditch the meeting.
He huffed, gazing at the cloudless sky, his pink lips pressed in an iron thin line. In fact, none of the members of the incompetent band of dunderheads showed up.
So much for that pervert Kakashi's ridiculous team-building probation.
Sasuke swiped his sweaty bangs out of his face. The blond moron not showing up- after specifically reminding him about it, he seethed- was nothing out of the ordinary. That retard would jump at any occasion to undermine his authority… Just like a petulant child. Che.
Sai, the quiet, eccentric social handicap with an unnerving attachment to the flaxen-haired dumbass ditching the training was also expected. After all, he wasn't the most reliable member of the squad. After years spent teaching the hopeless cases and subsequently training them, he learned that despite the deep, eerie intelligence swirling behind his blank eyes, Sai was always ready to shirk common sense out the window and do the most idiotic things in the name of the retard's happiness.
In fact, Sasuke did not trust the creep one bit. There was something so intrinsically off about the odd boy, he couldn't place his finger on it. If it were up to him, he'd be removed from the team without further ado. The only reason he was kept around was because (and even Sasuke can begrudgingly admit) the fool was an asset to the team. Stealthy like a cheetah, nimble like an impala, as silent as a moth and viciously ruthless as a killer bee. The boy had potential. And his allegiance to Konoha might be dubious, but the kid is so smitten by the blond ( God knows why, Sasuke grimaced) – at least for now Sasuke was a bit more willing to look the other way.
Sasuke clicked his tongue unhappily. He wasn't exactly sure why, but such complete and blind devotion to one being made Sasuke uncomfortable.
Eveytime he saw the fool eyes the retard with such unmitigated, dire devotion, Sasuke had to resist from bashing Sai's head into a tree… who was he kidding? He never resisted.
How could someone so smart just stupidly put so much trust and weight into another human being? Especially to that… dead last? How? How was that even possible?
Sasuke sneered, shaking his head to try to shake the illogical, disturbing thoughts away.
But Sakura. That pink-haired, shrieking, oestrogen-inhaling unwoman (because no real woman could possible pack a bitch punch like that slobbering beast) not showing up?
Rain or shine, the pest was always there with her sickly saccharine voice and her starry eyes.
Hell, it was always such a challenge to get rid of her.
An unpleasant memory of the hot springs, a slipped towel and the scariest, most mentally scarring look of complete and uncontrolled beastly hungerlust look on a feminine face he has ever seen flashed in his mind. He shuddered as the slick feeling of disgust crawled its way up his spine.
Resolute, he clambered his way to the one place he would surely get answers.
XXX
She ground her legs to the floor, shooting a weary, impatient glance to the side. Nope, the duo was still in the midst of a heated discussion, not sparing her a look. She wiggled her hips unhappily, her snout pressed to the floor.
Grunting and snorting and groaning her displeasure, she began to roll on the ground, kicking her stout legs up in the air.
"Oh, for goodness sake! Get a grip, Ton Ton," the big-breasted woman boomed irritably from behind the desk. "Go do you job, Shizune. Feed the damn prissy thing," she muttered causing Ton Ton to whimper from the harsh treatment.
Life as a pig was unfair.
Shizune threw the whiny pig a sympathetic look and turned her attention back to her increasingly short-tempered boss.
"I'm just saying… you made the right decision," the apprentice tried to offered as reconciliation.
"I don't need to hear that," Tsunade barked back curtly, rubbing her temples, elbows perched on her desk.
"B-but, you did! Naruto, he's better off-" Shizune began urgently, her chocolate eyes earnest.
Tsunade slid her eyes shut and authoritatively raised her hand, signalling her assistant to be quiet.
"Listening to something interesting, Captain?" Tsunade gritted out, upon hearing the familiar rustling of clothes.
Shizune nearly had a heart attack when a dark figure suddenly appeared in the frame of the window with a gust of breezing wind that made her garments flow.
"Hokage-sama," was the deep rumble that slipped smoothly out of the young captain's tongue as he gracefully jumped from the ledge and seemingly glided into view.
He bowed lowly- but even through the veil of jet-black bangs and the snake-patterned mask, Tsunade could decipher the trace of a smirk flirting his lips. Oh, she knew the cocky assface was smirking at her. The vein on her forehead began to throb as her left eye began twitching. Damn disrespectful brats.
"Shizune!" Tsunade shrieked, her amber eyes searing.
"Y-yes, Hokage-sama!" the mousy apprentice replied meekly, immediately straightening herself and ceasing to gape at the ANBU.
"Take care of that," she nodded gruffly towards the whimpering swine, jutting on the floor.
Shizune quickly bowed a few times, swiftly swooping the whining pig off the floor and huddling to the door, as the pig began snorting contentedly at finally receiving some attention.
"Is there something you want, Captain?" the elderly woman asked in annoyance, slumping in her chair.
The ANBU, after being addressed, slowly straightened from his deep bow.
"Where did you send him off?" he asked, not missing a beat.
Tsunade surveyed her subordinate critically, raising an eyebrow. She had expected to be questioned… but she never anticipated so soon. Hmm, that is why he is Captain, she thought grimly. Goes straight to the point. The boy's got no tact.
"Him?" she asked coyly, kicking her shoes off and flopping her legs on the table.
The captain's eye twitched behind the mask as Tsunade slouched further. Godaime was the most unprofessional Hokage in the history of Kages. No wonder she was so fond of the usurakontachi.
"You may be a drunken gambling hag, Hokage-sama, but please, don't add 'stupid' to the list of your shortcomings," Sasuke haughtily shot back, crossing his arms on his chest.
"Captain," Tsunade drawled out in a dangerously low voice, a crisp edge of warning creeping in as her eyes narrowed. She could just feel the cockiness seep from the rotten bastard's mask. It just permeates about him- like he's God's gift on Earth,
"Where did you send him off? Why was it the right thing to do?" Sasuke persisted, unfazed by the unspoken threat.
"Don't get so cocky. I could relieve you from your duties for good. In a heartbeat, Captain," she articulated in a clipped tone, her index finger on her left temple, dangerously close to losing her cool.
The ANBU did not budge an inch.
"I'm aware of that fact," he smoothly replied, the irate confidence emanating from his pores.
Sasuke stared blankly into those scorching, angry amber eyes that promised much pain. Despite her losing streak and her penchant for overindulging in alcoholic beverages, the sloppy woman slouched in front of him was a force to be reckoned with. Sasuke was no fool, he knew that if she so desired she could make his life significantly harder. She wasn't named one of the three Sannins for nothing. However, he stood there before her, fearless.
She was an intelligent woman. Sasuke's work spoke for itself. Sasuke was- and he admitted this openly- possibly the best captain in ANBU history, second only to Itachi… and even that was a stretch, considering what then became of Itachi; Sasuke grimaced within the confines of his mask. She would not dare touch him or ruin his career because the people of Konoha needed him, and as long as she was serving in the best interest of the villagers, she would not sacrifice him.
"I show up for training. You know, the ridiculous strengthening the team's bond exercises that you kindly imposed on us? And lo and behold, I end up training with branches. Care to explain, Hokage-sama," he bit out the title acerbically. He knew he was pushing it. He could see the vein come to life, seconds from snapping. Despite his utter confidence and fearlessness, even the great Captain Uchiha did not want to face the volatile woman's wrath.
Tsunade inhaled sharply, sizing up her subordinate with a calculating gaze. She had not anticipated to be questioned this quickly. She grunted- leave it to an Uchiha to come barging in for answers not even a day with his team missing.
"I sent your team on a mission," she said carefully, wondering how much exactly should she divulge to her captain.
"What kind of mission?" he questioned, his sharp onyx eyes narrowing.
"I'm afraid, captain," Tsunade bitterly began, mimicking her insolent subordinate's mocking tone, "I cannot disclose such confidential information."
She smiled haughtily, exposing her pearly white teeth.
Probably another illusion, Sasuke rolled his eyes, unimpressed.
"Why is my team unassisted?" he pressed further, not at all pleased by her short, unsatisfying answers. If she wanted to try his patience, she was succeeding… but he wouldn't let her win so easily.
"I need you here to handle something else. A month ago. The attack in Sunagakure. Naruto believed to have seen you perform a jutsu on him… you or someone who looked just like you before passing out. Black silky hair… but longer. Ring any bells?" she said casually, smirking when she noticed the cocky figure tense up at the new piece of information.
"And the probabtion?" Sasuke asked tersely, his mind whirring at the implications of her statement.
Black hair. Longer. Itachi. Damnit.
"Extenuating circumstances call for exceptions, ne?" she offered succinctly.
"You're hiding something from me," he ground out, trying to keep his composure, something that wasn't easy to do when… …
He miserably clenched his eyes shut, gritting his teeth.
"You've become paranoid, Captain," Tsunade said lightly, noting with amusement how her subordinate was fisting his upper arm- the muscles in his tense arms flexing subtly.
"Where did you take that idiot?" Sasuke demanded harshly, not in the mood for the cryptic Kage's mind games.
"I find it strange that you're only preoccupied with the brat's whereabouts when your entire squad is absent," Tsunade observed aloud, her deceivingly youthful face breaking out into a contemplative smirk.
Sasuke snorted, unamused. He ran his hand through his dark tuft of hair rather aggressively. Itachi. Fuck.
"Mark my words, I will get to the bottom of this," he gritted out, the sheer dark determination ringing in his low octave.
Tsunade banged her desk with her fist forcefully, causing it a serious crack to form, weakening the already abused piece of furniture.
"I don't take being threatened lightly, Captain," she boomed, the same lethal edge creeping into her voice, promising much pain.
There was something going on. Sasuke knew there was something going on. The retching on the boots yesterday. The absence from training later in the day. The look of utter exhaustion on his pupil's face last night. The secrecy. And now, the disappearance. He couldn't quite piece it together, but he knew something was going on. And that the Hokage wouldn't trust him, the fucking captain for crying out loud! with this piece of information made his blood boil like molten lava threatening to erupt from a dormant volcano.
"Did something happen to him?" he asked carefully, treading into dangerous territories.
Tsunade stared at the young man before him. Survivor of the Uchiha massacre. Child prodigy. Captain of ANBU. Mountain-full of people sang the man's praises.
He was skilled. Everyone knew it. There was no doubt about it.
But, lord! Did the man have issues. Tsunade cocked her head to the side, appraising the lean, muscled, broody figure before her. She supposed it was only natural, considering the childhood trauma he had lived through. The stigma to his being. An inherent part of who he is, of who he has become. Etched into his being, like a regretful tattoo.
He was flawed. Deeply flawed… and he was the father of her gaki's baby. Didn't he have a right to be a part of the child's life? The coveted revival of his clan. Didn't fathers have a right to know about their child's existence… after all, he bears half of the blame. She looked him from head to toe. What a stubborn, arrogant, infuriating, impossible to live with, beautiful man.
"My, my, does the youngest Uchiha happen to grow a heart?" she teased lightly, a resonating, dull pang in her chest. The father of Naruto's baby.
She pursed her lips.
What if… what if she told him? What if she allowed him the chance to… to show her that this could work, that… that he could know and be by Naruto's side and be supportive and be mature and they could raise this child despite their fucked-up circumstances and protect the little bundle of stubborn from the dangers that loomed about?
"That retard is a disgrace to the force! I'd be happy only when he is removed from my team and revoked as a ninja of the state. But these secrecies concerning my team- no matter what dunderheads the team consists of- is unacceptable," Sasuke seethed in a vicious rant, clenching his fists until his knuckles whitened to a ghastly degree; almost possessive in a mindless, childlike fashion.
Tsunade sighed. And yet, still so immature. She shook her head, resolute.
No, no. She cannot allow herself to be weak, to fall in the face of duty. No matter how much her heart protested, what must be done, must be done.
Sasuke cannot know.
"I believe I am the judge of what is or is not acceptable around here," Tsunade spoke crisply, removing her legs from the desk with a certain air of finality
"You-"
"Uchiha, you're dismissed," she hushed curtly, leaving no room for discussion.
The angry figure stiffened. His displeasure with her harsh dismissal was flagrantly obvious- she smugly smirked, flashing her brilliantly white teeth. One-upping the rottenly cocky Uchiha was quite a guilty pleasure of hers.
"Oh… and Captain?" she began in a sickly saccharine voice. "Threaten me one more time and I will have you removed from the force."
She punctuated each word with a latent menace; her amber eyes eerily alit, dark shadows fliteering in her honeyed irises.
She observed with mild interest as her subordinate proceeded to bow with much arrogance and defiance in his movements. He was wound up so tight, it was a wonder the young man didn't snap in half.
"Hokage-sama," he hissed through gritted teeth, before evanescing into thin air.
"I did the right thing," Tsunade weakly mumbled to herself as she dispassionately stared at the dissipating smoke lingering in the air.
"I did the right thing," she repeated, her back hitting the dossier of her chair, sighing as she helplessly looked to the grand figures of past leaders for validation.
The… right… thing…
She sighed morosely before a coughing spell got the better of her.
XXX
Sasuke angrily paced to and fro, his boots clip clopping harshly on the thick, battered dirt road.
"You're late," he hissed, closing his eyes in much annoyance.
Had Sasuke been a less patient man, he would have decked the insolent brat long ago. But such acts of careless violence would defy the purpose of summoning the idiot in the first place.
"F-forgive me," muttered the figure, somewhat startled that the great man before him had picked up his veiled presence instantly. Crouching before Sasuke, his head hung low in respect or in fear… Sasuke didn't know, nor did he quite frankly care.
He threw an icy, nonchalant glare his way- not that the miserable kneeling creature could see it through the mask, but he was confident that his sneer transcended mere barriers such as ANBU masks. If the quaking figure before him was anything to go by, he'd say he was bang on right.
"I need you to deliver a message for me," he began, surveying his surroundings.
Crimson bled into his dark irises, madly swirling. His scarlet eyes cautiously swept over his surroundings for the umpteenth time. No sign of life. Good.
He waited until the figure bowed lower as a sign of acceptance before proceeding.
"Tell Uchiha Itachi that the Kyuubi vessel has been sent into hiding, courtesy of the Godaime."
XXX
He nervously licked his chapped lips, smoothing out the crevasses with his wet tongue.
He swept his tongue over his lips again and again, darkening their shade of pink.
His right leg obsessively fidgeted as he wrung his hands a couple of times behind his back. He needed air. He needed oxygen. He needed to fucking breathe. He needed to get out of here. To pace. To cogitate. To do something other than stand here so helplessly. To jump off a fucking cliff, smash his guts to smithereens so at least then he'd be ridden of these damn fucking agitating butterflies for once!
"Naruto."
Preoccupied sapphire eyes caught onto calm, authoritative emerald ones.
'Relax'- he could hear the gruff, husky tone of his friend's voice trying to steel his jumpy nerves.
He had to calm down. He had to calm down.
Light green eyes bore into him. Relax.
Naruto took a deep breath, unable to look away as he gnawed his abused lips.
"We're waiting," Sai grumbled impatiently, his annoyed voice breaking the intensive stare. He crossed his arms over his chest almost petulantly. He did not like the was the Kazekage was hungrily, greedily looking at his best friend. He did not like it one bit.
Sakura, for her part, gasped, shoving roughly her insensitive teammate in the arm and throwing him a scorching glare full of menace.
Naruto smiled weakly at his teammates' childish antics. Somethings never change. His tongue darted out again, licking his lips.
He exhaled deeply, his hand briefly lingering on his stomach. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately. Not quite touching it, but just hovering over it, almost protectively. Instinctively. His child.
Looking down to his still flat stomach, he wondered dazedly how he would look like with a baby bump. Monstrous? Revolting? Unnatural? A freak of nature?
"I-I have decided," he whispered shakily, trying to keep the unpleasant thoughts at bay.
All at once, as though a powerful vacuum sucked all sound from the room, Naruto's ears began ringing. Everything, everyone in the room stiffened. Naruto could literally hear their ears straining for what was to come. He could even hear his erratic heart hammer in the thick, penetrating silence, thudding away at his ribcage. He wondered… if he listened hard enough, would he also hear his child's?
He couldn't bear to glance their way.
To see the .
He shut his eyes with much difficulty.
He opened his mouth, the word heavy on his dry tongue.
Weighing it down.
Sticking to it, like pollen to a shirt.
In the Kazekage's ostentatious office, only one thick, heavy word echoed in the shattering silence.
"Abortion."
This is how you dismantle a human weapon.
XXX
Clarifications:
In case you are confused and/or wondering, the first part of the chapter (the one focusing on Naruto and Sakura) does not take place at the same time as the second part of the chapter (conversation between Sasuke and Tsunade). The first part occurs a few days after the second part- the scene is set in Suna and presumably it takes a couple days' travel to reach there. The second part takes place the morning after chapter five.
I would like to give a huge, wholehearted thank you for all those who reviewed, favorited, added to C2, messaged me, voted in the polls, bummed around aimlessly to this fic waiting for the slow-ass author to update. Thank you for your endless support. Thank you for still sticking around.
I hope this chapter was worth your wait. I hope you enjoyed it.
A special shout-out to: Nozomi-sama(the wisest teenager I know. Your support means everything to me) , thetwistedtruth(my soul, my everything, read her story Disadvantaged Children! NOW!), NineTails1991(my supporter from the very beginning. This Chiquita is brilliant, and her writing shimmers. She's a gem) and crzyanimemom(the coolest, uberest, quirkiest cheerleader EVAAAR :D RAH! )
To all my readers, my favorite perverts out there, happy holidays!