Apathetic Silence: No, I am not stopping this story, nor am I quitting Twisted Apathy. Like my cousin, I don't really like deleting a story that I've already started. I've just been on-hiatus for my stories due to school, as well as having difficulty in writing what happens next. Which is why I always seek help from my cousin and vice versa – because somehow, we manage to actually solve the problem when we brainstorm together; I lack creativity, you see. It only comes from time to time.

SWAT Delinquents
"Down for the Count"

"Found anything..?"

"Hang on." Shikamaru answered Lee. "Having to hack into nearby wireless connections to activate the World Wide Web can be tricky."

"So says the guy who hacked into the CIA." Kiba snorted. "But I still don't believe what you guys are saying, I mean… a dinosaur?"

"Shut it Kiba." Sasuke said back through the communicator. "Even I had to have a close encounter to believe it."

Kakashi's team heard growling sounds from the other team, followed by Neji and Sasuke cursing Naruto, who then groaned and whined about something.

"You sounded more like a dying animal than a growling raptor." Shikamaru commented, finishing up. "The connection's weak, but it will have to do." He said. "From what the internet can give us, this lab experimented on animals, thus the remote area." He typed a few things and found another source page. "Their aim was to create extraordinary mammals to put them to good use for combat." He clicked on another link. "Species include mostly prehistoric ones, but ended up in failure, or so the website says."

"They failed in getting these things to obey, but they were successful in genetically enhancing them." Sasuke said, eyeing the dead raptor which the rest of his teammates had circled around. "They can move fast to avoid bullets; we each nearly wasted one whole mag for this thing." He walked over to Sakura when she motioned him to come over, and he knelt down on one knee when she pointed at the bullet wounds with her gloved finger.

"Normally, your bullets should dig deep, or even perhaps pierce through."

Sasuke understood what she was trying to say, and he continued to report to Shikamaru.

"The bullets hit this guy alright, but it didn't dig deep enough. It's actually easy to pull the bullets out." He pulled one out as blood came flowing from the injury. "Their scales must be thick enough to actually withstand gunshots." He pulled out his combat knife and stabbed the raptor's thigh. "Knives can pierce through, but only if you exert enough force." He pulled it out and cleaned the blade. "Don't ask me about grenades, I'm not about to waste one on a dead dinosaur."

"Let me do the calculating then." Shikamaru answered. "Since bullets only reach a certain depth, and knives can only get through if exerted enough force, grenades will only injure them, and if we get lucky and have them close enough within the range of explosion, then we can critically injure them, or even perhaps kill them."

Kiba sighed. "And we each only have two grenades, the other being smoke bombs."

"It'll be useful against packs." Shikamaru said. "Don't forget that raptors are like wolves."

"They howl?" Naruto joked, earning a bash on the head from Neji.

"Comparing them won't matter for now," Sasuke said. "What's important is to get those files and get out of here alive."

"Well said." Kakashi answered. "In the meantime, I'll have Tenten keep trying to contact HQ. Be careful out there."

"Hn. Reaper out." Sasuke finished the conversation and eyed the carcass of the supposedly extinct being. "Never thought I'd be annoyed to see a real-live dinosaur." He commented out of the blue, making Sakura look at him. "Forget I said that." He got up and eyed the snout of his rifle. "Anybody have electric tape with them?"

"I do." Hinata said, taking one out from her pack and handing it to him. "What for..?"

He didn't answer for a while, and only took out his combat knife and taped it around the rifle. He looked back at the others who were eyeing him with questioning looks, and he had to fight the urge to roll his eyes. "If a raptor gets too close, you might forget how to shoot due to panic." He tapped the side of his head with a finger. "Human psychology."

"Good point." Neji said, catching the tape when it was tossed to him as he did the same.

"Not to mention," Reaper glanced at Naruto. "When you run out of bullets, there's no telling if you'll have enough time to reload."

"Right." Naruto grinned sheepishly, him and Shino doing the same to their rifles.

"Wow, how come you aren't labeled a genius in the team?" Sakura asked while walking over to him with a roll of bandage, afterwards, pulled his left arm to treat the shallow cut he got from the first raptor he and Naruto came across with. "Perhaps it's because of your recklessness?"

"Do I look reckless to you?" He asked back, letting her do what she has to do. "And I'm not a hacker."

"So you have to be a hacker to be labeled a genius?" she had an amused grin, as if mocking him. "Seriously…"

He looked away from her. "Shikamaru was recruited because of his hacking skills, I'm a different story." He walked on ahead when she finished, a sign that meant he didn't want to continue the conversation. Sakura just shrugged it off, deciding that it's not yet the right time to know his past.

"If you don't mind me asking," Hinata began while turning to Naruto who blinked. "I know of Neji being taken here because of his sharp shooting abilities, but what about you?"

Naruto chuckled and gestured with his head to follow the others. "I'm a troublemaker." He said. "I basically end up fighting a gang by myself most of the time, and I always end up winning." He looked at her. "I can understand if you actually grow afraid of me - us, even some of our field officers had to give up on us, until sir Kakashi came, that is."

Hinata shook her head. "You have talent," she said. "Not everyone can take on a gang by themselves, yet you can. It just needs to be put to good use instead of doing it just for the sake of doing it."

"That's why I'm here." He said. "The military gave me a choice to either serve the country or rot in jail," he laughed. "This is a lot better than being locked up and treated as trash you know?" he eyed Shino, Neji, and Sasuke who walked up ahead with Sakura close behind. "Your cousin… I really find his story amusing," he grinned. "Due to illegal hunting, he gets arrested, but is given the choice to put his sharp eyes and marksmanship to serving Japan, or to be sentenced in prison."

"I'm at least glad he was able to find a path wherein he can put his skills to protect."

"Yeah… As for Shino, well, he can be quite the kleptomaniac. Finders Keepers are the words he'd use to say to us when we lost some of our belongings and he ended up finding them."

"What's his story?"

"I don't know the details, but I heard he was accused of stealing from his classmates, but again, it's just the 'ol Finders Keepers bit."

"It's still considered stealing at some level."

"Yeah, and thankfully, HQ found a way to cure that habit of his." He stretched his arms a bit as they proceeded to the next area. "Aside from that, he has a knack for stealth; you should see him during undercover missions. If you were a stranger to him, you'd think he's just there like anybody else."

"I see…" Hinata then looked at Sasuke. "And what about him..?"

"I can't tell you that." Naruto said with a small smile. "It took us months to get him to tell us, so it means that he doesn't want anybody to find out, unless he's grown tired of your pestering, or if he begins to trust you."

"Not even a clue?"

"Well…" he grinned. "He likes to go fast, but if you're not familiar with your area, it's hard to do so." He eyed Sasuke. "But due to his photographic memory, he can easily move fast without worrying about crashing."

"…He's a street racer?!"

"…Y-yeah." Naruto was alarmed that Hinata guessed it easily. "Was, actually." He whistled. "Wow, you got it on the first guess."

"Well, the fast and crashing part were major clues." She smiled slightly.

"…Aw shoot."

"I hope I'm not seeing what I think I'm seeing."

"Sorry to say Naruto, but you are."

Neji scowled at the sight after Shino confirmed Naruto's wishful thinking. "What's weird is that it's still complete."

"But from the looks of it, it's been here far longer." Sasuke said, walking over to the human skeleton that lay on the floor, Sakura close behind. "What do you think?"

"Well," She knelt down next to him, and again, he caught a whiff of her hair's scent. "The bones have dried up, and the color is already turning a dirty yellow, not to mention some cracks here and there…" she trailed off and continued to specify her observations, not mindful of how the soldier next to her had been staring far too long at her and not at the skeleton. "So, I estimate it's about more than six months old." She finished, scrunching up her nose when the scent of dried blood invaded her nostrils. Her eyes scanned the skeleton's surroundings, seeing claw marks on the wall, and even a lot of blood at the color of brown – proof of how long it has been staining the wall and floor. "I'm not sure if those raptors cleaned the flesh out of him, or if insects finished off the remains." She turned her head to look at him, flushing to see how close their faces were. "S-Sergeant?"

"Hn. That's a pretty good answer." He said nonchalantly, switching his gaze to the skeleton. "It could only mean that this guy…" he blinked and eyed the skeleton's hips. "Correction, girl…" he didn't take note of how Sakura continued staring at him.

"Eh? How'd you know?" Naruto asked with his face scrunched up.

Sakura snapped from her trance of looking at Sasuke and turned to the skeleton. "The female skeletal system always has wider hips." She said softly. "I thought he had onyx colored eyes, but they're actually a darker shade of blue."

"Yeah. Whether she's a scientist or not, she was trying to escape, but ended up getting cornered by a raptor." Sasuke voiced out. "That means those dinosaurs have been on the loose ever since."

"Then how come the jungle out there was clean?" Naruto asked.

"Some of the people who were able to escape this place must have shut the power." Hinata said.

"And since we activated it," Shino continued. "They're now running amuck."

"Oh wow. That's just dandy!"

"Suck it up Naruto." Sasuke stood and looked to his left where a pathway led to another area. "These things are easier to take down if we just remain calm."

"Genetically enhanced dinosaurs – raptors even – are after us, sure, I can calm down." He said sarcastically. "Come on, surely you're on the edge too!"

"Yes, I am." He turned to the blonde. "But I don't have to panic each time a dinosaur attacks, right?"

"So says the guy who yelled at me to shoot the raptor."

"Naruto," Sasuke glared. "Would you have remained calm if a raptor tried to bite your head off without warning?"

"…Okay, so even bastards like you can panic too."

"I give up." Sasuke muttered, earning a chuckle from Neji.

"Don't associate with an idiot."

"Hey! At least I don't have long hair like you do Ma Bell!"

"Shut up about my call sign!"

"Cool it." Shino said. "Naruto, head over to the door at the end and check it out." He got a nod from the blonde. "Neji, provide cover. Sasuke, stay at the rear and I'll back you up."

"Got it."

"Hn."

"Sakura, Hinata, it's better to take out your handguns in case those dinosaurs attack."

The two medics nodded and kept their guards up as Naruto cautiously approached the door.

"On your signal Snapper."

"Go."

Naruto kicked the door open and had his rifle aiming inside. "So far so good."

"Neji."

The sniper of the team got back up and jogged to where Naruto was.

"Clear the area Naruto." Shino ordered.

Naruto went in while moving his rifle from left to right, checking for any signs of movement. "Clear."

Shino nodded to Sasuke, who went in to double check as Naruto made his way to the next door. "No dinosaurs."

"Alright, let's move." Shino ordered, letting the two medics go first, before he and Neji followed behind.

Neji closed the door in case a raptor was tailing them, at least the door opening would give them a warning signal.

"We're in area D, look for file B." Shino ordered as he went to one area, Neji and Hinata heading to the other, whereas Naruto went up ahead to the nearby door. "Hey, teme?"

Sasuke looked up from the pile of papers he and Sakura found and turned to Naruto.

"Is it me or are these weird scratch marks?"

He looked at Sakura who nodded once to him, so he went to Naruto to examine the many marks on the metal door.

"I mean, they don't look like they were caused by raptors…"

The dark-haired soldier's eyes squinted a bit as he studied the scratches. "Hn, I think they're fingernails." He looked down at the floor, seeing a few drops of dried blood. "I just can't tell where it starts, but from the looks of it, the one responsible must have tried to claw at the door when a raptor got to him or her."

"Claw at the door?"

"Imagine a raptor eating you alive while you're near a door, and let's say you aren't thinking right due to the state of panic."

Naruto flinched. "I don't like the sound of that," and he eyed his fingernails. "I even hate the sound of fingernails scratching on metal or anything for that matter."

"Same here," his brows furrowed. "I'm just wondering where the carcass is," he looked around the place. "There's no trace of the victim being dragged, the floor's clean."

"Maybe he or she made it to the other side, or perhaps… uh… even the bones were eaten?"

"Your first assumption may be right, as for the other one," he shut his eyes and hit Naruto's head. "Stop coming up with a dumb thing like that."

"Ow! Well it doesn't hurt to assume even the impossible!"

"So why did you say 'ow' then?"

"Bastard…" he rubbed the sore spot. "So, what's your guess?"

He studied the place they were in, as well as the blood on the ground. "He or she couldn't have died here, there's no evidence of the dead body, or even splattered blood."

"Now that you mentioned it…" Naruto scratched his head. "Maybe the person got away."

"We'll just have to wait and see."

"Found it." Hinata announced while pulling out a file from underneath a few debris.

"Good work," Shino commented. "Naruto, Sasuke, clear the other area."

"You got it!" Naruto gave a mock salute as he kicked the door open while Sasuke took aim, index finger ready to pull the trigger in case a dinosaur were to suddenly charge.

"Holy mother of-"

Thud.

"Heh. You're welcome." He offered a hand to the fallen genius of the team. "Well, I guess we're done with our part, maybe we ought to leave now before these things start attacking in packs."

"Kiba's right." Kakashi said. "I'll try to contact Shino and the others."

While the soldiers were waiting for Kakashi's orders, they heard loud growls and thundering footsteps.

"I don't like the sound of that…" Lee commented out of the blue, as he, Kiba, and Shikamaru readied their guns while Tenten and Kurenai glanced at Kakashi who cursed and continued trying to reach his other subordinates.

"Snapper! Come in! Snapper!" he called, but Shino didn't reply, and he cursed before bringing up his rifle. "Corporal Tenten, see if you have better luck in contacting the other team."

"Yes sir!" she switched on her radio and crouched down while Kurenai stood behind her to cover her back, whereas the other men surrounded the two women. "Sergeant Major Aburame! This is Corporal Tenten speaking! Please respond!"

Static answered her, and three genetically enhanced raptors came charging in, their jaws showing razor sharp teeth, pointed-end claws ready to tear open their flesh, and their eyes looking ready to kill.

"Fire at will!" Kakashi ordered, and the four men shot at the incoming dinosaurs, taking one down after finishing up one whole mag.

"Fuck! Reloading!" Kiba announced as Lee and Shikamaru cursed and pulled out their extra guns to cover for the reloading soldier.

"I'm out!" Kakashi said, also reloading as fast as he could just as Kiba finished and started shooting once more.

"Reloading!" Lee yelled, taking a clip out of the bag around his waist and reloading his rifle.

Shikamaru followed suit with his handguns and continued to fire.

The four of them took another Raptor down, but they were taken aback when the remaining one had chosen to jump and launch itself towards Lee.

Out of reflex, Lee raised his gun in order to prevent the creature's mouth from biting his head off. He cried out in pain when the large talons of the dinosaur's feet had slashed across his thighs and stomach – the armor he wore preventing his mid section from receiving a fatal injury.

Kakashi, Kiba, and Shikamaru shot the dinosaur, and soon, both Kurenai and Tenten joined in after taking out their handguns to assist.

"Get off of him you fucking bastard!" Kiba snarled, not caring if he just finished another magazine, leaving him with only two more clips left for reloading.

Kakashi and Shikamaru pushed the dead raptor off of Lee's body and Kurenai immediately went to the boy to treat the injuries.

"This is bad…" she murmured, soft enough for the wounded soldier not to hear, but loud enough for Kakashi's keen hearing.

"Talk to me Kurenai. What's my soldier's status?"

She bit her lower lip and glanced at Tenten.

"East wing," Tenten spoke through the radio. "Second door to your right." She lowered the device and looked at Kakashi. "Sir, the others are coming."

"Casualties?"

"Zero."

"Good to know." He looked back at Kurenai, still waiting for her answer.

"I'm sorry, Kakashi, I need one of my medics to help me out here." She took out her med pack and brought out the necessary items. "In the mean time, all I can do is stop the bleeding."

Shikamaru gulped and knelt down next to Kurenai. "Perhaps I can be of some assistance, Lieutenant Yuuhi."

Kurenai glanced at the soldier before looking at Lee's pained expression. "It's better than waiting." She said. "Alright, I need you to apply pressure on his wound," she handed him a clean cloth. "It will hurt him, but it's needed."

"Is he gonna be alright Lieutenant?" Kiba asked, a frown on his face as he reloaded his rifle.

"He will be, but I advise him to be out of the battle if more dinosaurs were to come."

"Copy that." Kakashi looked at Lee. "Alright Biohazard, you heard Lieutenant Yuuhi, I'm afraid I'll have to take you out of this mission."

"No sir! I can still-"

"Don't push yourself soldier!" The Captain thundered. "That's an order."

Lee held Kakashi's gaze for a moment before backing down in defeat. "Sir yes sir."

The silver-haired officer nodded once and stood up, preparing himself just in case another dinosaur were to appear.

"Shit!" Kiba cursed, causing Kakashi to turn to where the young soldier had glared and aimed his rifle.

They heard a growl, and soon, another raptor emerged from the shadows and came running straight for them.

"You mother fucker!" Kiba pulled the trigger and sent multiple bullets to the incoming dinosaur, Kakashi backing him up while Shikamaru tried to resist the urge to stand up and fight, since Kurenai still needed his assistance.

"Shit! Reloading!" Kiba took a few steps back while Kakashi walked forward to let his subordinate reload his gun, until his own weapon clicked.

"That doesn't sound good…" Shikamaru said, glancing at Kakashi who was also about to reload. "SIR!"

Kakashi looked up to see the raptor jump at him, but more bullets came flying towards the exposed stomach of the dinosaur, making it more vulnerable than ever at it screeched and fell to the ground, lifeless like the three others they just shot down.

"What's the matter sir?" Kakashi looked behind him to see Sasuke smirking at him as he reloaded his rifle. "Cold feet..?"

"Hm. I'll let that comment slide for now, Reaper."

"Heh. You're welcome." He walked over to them with Sakura rushing towards Lee to replace Shikamaru, who was more than relieved to stay away from the bloody injury.

"Where are the others?" Kiba asked, searching for Neji, Shino, Hinata, and Naruto.

"Hn. Shino told us to go ahead, since Tenten said that Lee was down."

Kiba nodded once and looked at where Sasuke and Sakura came from. "Wait, why did they stay behind?"

"Like you, we encountered the damn things." He sighed and glanced at his left arm. "Anyway, it isn't wise to let both the medics go on their own, or even one of them alone."

Kiba grinned. "Worried over Corporal Haruno?"

He glared. "Don't make me shoot your ass."

"Oooh. Smell the love." Kiba grinned, saying his ever famous line in the team.

"Hn." He looked towards Lee, frowning at how the wounds didn't seem fatal but quite deep. "What happened?"

Kiba scowled. "Damn raptor jumped on him, good thing his rifle block the bite, otherwise, he'd be a carcass by now."

"Ch." He pushed up his goggles and pressed two fingers against his communicator. "Reaper here."

"We need back-up!"

He narrowed his eyes. "Hang on, I'm coming." He looked at both Kakashi and Kiba who furrowed their brows. "They're getting creamed without me." He gave a smirk and ran back to where he came from.

"Arrogant bastard." Kiba shook his head and gave a snort. "Still, I'd hate to admit it, but he is our best."

"Yeah well," Kakashi sighed. "That's how he is." He turned back to the dead raptors. "Hm. That kid doesn't really wait for orders, does he?" he just gave a soft chuckle.

"Hang on Hinata!" and he continued to fire his gun at the raptor that clawed at the medic who managed to squeeze behind an empty capsule, preventing the large dinosaur from killing her swiftly. "Shino! We're going to need help!"

"I know!" Shino said back, busy with another dinosaur. "I already contacted Sasuke."

"Heh." Neji smirked. "Knowing him, he'd arrive and comment again."

"Got that right."

Bullets fired from another direction, one managing to hit the raptor's eye, prevent it from snapping its jaw at Neji's back.

Sasuke smirked at them as Shino and Naruto were done with their own raptors and glanced at him, Neji returning the smirk.

"What the heck would you guys do without me?" he let his rifle hang around his body and walked over to them. "So, let's go?"

Hinata came out from her hiding spot and sighed. "Gladly."

They ran and followed Sasuke's lead as Shino told Kakashi they were heading back.

"So, bastard, how come you didn't encounter any dinosaurs on the way back?"

"Hn, I killed them when Sakura and I were headed to the others."

Neji quirked a brow. "Don't tell me you killed a lot and still have enough bullets left?"

"Unlike you," he glanced at the sniper. "I carry a lot of clips with me, and two rifles at that."

"How many exactly did you eliminate on the way?"

"Three if you include the one that almost got the Captain, four if it included the other that would have bitten your ass."

"Don't get too cocky, I just had my back turned."

"Which is why you need me." He smirked. "Anyway, Sakura killed the other one."

"The other one that… let me guess, almost got your ass?"

"Hn. Head, actually." he said. "Those things know how to climb walls and ceilings."

"Hold on a sec," Naruto frowned. "Sakura only has a handgun, right?"

"Combat knife." He said. "But she shot it down with a rifle."

Neji smirked. "Your other rifle?"

He glared. "Shut. Up."

"That's funny," Shino continued. "You never lend your other rifle."

"If I didn't, I wouldn't be here right now."

"Bastard's in love."

"Hn. I didn't make a move on Hinata like you did."

"THAT KISS WAS AN ACCIDENT!!"

They skidded to a stop when they saw Kakashi, Shikamaru, Kiba, and Tenten shooting at the incoming raptors.

"One, two, three, four… crap." Naruto soon started shooting as well, and so did Shino, Sasuke, Neji, and Hinata as they got closer to regroup.

They heard a growl come from behind, and Neji was taken by surprise when a tail swung at him, making him separate from his teammates by a few feet.

"Shit!" he cursed when his back hit a nearby wall, making his vision blurry as he tried to get up.

The sniper of the team cursed and held onto the other end of his rifle in order to use the weapon as a shield to block the raptor's bite.

He tried to push it back, but the heavy dinosaur wasn't budging even for a bit, and he was startled when one of his comrades had dared to tackle the thing with just the combat knife attached to his rifle's muzzle.

The dinosaur cried out when it felt the sharp blade pierce against its side and caused blood to spill, its other side hitting the wall next to it.

"Die, bitch." The dinosaur growled at the smirk it was given and soon, bullets were sent inside its stomach, effectively killing it with just a few shots.

It fell to the floor, and the soldier pulled out his rifle, the combat knife still attached to it.

"Heh, like I said, you need me."

Neji couldn't help but smirk. "Reaper definitely suits you." He took the hand Sasuke offered him and stood up with his help. "Ugh. Damn, my back hurts."

"Hn." He smirked. "Getting too old for the job?"

"Shut your trap." His brows furrowed when he noted Sasuke flinch and stagger backwards. "Fuck, you're wounded!"

"Ch. I'm fine." He was thankful that the hallway they were in was narrow, so he managed to use the wall behind him as support while his right hand clutched onto the wound he got from the raptor he just killed.

Apparently, the dinosaur's claws were able to reach his left side, giving him deep scratches from the creature.

"You should have that checked you idiot." Neji scolded, beginning to act like an older brother to his partner since he was a year older. "Come on, let's see it."

"Heh. Going gay on me now?"

"Shut up and let's see it."

"Hn." He closed his eyes. "Just… let it go, I'm fine. This is nothing."

Neji glared. "Sasuke, this is serious, we can't afford another soldier down at this crucial moment."

"Like I said, I'm fine, I just need to catch my breath for a bit."

"Don't be so hard-headed."

"I'm… fine…"

"Fuck!" He glanced at his other teammates. "Sir! Reaper's down!"

Apathetic Silence: Am not gonna make any promises as to when the update will be.