Back again! Sorry for taking so long. I was battling a virus in my computer, a virus in my body, AND my grandmomma just got released from ICU Thursday.
But anyway. The highly-anticipated confrontation! Hope it isn't too disappointing! Haha read, review, enjoy! :D
Alex's gaze roamed over her face, down her body, then back up to her and Naruto's linked hands.
"...And you call me a traitor."
"Excuse me?"
"So you've sank that low, huh? Screwing a demon kid? I really did mess you up, Luna." Her eyes narrowed. "Not everything's about 'screwing'. I tried to tell you that, but I guess you listen about as well as he does."
"Hey!"
"Shut up, Naruto."
Alex folded his arms across his chest, assessing her. "Any chance I could talk to you? Alone?"
"Not a damn chance," Naruto answered for her, making her stomp on his foot. "OW!" Luna sighed. "Go over there, please."
"No way, are you fricking insane?"
She looked up at him urgently. "Please, Naruto. Over there. Please." He stared at her for the longest time before nodding, squeezing her hand briefly before letting go.
He glanced over at Alex. "Try anything, you're dead." Alex scoffed. "Whatever, kiddo." Luna rolled her eyes, she couldn't help it; even after death, Alex still loved to rub in the fact that he was seventeen.
He looked back at her, smiling slightly. "I missed you."
"I'm sure you did."
"I know you missed me, too."
"Keep telling yourself that."
"That's why you're acting like this," he replied matter-of-factly, leaning towards her. "You just don't wanna admit that you did. Why would you? I'm a traitor."
Luna swallowed hard. "I-I'm acting like this because quite frankly, I have a huge urge to shoot you in the head right now."
Alex laughed, shaking his head. "Ahhh, you and your threats. Anyone other than me should definitely take them seriously. ...But you and I both know when it comes to me, your threats are empty as your stomach most days in the Agency."
She blinked in response. "What do you want from me, Alex."
"For you to see things our way."
"Who's 'our'?"
"My friend and I."
"Which would be...who?"
"I'll tell you if you join us."
"Oh, really now? And why would I wanna do that?" He gestured at Naruto, who was leaning against a tree a few yards off, watching intently.
"Don't you know what he did? What that damn demon DID?"
Luna nodded. "In fact, I do. That damn demon killed my father. That damn demon's behind my massacre of the Sasakis. As for Naruto...why, the only thing momentous that he's done is introduce me to Pop-Tarts."
Alex's anger was boiling. She could tell by the way his muscles kept tensing and untensing, especially the ones in his jaw. There were a couple times where those fast-working muscles had helped her on the job once or twice, on the rare occasions where she met a Target that had strength up to par with her own.
But that was then, and this was now. Now those muscles and reflexes spelled weakness and death if she wasn't careful. She wasn't stupid enough to think she could take him in the face of his anger. He was enough of a match for her on a good day.
It made her knees feel even weaker, thinking about having to go against him again. He shook his head, snapping her out of it. "I can't understand it. How can you live with yourself? How can you let that damn monster get away with what he's done to you? Huh?"
"What do you care?" She snapped. "You don't care about me; you never have. I was your link into the Agency; I gave you every detail you needed. And I was your entertainment, your little pastime, until it came time to try and infiltrate it for real. Nothing more."
"Is that what they told you?"
"No. That is what I was smart enough to figure out on my own. It's just a shame I found out after I fell in love with you, but that's quite alright, 'cause it looks like it still came in handy. It's good to know all that, because it makes it easier to tell you NO. ...And do this," she added before flipping him off, waving her middle finger around mockingly.
And man, did it feel good. He apparently didn't like it nearly as much. Those eyes of his, those green eyes she used to stare at without even thinking about it, flashed even more. Something they used to never do to her of all people.
"Listen, you little – why do I even bother with that approach...Look, you may hate me, and I completely understand why you would, but...how can I get this through to you...for the sake of your dad, for the sake of the damn Sasakis, and Will, his parent's memories...kill the Jinchuuriki. Kill the demon."
She stared at him, and he kept right on going.
"That's the whole reason the Agency made you protect him, you know. They had nothing to lose. They want to keep you to themselves, because of your abilities as a born citizen of Konoha. Either you fulfill your assignment and hopefully never learn of your dark past, which keeps you 'satisfied' with life at the Agency...or...you give in to that dark desire that anyone else in your position would have."
"You kill Naruto, and they use it against you. They keep you working for them, and protect you from the authoritites here, and keep your record clean. And if you don't kill Naruto, you still get persecuted once you find out about your crime against the Sasakis, or you'll be forced to stay with the Agency to avoid persecution. Either way, you're royally fucked-over, Luna."
She processed what he said quickly, rationalizing it in her fast-working mind. It made perfect sense; it explained so much.
And that's what scared her. Because she wanted to give in. She wanted to get rid of that reminder once and for all.
She was like Mayella Ewell in "To Kill A Mockingbird"; she had to push that reminder of her crimes away from her.
And Naruto made the perfect Tom Robinson. Except, you know...in this case he reminded her that she was responsible for the death of her family. Because it was quite simple to see it was. Was it Naruto's fault that she wasn't mentally strong enough to resist the urges Snake Man instilled within her once gaining control? That she wasn't mentally prepared to resist, allowing Snake Man to gain control in the first place?
Absolutely not.
Even if it was from Alex's mouth, it was good to know that wanting to kill Naruto was a common desire for those put in her position. It had to be, just had to be, for someone like her. Right?
Right?
"Kill him. Bring your family justice. Bring Will's family justice. All it takes is one bullet, maybe two. Do it now, he won't suspect a thing. I can get you away from the scene in less than ten seconds, Luna. No one has to know. They don't deal with guns here, either, so...literally, they won't know what hit him. And...y'know, do it for us. I hate how it ended, honest. I...I would've seriously run away with you if I could've. You kinda shot me too quick for that, though. But that's okay. I forgive you...because I kinda deserved it...and, y'know, I love you. Dammit, you may not believe me, but I did. I loved you; always have. Always will. And I don't wanna see you suffering like this, constantly having to see...see...that over there. To always remind you about something you should've never had to go through."
Though she hated to admit it, she seriously considered it. Luna gazed at Naruto as he twirled his ever-present kunai between his fingers, eyes on his hands after sensing their conversation was reaching a rather private point during which he shouldn't be staring.
She could do it. She'd hit harder targets. It'd be so simple to end his life.
But...
But.
There's always a but.
This time, it was a huge but.
Luna swallowed hard before answering, shaking her head. "Alex, believe me when I say I am sorry. But that is not an option. Not now, not later, not then, not ever. I will never stoop so low as to end the life of an innocent human being for my own mind's sake; especially not one as talented, or powerful, or influential, or wonderful as Naruto Uzumaki. Nor will I let anyone else try to, either."
Now he was really angry, and her gun was already out and aimed at him before he cocked his. That softness in his eyes when he talked about how much he had loved her was completely gone now, and replace by something unbelievably terrifying: bloodlust. "You...You dumb bitch! What's your damn problem? Huh? Can't do anything right, can you?"
Before either of them could fire the first shot, Naruto shunpoed behind Alex, a kunai pressed against his neck.
A shadow clone appeared at his side, rasengan at the ready. And both Narutos looked royally pissed off.
"Listen, douchebag. You've got a lotta nerve showing up here. Do you realize what you've done to her? All the shit you've put her through? She's too worried it'll be you when someone calls her, she'll wake me up in the middle of the night when she cries in her sleep, begging you not to hurt her, and all that's bad enough. But worst of all..."
His fist was clenched so tight around his throwing knife that blood trickled down his hand. Luna was stunned speechless, and it looked like Alex was, too, for the time being.
"Worst of all...it's damn near impossible for her to really trust anyone anymore! I know what that's like; not having much of anyone to count on, and scared to start trying. It's hell, pure hell. And Luna Sasaki is the last person that should have to go through that. And then, after all that, you have the nerve – no, that's too flattering – the stupidity, to call her a dumb bitch? YOU'RE the dumb bitch, thinking you could get away with all that once I finally got to meet the sorry bastard she trusted so much! Someone should kill you. Someone should kill you, again, right where you stand. But I won't be the one. I won't be the one..."
His clone disappeared, and he started to lower his kunai. Suddenly, with a growl, he summoned chakra at the last second and kicked him in the gut, much like Sakura. Seeing Naruto of all people do that, making Alex skid across the ground and his body hit a wall, was definitely a new experience for her. According to Sakura, to hit things with chakra took a great amount of control, and good reflexes to be quick enough to apply it at the very last second.
"The hell I won't!"
Luna gasped, the only reaction she could really do at the moment, and gripped her gun tighter. She was almost scared to shoot; Naruto and Alex were currently struggling, rolling around on the ground, and she was downright terrified she'd hit the wrong guy.
She would've helped if she could move.
"Get the hell off me, you psychotic freak of nature!" Alex shouted, punching him in the gut.
Naruto brought his leg down on his knee, and she heard the sickening SNAP. Luna winced, but Alex seemed to not even feel it.
Almost like...he was a walking corpse...
"Big words for such a dumbass!" Naruto shouted back, grabbing the rogue Agent by the neck. Suddenly, Alex bit Naruto's hand rather hard, startling him enough to be able to flip the ninja off of him and cock his gun, aiming for his head.
"Don't," Luna squeaked. "DON'T!" she repeated – screamed, really. An echoing BANG was heard, then nothing but dead silence. Naruto staggered to his feet, coughing and looking at Luna in disbelief. She shot again for extra measure, striking him in the shoulder.
Her hands started trembling terribly, and her gun clattered to the ground. Blood was already pooling rather heavily from the wound in Alex's head as he fell face-first to the ground.
Luna raised her trembling hands to her eye level as she slid to her knees, staring at them as if she could see his blood on them. "I...I did it. I killed him. Again...?"
The blood pounded in her head again, and for a few moments, she relived that infamous night in her mind.
"Alex, dude, just come with us!" Will practically pleaded as the rogue Agent dove behind another wall.
Becs and Luna exchanged worried looks. Something told them this wasn't going to end well for any of them.
"We can get you a fair trial! Hell, we could just relocate you to some sort of sentence-alternative camp instead of giving you hard jail time! ...What about my sister? Huh? You really wanna do this to her?"
No response.
Luna sighed. "Alex...please. Stop, just come with us. Dammit, Alex, are ya even listening?"
Becs sighed again, cocking her gun threateningly. "Dammit, you Americans are too soft. Alex, you bloody bastard, making me run in these heels! If you don't come out in thirty seconds, I've got five rounds with your name on them!"
"..."
"..."
"...Fifteen...seventeen...twenty-three..." They heard shuffling, and it echoed rather loudly in the warehouse they had chased him into.
Luna was still hoping it was just a case of mistaken identity. It couldn't have been Alex who was helping flush the Agency and devastate America's best line of defense. Couldn't be; he loved her...didn't he?
He appeared a few yards away, staring at them sullenly. Almost...emotionless. And he still looked emotionless as he shot a bullet straight into Will's shoulder.
"Will!" Luna screamed, dropping to her knees beside him to try and stop the bleeding. On the plus side, Alex hadn't grazed an artery; less chances of Will bleeding out.
"You bastard!" Becs shouted, dodging his bullets and shooting some of her own. He didn't aim for Luna, and selfish as it sounded, that gave her a little inkling of hope.
Maybe he was just trying to defend himself because he thought he couldn't trust THEM anymore.
Yes.
That had to be it. Had to be.
Becs sat behind the heavy crate of cargo to their left, panting. "Loony, I'm outta bullets. You...You'll have to take this one. Take...Take him out."
The blood drained from her face, and her hands started shaking. "...W-What? Becs, please, you can use my gun! Here!"
She shook her head stiffly. "I don't know how to use yours, it's different from mine! I...I'm sorry, Luna. It's gotta be you."
"But...I...This...Please!" She practically sobbed. Will squeezed her hand tightly. "Luna...it'll be okay. Just aim and close your eyes. Okay?" Luna bit her lip. She had to do what Will said; he was all she had left, at the end of the day. Alex knew that, and he had shot him anyway.
Thinking about it, she decided that was a good enough sign that he didn't care about her as much as he seemed to make her believe. And considering all the evidence Tara's superiors had briefed them all with just mere minutes ago...
"O-O...Okay...I...Okay." Luna stood, her whole body shaking as she slowly raised her gun. Alex's eyes widened. "You can't be serious. C'mon, Luna, you and I both know you can't kill me."
She cocked her gun.
"Hey, wait. Wait! I thought you said you loved me! I've loved you since I met you! It's just you and me, okay? Don't even think about anyone else, just you and me. We can...we can run away. You never have to kill another person again. Including me. ...Please!"
Luna fired, aiming for his head; she was glad she missed. He grabbed the side of his face though, hissing in a breath. "Dammit, that almost got me!"
He was bleeding; it didn't upset her as much as she thought it would. Probably because he shot her brother.
Luna raised her gun again, and Becs nodded comfortingly. "Focus, Loony. You can do this. I know you can."
Alex looked like he was gonna cry; she knew it was at least a little fake, she had cried on cue before, and it was a whole lot more convincing than that.
"Please...I love you, Luna. Always will. You don't have to do this."
She closed her eyes, and pulled the trigger. The BANG seemed to echo in the warehouse, and so did the two BANGS after that, one of them hitting against a crate of cargo.
Luna didn't open her eyes immediately. Rather, she did it slowly, as if scared she had missed again and he was going to kill her on the spot.
He was on his knees, coughing and sputtering as blood dribbled from his mouth. The cargo she had hit was split open, packaging material falling out everywhere. "This...isn't over...I'm not finished with you yet, Luna...I...love you..." And with that, he fell flat on his face. It made everything hit her at once. All the time they'd spent together, all the times they'd laughed together, cried together, worked together...all gone. By her own hand. And it was never coming back.
He was never coming back.
"...I love you too," she sobbed, Becs putting her arms around her shoulders tightly.
"It had to be done, Loony...It's not your fault."
"'It had to be done, Loony,'" Luna repeated to herself, still staring at her hands. "'...It's not your fault.'"
Naruto's shoes suddenly came into her line of vision, and he crouched down to her level. He was bleeding at the corner of his mouth and forehead, and looked scratched up in general.
There was going to be a bruise on the side of his face, and probably a few on his arms and legs.
Luna was unharmed. And he asked her, "Are you okay?". It made her laugh a little, and she shook her head as she let her hands relax on her knees. "Probably not."
"Loon, I'm so sorry you had to...y'know, kill your ex-boyfriend. Again." She continued to look at the ground, using her peripherals to make sure he wasn't leaving.
He sighed and picked her up, putting her gun in his pocket. "Home it is."
She cried herself to sleep. It was almost funny; she had tried to cry as stealthily as possible, hoping he wouldn't feel her sobbing against him.
How Luna thought she could pull that off was beyond him. He maneuvered her so he could grab his house keys before realizing she had them; she had been the only one who remembered to grab them off the counter.
Naruto dug around in the closest pocket; figured it wouldn't be in that one. He shivered when he grazed the button to her jeans, trying to reach the other pocket. He had just grabbed the keys when Luna shifted in his arms, turning away from him.
He caught her right before she rolled out of his grip, and sweatdropped before shaking his head and unlocking his front door.
He carried her all the way to her window seat and set her down gently before running to find something to eat.
So of course he had just found something when there was frantic knocking on his door. Naruto groaned and slammed down his can of Reddi-Whip before stomping over and opening his door.
"Naruto! Thank goodness!" Sakura exclaimed. "Where's Luna?"
His temple throbbed. "...Asleep. At least, she was. Then you showed up." Sakura sighed with relief, still wearing her usual hospital gear.
As in those weird gloves they make you wear, which were blood-stained, and her hair still tied up out of her way. "Just checking. The way he was yelling..."
"The way who was yelling?"
"The boy they brought in a few minutes ago. Some kind of tiny, round metal thing was lodged into him...in his shoulder..."
Naruto paled. "Was his name Alex, by any chance?"
Sakura shrugged. "Could be. He never gave a name." She narrowed her eyes. "You and Luna know anything about him?"
"N-No."
"Oh. Okay. Of course you don't. Hey, did you hear those bangs earlier? It wasn't long before someone found him laying there...I wonder if his attacker made those bangs...but anyway, he was shouting about he was going to 'kill that demon kid and damn Luna if it was the last thing he did'."
She cocked an eyebrow. "Wanna try telling me you weren't there again?"
He opened his mouth to speak, but started laughing nervously instead. "S-See, what had happened was...me and Loon were, um...uhhh...making out! Yeah, we were making out...and, um, we were in a dark alley near where we heard the big bangs, but we figured it was Choji getting mad at someone calling him fat again and just went on home! Yeah!"
"Really?"
"No. Well, we were making out in a dark alley, but...Luna was all like 'Ohhhh, Naruto, do that again,' and I was like 'Awesome!' and then Luna accidentally stepped on that Alex guy's shoe, and he got all mad, and she hit him with a plank of wood after he called her a floozy! ...Yeah. That's what REALLY happened. But the other story was a little less embarrassing, don'tchya think?"
Sakura sweatdropped, but it disappeared quickly enough once they heard sniffling. "Naruto?" Luna called out almost fearfully.
Naruto looked at Sakura, who just nodded slowly. "...I'll just pretend I totally believe that crappy story. For her sake. You better go check on her; the way that guy was shouting about you two...It gave Tsunade and I chills...and you know that's saying something."
Naruto just nodded, and she shut the door behind her as she left. He walked quickly towards his room, opening the door to see her sitting up with her knees drawn up tightly.
Her eyes were still red, and there were still tear marks on her face. How she thought she was sneaky when it came to crying was still way beyond him.
"Hey, Loon."
She looked over at him, making her hair fall across the side of her face that was facing him. "H-Hi."
"You called?"
"Just...making sure you were still here."
Naruto decided telling her that somehow that douchebag survived getting shot in the head wasn't a good idea for the moment, and he settled with walking over to her instead, crouching next to her.
"You sure you're okay?" Luna nodded stiffly, swallowing hard. Naruto nodded and stood up. "Guess you won't mind if I go out for a little while, then..." She grabbed his wrist. "Wait!" She blurted.
He couldn't help but roll his eyes while his back was still to her. She actually thought he'd leave her by herself after something like that?
Kind of insulting.
He turned to look at her, and wished he hadn't. Luna was giving him the most vulnerable and pleading look he'd ever seen. "Please don't leave me alone. ...Please..."
He sighed and grabbed her. "Fine then." Luna looked confused, and even more confused when he plopped her onto his bed.
"What the hell do you think you're-" She didn't finish her sentence, gaping at him as he crawled over her to the other side.
"I'm not leaving you alone, but I'm sure as hell not sitting by that window seat all night. It won't kill ya to lay here, will it?"
Luna shook her head slowly, and he pretended not to notice as she shoved that necklace down her shirt.
Funny; she thought he hadn't caught on by now.
Naruto waved the covers up and down spastically. "Jeez, Loon! Not in here thirty seconds and you're already hoggin' the covers!"
She laughed despite herself, and laughed even harder when he used the covers as an excuse to pull her closer to him. "You must think I am really stupid, Naruto."
"Sure do."
"...Naruto?"
"Yep?" He replied, already feeling his eyes getting heavier.
"...Thank you. I am just sorry he hurt you."
His grip around her waist tightened protectively, plopping his head against her collarbone. "Don't be. I got hurt so you wouldn't. ...Physically, anyways. I'm sorry, but that whole scenario was just kinda fucked-up."
"Agreed," she replied with a yawn, making him nearly jump in surprise when her hand roamed up to his, the one laying across her stomach. "I'm just glad it's over. I don't think I could take another encounter like that..."
Crap. That made him hold her tighter, which probably confused her. He was groaning miserably on the inside, definitely not looking forward to telling her about Alex surviving...again.