Hello my darling little Murderers!

Welcome back to Break Me.

Sorry it's been so long, I've been swamped with the end of Spring classes and cramming for finals and unfortunately, this story got forgotten until I realized it was still in my Doc folder.

My bad!

Anywho, I hope you enjoy the chapter!

Much Love,

BlackRose999

Break Me

Chapter Three: When it Rains…

~ Later that Night ~

I took another sip of the whiskey, relishing in the slow burn that radiates down my throat. The music was loud, an overly-embellished Dubstep thing, but I could only hear my pulse. "So you've finally failed me" reverberated around in my head. Tsunade was a bit of a bitch, but I'd never imagined she'd be callous enough to be as frigid as she was in her chambers.

"Hello, beautiful…"

I groaned inwardly, can't I have one night to myself? Taking the last swig, I turned and eyed the cretin that had sidled up beside me. "What's a pretty little thing like you doing here all by your lonesome?" He asked in what he must have thought to be his 'come hither' voice. In my professional opinion, it sounded like nails on a chalkboard. I snorted and turned back to my drink, crooking my finger at the bartender to signal another pour.

Apparently, he didn't like that.

I felt him sneakily grip my waist tightly, he had semi-long nails, likely manicured to make himself feel flawless. "I said," He growled in my ear, "What's a pretty little girl doing here alone?" My fingers tightened around the glass, I wasn't going to strike him… yet. But if he didn't remove that greasy hand of his I'd make damn sure he lost it. "One, get that disgusting hand off my hip. Two, I'm not alone. Now do the smart thing and walk away before I make you."

His hand moved from my hip to my hair, knotting it in his harsh grip. Any ordinary woman would have cried out and submitted, but I've played this game before. And I enjoy winning it. I grabbed his fingers and wrenched them backward until I heard that familiar sweet sound of bone breaking, when my hair was released and he scrambled back with a shriek of pain I grabbed my glass and slammed it into his cheek.

"You bitch!" He howled as he staggered back again. "I told you to get your filthy hands off me. I told you I would make you if you didn't." I snarled as I shoved him away from me. "Next time listen, you worthless shitbag." I turned back toward the bar, grabbing a twenty from my pocket and handing it to Xavier, the bartender. "Sorry for the glass, that should cover it."

He simply grinned at me and handed me another whiskey, he wasn't stupid, he knew exactly who I was. A new hand found its way to my waist, and this time I leaned into it. I'd know those rough hands of his anywhere. "I was thinking of gutting him where he stood… It looks like you beat me to it." He chuckled in my ear. I bit back a smirk. "As if any man has the right to touch me…" His grip tightened again. "Only I hold that right."

I reached back and brought his head down to mine, holding back a shiver as his lips grazed my neck. I could stay in this moment for the rest of my life, we could be seen here, in the dark lights he looked like any man and not The Wraith. His hands wrapped tighter around my waist, pulling me deeper into him and smothering my breath as he bit the curve of my throat ever so lightly. "Take me home Gaara… Take me home."

A gunshot and screams of shock shattered our trance.

I felt my body switch into 'Fight or Flight', and before I could decide he ripped me from the stool and into a dark corner, positioning himself in front of me. Even here, he guarded me like I was life itself. My emerald eyes scanned the crowd, looking for my friends. They were also in dark corners, watching the man with the gun carefully. I saw Ino reach toward her belt, where she kept her poisons. Sai snatched her hand away before her fingers could touch the hidden pouches.

He was like Gaara, always calculating the odds. And he was no fool.

"Oh princess… I know you're here. I want to play, I had so much fun the other day…" He snatched the hair of a woman who ran past him, pulling her toward him and tilting her face to meet his. "Close… But your eyes are blue. And your face isn't the same." He threw her into the wall, grinning when she cried out in pain.

It hit me. The hair, the manic grin, and the build. It was him. I tensed and Gaara felt it, he leaned back and growled "Who is he?" I knew better than to try and lie to him, he always knew when I did. "The assassin my target hired. The one who gave me the bruises." I heard the growl he made, the one that usually sends shivers of anticipation down my spine.

This time it made me nauseous with fear.

Sai reached forward to push Ino behind him, but his actions were noticed. The sound of a bullet hitting skin made me flinch, the sound was familiar, but it was different when it hit those I cared about. I tried to move forward, to catch him off guard, but Gaara's grip on my waist kept me still. "No. Hug the wall, and make your way toward the others. He's mine."

I would have challenged his command like I usually did, but here, at this moment, he wasn't Gaara. He was The Wraith. And I was conditioned to obey. He stalked forward, keeping his movements slow, careful. For his size, you'd think he would make some kind of sound when he stepped forward, but he never did. He slipped through the crowd like a viper, eyes glued to his back. I moved quietly, a challenge in these heels, but I was used to the silence. I'd learned a long time ago that silence was just as deadly as a bullet in the dark.

Gaara got within striking distance when the assassin noticed him out of the corner of his eye, he whipped around and pointed the gun between his eyes. Gaara didn't flinch, didn't even look nervous. He'd been in this position before, and he usually came out unscathed with the stupid fucker on the floor in a bloody heap. "Takes a real man to beat a defenseless woman… Maybe you should pick on someone your own size you worthless little bitch." I watched those black orbs narrow, and I knew what he was seeing. Icy eyes made up of steel, a gaze that never wavers and sends fear and unease down to your core like water rushing along your throat.

A gaze that hypnotizes and freezes you in place like a statue.

He struck faster than I could see. Gaara's hand lashed out and snatched his wrist, ripping it to the side and forcing him to drop the gun. "Ah… I thought so. Been a long time, Sasuke." "How the fuck - YOU!" Sasuke slammed his fist into Gaara's temple, and then paled when it did nothing but make him growl. Gaara grabbed his head in both hands and brought his knee up, landing a solid hit on his solar plexus, when Sasuke groaned and doubled over he kicked the side of his knee and sent him crashing to the floor.

It was a good hit… But a bad move.

Sasuke was in perfect reach of his gun, and he wasted no time in snatching it up and firing a shot into Gaara's chest. "NO!" My feet moved on their own, rushing forward and kicking Sasuke in the V of his chin so hard his head snapped back and his grip on the gun faltered again. Quick as a snake, I ripped it away from him and tossed it to Naruto, who immediately had it pressed against the back of Sasuke's head. My attention shifted back to Gaara, who was flat on his back with his eyes closed. The bullet was dangerously close to the heart, but it had missed by mere inches. "Call Tsunade." I snarled at Naruto, who immediately looked at me in shock.

"Sakura I can't -" "Goddamnit Naruto call her!" He gritted his teeth but grabbed his phone with his free hand and punched in her number. "You need to send a team to The Black Sands… Sakura. Some redhead is bleeding on the floor and -... Understood. See you soon." He hung up and struck Sasuke in the temple, knocking him unconscious. I watched this with growing suspicion, Tsunade knew about Gaara and me. Discreetly I twisted the pearl on my ring, the first time I'd used it since I'd gotten it so many years ago. A subtle vibration told me they were en route. If things happened the way I thought they would, I'd be able to turn the tide in my favor without trouble.

Gaara groaned softly, and my fingers tightened around his shoulders a little. I'd shifted him onto my lap when Naruto had called Tsunade, hoping to keep the blood from pooling in his chest and creating another problem. My eyes fell on Sasuke, watching for even a twitch of movement. Nothing. Tsunade and her team came down the stairs, her dark eyes immediately landing on me. She turned and said something to her medic, Shizune I think, and the woman nodded in response. Tsunade strode over to me and yanked me away from Gaara, allowing Shizune full access to him.

"Why is he here?" She growled, her grip on my arm getting stronger. I narrowed my eyes at her, I didn't allow anyone but Gaara to touch me like that, and I ripped her hand off my arm. "It doesn't fucking matter, can you help him?" "Yes it does!" She hissed, getting closer. "I told you I'd keep your secret, I told you it would remain a secret until something like this…" She motioned around the chaotic room. "Happened!" She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair, looking at me with eyes full of pity.

"He's become a Liability." She said quietly.

My blood ran cold and my heart froze solid in my chest. A Liability, in our line of work at least, was something intolerable. It was to be eradicated immediately. It meant one of us was no longer useful to the Organization, that we'd been irreversibly compromised. But why… How could Gaara be a Liability? No one could see his face! No one had heard his name! He was just some stranger to them! Suddenly her words slammed into me, their meaning becoming clear. He wasn't a Liability to them… He was a Liability to me. Horror filled me and I whipped around to see Shizune discreetly grab a needle filled with a clear, white liquid.

"DON'T YOU FUCKING TOUCH HIM!" I screamed as I launched myself at her, slamming her to the ground before she could inject whatever the hell was in that vial. She hit the ground with a groan and then shrieked when I shoved the needle into her neck, injecting her with the concoction. She ripped the syringe out, staring at it in utter shock and horror, then her panicked eyes traveled to Tsunade's stoic face. "My… My Lady… H-Help me…"

What she said next filled me with rage. She raised a perfect brow, smiled, and said in a 'soothing' voice "Why? We both know you're going to die in a moment. Do be quick about it." Shizune let out a choked sob, shuddered, and died quietly. Shizune had been by her side for years, her closest and most trusted medical technician. For her to let her die so coldly, with no sign of a speck of sadness, it destroyed any iota of respect I'd had for her.

"Tsunade." I kept my voice quiet, a calm snarl of warning. She looked at me, eyeing my posture and the feral wildness of my emerald gaze. "You try to touch him again… And I will come for you. I will hunt you to the ends of the earth, and I will kill everyone who stands in my way. Man, woman, even a child."

She smiles at me, with a soft, patronizing smirk. As though I amuse her, like she thinks my promise of vengeance and murder is pathetic. "Sakura. You don't want to do this, you don't want to throw everything away for a mongrel." I clench my teeth, a wave of relief singing through me when another vibration in my finger tells me my guards are here.

They burst through the room like a river, pouring around us and aiming at Tsunade and her people. "Lady Hatake, your orders?" One of my guards asked through his helmet, they were covered with repurposed Special Services gear I'd 'liberated' from the Organization. "Take him," I moved away slightly, allowing them to grab Gaara gently. "And him." I pointed to Sasuke as well. Him, they grabbed a little rougher.

Tsunade eyed me and them, her dark eyes darting back and forth. I didn't dare gather my friends as well, they could make their own choices after tonight, but I wasn't going to let two lives end here because of someone like her. Without a word, I took off the watch and threw it onto the ground in front of her.

"You'll regret this." She snapped, moving to step closer before one of my guards fired a warning shot into the floor in front of her. "You're going to die Sakura! And for what? For them?!" She waved her hand toward the door where Gaara and Sasuke had been taken out, for a moment she was genuinely furious like she'd been cheated.

I turned my back on her and walked out, my guards behind me keeping their guns aimed at her head.

I had much bigger things than her to worry about now.