My mind battled to blurt a very simple answer, but at the end I gave my orders and everyone followed without question.
As much as a part of me hated it, I couldn't think of other ways to guarantee our survival, which was the reason we were en route to the village of Konoha as soon as we woke up the following day.
Or that was the plan until I found myself removing my sword from the missing nin chest and dropping his lifeless body on the ground.
It was a small group of three missing nins that intercepted us but they couldn't put up a fight and we ended the annoyance in seconds; I didn't know how they did it but we had a two headless corpses, one of them the result of a clean cut and they squashed the other like a bug.
However, it was strange to be attacked as my group got rather infamous for our successful hunts. Everyone fled if they knew we were in the area. My mind quickly raced for an answer or a plausible explanation as to why they would throw their life away. It only delayed us from reaching the villages faster.
"They are stalling for time. I cannot think of any other option." I said my thoughts out loud, each word making me realize that Akatsuki had already made their move against us.
"But how could they even find our location?!" Karin bit her thumb while her eyes frantically moved, checking our surroundings, gripped by paranoia.
"Nothing escapes Zetsu." My attempt to reassure her failed as she frantically shook her head.
"I should have felt his presence at least." She closed her eyes and her hands formed another hand seal, yet her expression only hardened by every passing second.
With my grip on her shoulder and shook her and broke her concentration so she could look me in the eye. "He is a plant, and can easily merge with the trees. There is nothing you could have done. At least we are lucky that he isn't a fighter."
It was a half truth, Zetsu was a very capable fighter, but he didn't want anyone to know that before he could show his real allegiance, but that was enough to calm our redhead who gave me a knowing smile and got away from my reach.
"I can estimate we will reach Konoha in two days, and there is a small town on the way where we can finally take a proper rest. But I didn't expect you to return to Konoha."
Karin's last words made me sigh. It was a headache trying to find solutions and the thousands of likely outcomes if I decided to take another option. Konoha was relatively the safest choice against a full on assault.
"I was planning to enjoy my freedom for a year or two, but I would rather face Pain with an army behind my back than alone. There is a difference between bravery and stupidity." I said, unlike Hidan and Kakuzu, Nagato wasn't somebody I wanted to face alone, Kisame truly made me feel the presence of a predator and Obito held a bullshit advantage over me.
"But that doesn't stop them from attacking." Karin replied.
"Perhaps, but Konoha can take the brunt of the attack." I nonchalantly revealed my intentions, there was no loyalty to me or the stupid dream. My survival was what mattered to me the most.
"Using an entire village as a meat shield, I like the idea. Gives us ample time to prepare." Suigetsu licked his lips.
"Or escape." Fu added herself in our conversation.
Everyone turned to stare at the green-haired jinchuuriki with a raised eyebrow, including myself.
She quickly raised both hands. "Don't look at me like that. I only want to live a long life and travel around the world. Dying for ideals or for loyalty is stupid."
Her quick explanation made sense to me and even silently agreed with her point, but at the same time I couldn't help but think of cowardice on her part. It was a mess of conflicting ideals holding me back to voice my opinion.
Thankfully, Karin was the one who stepped in on my behalf. "You aren't really wrong to think like that. It is very hard to remove the indoctrination that villages put on their forces through the years of training and education."
"So you have common sense, good riddance." A faint smile appeared on her as she kicked the pebbles on the ground.
Karin let out a sigh as she held the bridge of her nose. "Common sense can be subjective, but sneaking attacks on enemies while they are busy dealing with others is a very common but effective strategy."
Fu stopped the pointless dirt kicking and looked at her. "Mmm… You have a point."
Feeling rather lost, Karin turned to me. "What do you think, Sasuke-kun?"
"For now, our only objective is to arrive at Konoha. We should skip sleep to arrive faster." I replied after some consideration, time wasn't in our favor and I didn't want to bet on odds stacked against me.
"I'm used to skipping nights." Karin sighed but wasn't against my proposal.
"I do not mind." Juugo shrugged.
"Sleepless nights were part of my training." The shark-boy pointed at himself with his thumb with a smug smile on his face.
When I turned to the jinchuuriki for an answer, she bit her lip with her eyes focused on anywhere but me. "I think I can endure."
The obvious show of insecurity didn't help her case, but I couldn't sit down to mediate an in-between solution. The majority group decision supported my decision.
"It's decided then, let's go." I jumped towards the nearest tree and took the lead, with the rest following me close. Glancing at the darkening sky, knowing full well that it was going to be a long night and day.
I was confident of my physique and I wasn't a stranger to all-night but there was a high certainty that it would suck nevertheless.
The following day we kept moving nonstop. Our breakfast that morning became tasteless food pills that we had stored in our clothes with no water to pass it down, and while it did the job it didn't change the fact that we hate disliked the taste.
Occasionally I glance at our newest member, who wasn't accustomed to sleepless nights but didn't show any sign of exhaustion at the current moment so I wasn't concerned.
However, that changed when later in the day when evening was fast approaching.
"Sorry guys, I really can't keep going." Fu declared before landed on the ground and using the tree to support her weight as her legs slowly gave out.
"Can't you use your bijuu chakra?" Suigetsu spoke up as he stroked his chin.
"It doesn't work like that." She deadpanned.
It was a setback but with a simple solution since we couldn't just stop and set up camp, so only one of us could sleep. If she wasn't a jinchuuriki, I would have left her behind.
"Carry her Juugo." With my order given, Juugo turned around and extended his hand to the exhausted Jinchuuriki, who took the offer.
"I'm sorry for the inconvenience." She muttered before her eyes closed and fell between Juugo's arms.
It surprised him at first, but carefully moved her body to properly carry her on his back so she could be comfortably sleeping and wouldn't feel much of the traveling movement. What a considerate guy.
With that minor setback resolved, we resumed setting out immediately, and I my head was the first to feel the drawbacks of staying awake, it was throbbing but not a painful to the migraines attack from the past. However, as long as I kept moving, it barely registered and could be ignored, yet I was sure the moment I could hit a bed I would drop asleep on the spot unless I used those tasteless soldier pills, which in my opinion were counterproductive.
Without a watch, it was difficult to tell the time of the day, but the forest was still dark and the starry sky remained the same, deducing we had a long night ahead of us.
The best word to describe it would be monotonous.
Only trees and trees and more trees.
Jumping from branch to branch.
Nobody spoke up or tried to start a conversation. I had the assumption they also were busy concentrating on staying awake just like me except after the initial headache it disappeared and no longer felt the need to sleep.
So we kept going until the first signs of the sky changing color.
The moment I noticed the dawn of a new day, I jumped to the ground.
Soon after, the rest of me landed next to me.
Everyone, not including the sleeping jinchuuriki, but Karin looked tired with initial stages of bags under her eyes forming, but my action didn't go unnoticed by her, who quickly pushed her glasses up and spoke.
"We aren't that far from Konoha, so we should be able to encounter one of their patrols."
And a yawn escaped from her which she quickly covered her mouth to fake her state, which failed as small tears formed at the corner of her eyes as all her facial muscles scrunched up, releasing a chain reaction.
Suigetsu was the next who couldn't hold back and yawned, followed by Juugo and finally with me, it was contagious and childish enough that for a moment made me forget the situation we were currently in, a slight moment to laugh but I didn't.
Nobody made a comment, and silence reigned for a while.
"Why don't we lure them to our position?" Suigetsu broke the ice with an idea.
Our redhead shook her head and gave him the stink eye. "Is a bad idea. We draw not only attention from them but potential enemies as well."
"It would be suicidal for any hostile group to be so close to Konoha tho." The swordsman rebutted with narrowed eyes.
"You are correct in that regard, but one can never rule out the possibility." She added, a smirk forming on her lips.
"Fine." He shrugged and didn't press further, surprising me that they didn't descend into pointless bickering like always did whenever they disagreed on anything.
However, Karin's expression had a drastic shift and twisted to the right, her gaze locked onto something at a long distance.
"They are coming."
Her words alerted the entire group.
"Wake her up." I gave my order as my hand grabbed the handle of one sword, so I wouldn't be caught off guard even if nothing might happen.
Juugo carefully put her down on the ground.
Suigetsu walked up to the sleeping form of the jinchuuriki and poked her cheeks with one finger. "Wakey wakey, time for a fight."
Fu's eyes shot wide open and her hands immediately hit the ground using the impact to jump into action, however her face quickly transformed into confusion as she only saw us watching her in surprise, I didn't think any of us expected her to be so efficient and battle ready when necessary.
"Don't be an idiot." Karin groaned, one hand dragging all over her face, trying to wash the frustration.
"Let's keep going." I said.
"That's my cue." An arrogant voice came from behind.
My hand immediately pulled out my sword and swung it at the direction where the voice came from, only to be met with a resounding clash of metal objects. With the dust settled, my eyes took notice of the newcomer using a flute with both hands to hold my weapon in place.
"Finally decided to show yourself?" I lowered my weapon, and she did the same. At that moment we all recognized the foul-mouthed redhead had finally arrived to annoy our group like the previous times.
And unlike our time at Suna, she was wearing her very revealing clothes again, except she was sporting a different bra. It covered a bit more of her upper body and a pair of indigo shorts, showing off her slim waist. However, what caught my attention was that she discarded her fishnet shirt and the small cap, instead she combed her long red hair into a ponytail.
That new look was better, in my opinion.
"Is better this way, the last thing is having you fuckers cause another shit-show." She said.
"So you remained hidden because?" Suigetsu spoke up.
The redhead rolled her eyes. "Because everyone is retarded and would have engaged you on sight, with me around that no longer is the case."
"And couldn't you do that from the very beginning?"
She flipped us off with a shit-eating grin plastered all over her smug face. "Fuck you, my way my rules."
Suigetsu tilted his head as his hand slowly crept closer to the great sword.
"Just lead us to the village." I spoke up before those two tried to rip each other's throats.
"Hold it right there princess, first you have to answer me." Tayuya pulled out Kiri's bingo book on a specific page right in front of my face.
I was about to push her hand away until my eyes caught sight of the contents of the book. A handsome face with spiky black hair.
Despite my narcissism, it was undoubtedly me who was listed in that bingo book, and right below my portrait was Karin's face next to Suigetsu.
Our redhead snatched the book from the foul-mouthed girl and read as fast as she could as she skimmed through the pages, her face draining from all colors. "Sasuke-kun that's…."
She handed me the book and took my eyes, went to the first paragraph that specified my supposed crime against the village, murder of Chojuro and Kotonoha, stealing multiple Kirigakure relics, etc.
"So Kiri put a bounty on my head." I closed the book and tossed it towards Tayuya, who didn't bother to catch it and let it fall flat on the ground, my action only causing her expression to harden.
"What the fuck did you do? These accusations are heavy, and the old hag was livid when she learned about this. I do not know how many desks she broke by now."
"I will talk only after I enter Konoha." I made my demand clear enough. I didn't want to repeat my story multiple times as it was pointless and a waste of time which we didn't have.
"Fair enough, this is a shitty place to talk this kind of stuff." She agreed with me and turned the opposite direction from the village.
"Not the main gate?" Karin asked as she pointed the opposite direction.
"Is better for everyone to not know you are here, unless you want to cause a large clusterfuck"
Everyone turned to me.
I held my forehead and released a sigh. The cons of being a leader. "She is right, I don't want to announce my presence to the entire village."
We followed the redhead.
"Still, you coming back so soon really caught me off guard." Tayuya commented.
"I wouldn't have if you idiots didn't let that stupid head get away, despite all my warnings in those notes. You have one job. Literally one. Fucking. Job." I snarled. There were no words to express the frustration I felt towards them as all my future plans lay in ruins because they couldn't keep a single piece of meat inside a safe.
"I'm innocent here!" Tayuya raised both hands in mock surrender. "Don't attack the messenger."
Knowing her, I opted to not reply and keep following her lead, but I wished she would increase her pace since walking felt agonizingly slow for shinobi who could travel countries in matters of days. Giving a quick glance to the rest of my team, they too shared the sentiment except for the big guy who already found a new friend, a fully white bird taking a nest in his hair.
Tayuya calmly kept walking, occasionally slightly changing direction but our surroundings remained the same, my eyes immediately went looking for patterns or landmarks from the rocks on the ground to the trees, yet I couldn't find one or at least I couldn't see them if they were there. Karin, on the other hand, always looked in one direction for a while before shifting to another with narrowed brows, but she didn't alert me, so it remained like that.
The annoying redhead came to a halt and raised a hand to signal us to stop before she walked a couple of steps forward and pulled a large bush off the ground, revealing a trap door big enough for a single person to pass through it.
"Pass one at a time." She said.
I raised an eyebrow in doubt, but put a little thought into it and lifted the trapdoor before letting gravity do its magic.
The very first thing I noticed was that it was a dreary place, my vision reduced to only a few feet away, barely noticing large wooden pillars. I only walked a few steps and found myself standing over the edge to what would be an endless abyss of pure darkness, but that was only my imagination, as it was too dark to see what was below me.
But my imagination stopped as I heard the rest of time landing behind me, Tayuya being the last one to arrive.
"This place looks so old." Fu commented as she walked up to the nearest pillar and touched it, feeling the surface and giving a couple of knocks, judging the age.
Tayuya merely shrugged and made her way to the front of the group. "Abandoned Headquarters, there are still some uses for it though."
"Don't you worry it might fall down one day? When was the last time any of you used or gave maintenance to this place?" Fu insisted.
"Second war? Third? I don't know and I don't give a shit. Is the hag problem not mine." The redhead groaned, hoping that the other could take the hint.
Fu took the hint and didn't inquire any further, causing the entire place to become dead silent. Except for the wind passing through, creating a strange sound effect, as if it was whistling.
We followed her closely until a certain point where there was a long empty hallway with the same old large pillars, where she jumped to the nearest one and used the momentum to push herself to another pillar not very far away.
She didn't jump again, instead she landed both feet on the surface and stuck to it using her chakra to keep herself attached to an impossible surface, where she proceeded to walk with no issue.
It was normal to do for shinobis but it was still fascinating to watch the wonders of chakra in mundane activities, at least compared to my old life.
I was the first to follow her, repeating the same jump and landing relatively close to where she did. Tayuya jumped again towards another platform where she was waiting for us.
After landing on the new level, Suigetsu was the second to arrive and watched from above the rest following the path, except Fu, who ran towards the other pillars and jumped, attaching her feet to the surface and ran toward us.
When she got close enough to jump the surface broke and her left leg buried deep into the pillars causing her to lose concentration while her other foot slipped off the surface and fell, except she didn't fall thanks to her trapped leg causing her body to hang.
I was about to jump to help her, but I stopped myself when I saw a pair of dragonfly wings sprout from her back and flapped at max speed, pushing her out of the hole and reaching our platform with little issue.
Soon after, her wings dissipated into the air, leaving behind a girl rubbing the sore spot on her leg.
"Are you alright?" Karin asked, approaching the girl for a quick checkup, but Fu extended her hand to stop her.
"Yeah, just startled."
"Hey greenie, I won't repeat myself. Follow the fucking group!" Tayuya's shout echoed across the building and many rooms, revealing she didn't wait for us as she already made her way to the next destination and we shouldn't lag behind.
Fu's lips split into a forced smile and walked off the nasty surprise.
Inside a dark room was the same as outside with no celestial object in sight. It was difficult to track the time.
But my team kept following Tayuya's directions to the letters as Fu unwantedly showed us the dangers of our surroundings if we failed to do so. However, that didn't change the fact that it was a very complex and convoluted route we were taking, passing through rooms and going up and down from levels until we found ourselves on a very long staircase going upwards.
At the end of the staircase lay a large metallic door, which Tayuya rushed to it and removed the locks before pushing it open with her shoulder.
Action that instantly exposed us to the sunlight rays, forcing us to close our eyes and use a hand for cover for a second so we all could adjust to the sudden change of light. But we still kept walking forward until we all passed the door.
When my sight recovered. I watched from the top of the building the vast sea of buildings of varying sizes and considerably far away I noticed the shape of the hokage mountain.
"Welcome to Konoha, asshole."
AN: Hello all! In theory, this should have been come out faster, but I crunched with writing my Original story a lot, I need to write 10 chapters which became rather draining to me as and then put them for revision with a proofreader which ended in destroying some chapters for better cohesion and pacing which put me a step back at reaching the goal of 10 chapters.
(One of them was literary written in a day nonstop writing, fml)b(╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻
Ok, I know this is a long shot but, is anyone interested in being a beta reader for this story?
You will get the amazing reward of…..
Reading the chapter first! (Don't judge me, okay?)
BTW dunno if it had been fixed, but fanfiction update or alert mail no longer were sent to outlook/hotmail. So if you are still facing this problem, just change your email address to Gmail, it fixed mine after missing out a couple chapters of my favorite stories.
Anyway, I hope you are enjoying the story so far.