Author's note: A bit of a doozy, this chapter.

Thanks to the following reviewers: 666snoopy; Richon; solitare1

Warnings: Mentions of past child abuse; Rasa being a huge dick; disturbing imagery; homophobic slur

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto owns it.

I hope you'll like it!

Chapter 29

"Wait, that's your dad?" Kisame asked incredulously.

"I'd call him a sperm donor, but even that still sounds too positive," Gaara murmured. "But yes, unfortunately it seems he didn't croak yet."

"Guess we should have expected that," Naruto said darkly. "It's always the arseholes who live the longest." He patted Moegi's hand when she buried her face into his shoulder.

"Do you think you could talk with him?" Itachi suggested cautiously, but Gaara snorted before he could even finish his suggestion.

"I don't know how many feel good movies you have watched, but I can already tell you that a possible conversation between me and him wouldn't follow such a script at all," Gaara scoffed.

"He can't have been that bad," Kisame tried.

"I suppose he wasn't. All he did was abandon me, Temari and Kankuro, choosing booze and whores after he got tired of beating the shit out of us for years." Gaara's cynical smile could flay someone to pieces.

"You think he would try to kill you?" Sasuke asked quietly.

He didn't want to believe that a parent would actually be capable of killing their own child, but a parent was also not supposed to hurt or abandon their kid. Clearly Gaara's father wasn't aware of that one simple rule.

"I don't think he would give a shit," Gaara answered and shrugged. "That is if he even would recognise me to begin with. Don't put your hopes on him being decent; you're setting yourself up for some major disappointment in that case."

"What do you want to do with him?" Naruto asked. His tone was neutral, almost like he was just asking Gaara what his plans for the evening were, but his hand had tightened around his machete and his jaw was set.

Sasuke realised what he was actually asking just a second before Gaara replied, "If you get the chance, go for it." His green eyes were as chilly as a lake in the winter.

"Didn't I teach you manners, you fucking brat?"

Gaara's father – his hair a very dull red, almost brown and thinning – suddenly rounded the corner, aiming his gun at Gaara. Before he could pull the trigger, however, Gaara fired off a bolt. His father grinned, making a move to dodge it but was a tad too slow: it hit him right in his shoulder. It sent the man staggering back, loudly cursing, momentarily disappearing behind the corner again.

"Get inside a house right the fuck now!" Gaara hissed.

They whirled around and dashed around the corner of the house they had been hiding behind. Kisame kicked down the first door he saw, ushering them inside. They hurried into the house; Itachi and Kisame instantly honing in on the couch they spotted in the living room, dragging it right in front of the door. It might not do much for long, but they weren't planning on staying here for long either.

"Think you can escape from me?" Gaara's father still taunted loudly outside even after having been shot by a bolt.

"Times like this, you'd wish there were actually a bunch of those dead fuckers around," Naruto said darkly, hobbling over to the window. "I'm putting you on the floor for a moment, all right, Moegi-chan?"

The girl was trembling like a leaf by the time Naruto lowered her onto the floor and she latched onto his side, terrified out of her wits.

"That was the mean man!" she whimpered, clutching Naruto's jacket tightly.

Sasuke briefly closed his eyes. He already had had a suspicion, of course, because their luck would otherwise have been truly shitty if there were two arseholes walking around town. Hearing it confirmed, however, was far from great. How could they confront Gaara's father and actually receive the explanation they needed? Somehow he doubted the man would be very forthcoming with answers – and that was if he already didn't immediately shoot them on sight like he had been intending to do just now.

Right as he opened his eyes again, he caught the sharp look being exchanged between Naruto and Gaara.

"Guess he's an arsehole through and through, huh?" Naruto said flatly.

"Didn't expect anything else to be honest," Gaara muttered, running a hand through his hair.

"What's the plan?" Kisame asked, looking between them all expectantly. "Don't want to state the obvious here, but we can hardly stay put here. We don't have any food with us and the door might not hold for that long."

"We need to find nee-chan!" Moegi begged, tugging at Naruto's jacket.

It sent him nearly careening into the window; proof that he was running on fumes by now. No surprise, considering how much he had been running around on his busted leg. Tsunade was going to kill them, if Gaara's dad didn't manage to do it first.

"Naruto, go rest in that chair," Sasuke ordered and when Naruto opened his mouth, no doubt to protest, he shook his head and pointed at the armchair in question. "We don't have a plan yet, you might as well rest now before you really fuck up your leg."

"He's right," Gaara agreed, wandering over to the window. "Might as well take a break now while we figure out how to deal with dear dad."

Naruto released an explosive sigh, but limped over to the armchair in question, appearing thoroughly put out. Moegi followed meekly, resting her hands on one of the arms of the chair.

"Nee-chan," she implored again, biting down on her lip.

"Anybody have any idea how we'll get him to talk?" Itachi asked, but his pinched eyebrows showed he wasn't expecting a positive reply.

"If he doesn't want to talk, he won't," Gaara said flatly and crossed his arms. He chanced a glance out of the window, pursing his lips. "And I don't want to know what he would want in exchange for the information if he would want to give it."

"But we can't leave nee-chan behind!" Moegi exclaimed panicky. "We can't! We have to find her!"

Considering how quick Gaara's father had been to kill them, Sasuke didn't have high hopes for the survival chances of Moegi's sister. He didn't want to say it aloud, but the looks they exchanged over Moegi's head told him the others were thinking the same as him. Their best option would be to make a run to the car and leave before the guy could come after them, but there was no way Moegi would just let that happen. Sasuke understood her, of course he did; he had a brother after all, who he wouldn't want to leave behind either. But the chances of her sister still being alive really didn't seem that high.

"Fuck it," Gaara said abruptly and before anyone could stop him, he suddenly opened the window, shoving it upwards with a screeching noise.

"What are you - " Kisame started to ask, but Gaara leant nearly out of the window, calling out to his father.

"HEY! You know where this girl's sister is?" he demanded coldly.

"Not sure if that's going to work," Sasuke said sceptically.

There was a short pause before Gaara's father called out, smugness dripping from his voice, "I might. What's it to you?"

"What do you think, jackass?" Gaara retorted sarcastically.

"I don't think that's the way to approach him," Itachi murmured, but Gaara ignored him.

"Those girls mean anything to you?" Gaara's father called out, curious and amused. "Shocking, always took you for a fucking fag instead."

"He really is such a lovely person," Kisame snorted, rolling his neck.

"I know this doesn't mean anything to you, but what we're doing is called being a decent person and giving a shit about strangers," Gaara sneered, readying his crossbow right underneath the window. "What do you know?"

"Why would I tell you?"

"We've got shit to trade," Gaara said blankly.

He was also lying straight through his teeth, because they did most certainly not have any 'shit' to trade. There was no way they could just hand over that many ammunition and weapons to someone who clearly wasn't running on all cylinders anymore. They might as well just lie down on the ground then and offer themselves up to get killed.

Sasuke frowned, but caught Naruto's eyes. The blond man shook his head lightly, mouthing, "No trade, trap."

Sasuke wasn't entirely certain what this trap could entail, but decided that for now he would trust Naruto and Gaara. They were the only ones who knew Gaara's father and who would be able to come up with a plan that would trick the older man. So far their plans had always succeeded, so Sasuke figured it was only fair to give them the benefit of the doubt again. they hadn't let him down so far.

"A trade, huh?" Gaara's father called back, sounding intrigued and more lucid.

Sasuke wasn't certain whether that was a good thing.

"All right, we'll do a trade," Gaara's father decided and his voice was light, almost friendly when he called out, "The kid's sister in exchange for you."

Gaara had been quite steadfast the entire time in spite of talking to the man who had abused him and who he hadn't seen in years, but now he reared back, shock momentarily flashing across his face.

Naruto straightened up, tense. "What is he planning?" he demanded in a low voice.

Gaara turned his face away from the window, glancing at his friend. "Whatever it is, it can't be anything good," he muttered, barely moving his mouth.

"What do you want to do?" Itachi asked; his jaw clenched.

Moegi looked anxiously between them all, gnawing on her lower lip so much it was a wonder she hadn't bitten straight through it yet.

"Who says he really knows where the girl is?" Kisame asked, narrowing his eyes. "He could be bluffing."

"There's a good chance of that," Naruto mumbled, stretching out his uninjured leg. "He's never been the trustworthy type."

"That's putting it mildly," Gaara scoffed.

"We can set up a trap, but we'll need to know where Moegi's sister is first," Sasuke said, rolling his shoulders. "So far it seems like he's completely alone; we'd have the number advantage at least – and the weapon advantage too."

"Moegi-chan," Itachi drew her attention, "do you know if there are other people in this town besides that man?"

She hunched her shoulders, looking troubled. "I don't think so?" she said uncertainly. "Nee-chan and me, we only saw him before she told me to hide."

"A trap should work then," Sasuke said slowly. He wouldn't make the mistake of assuming it would be easy to get the drop on the older man, but if he truly was alone there was only so much he could do before they could retaliate. They were with more people and had access to more weapons – Gaara's father might be quick to shoot, but he was still only one man. There was only so much he could do against five men.

"What will it be? Don't got all night," Gaara's father drawled.

With how clear his voice sounded, he must be standing near the window. Perhaps near the corner; he might not have all his marbles anymore, but he wouldn't be stupid enough to give them a free shot – unfortunately. Sasuke found himself wishing for once that a zombie herd would show up. Where were those annoying fuckers when you actually needed them?

"Bring her sister here and then I'll go with you," Gaara said coolly. "Don't even try to pull any shit."

"Think that should be my line, fucking monster," the older man said scornfully. "But fine, I'll go get her. We meet outside in ten minutes. You carry any weapons, your head's gaining an extra hole."

Sasuke barely registered the deadline or the threat; all his focus being on the way Gaara's cold mask had cracked just the slightest at the insult his father had thrown at him. To Sasuke it hadn't exactly been a creative insult, but it had hit Gaara in some way, chipping at his mask to the point that Naruto suddenly vaulted out of the armchair and crossed the distance between them in just three steps, grabbing Gaara by his fully functioning arm. The second he did that, the daze which had clouded green eyes cleared up and Gaara shook his head, locking eyes with Naruto.

"Are you okay?" Kisame asked warily.

"I'm fine," Gaara replied curtly. The way he gripped Naruto's hand was soft, gentle almost when he squeezed it, making Naruto release him after a moment.

Sasuke quirked an eyebrow when Naruto walked past him, but Naruto simply pressed his lips together and shook his head, indicating he didn't want to talk about it.

"Not now," he murmured.

"Are we going to get nee-chan?" Moegi asked hopefully, digging her fingers in the arm of the chair.

"Yeah, we're going to get your nee-chan back," Naruto told her cheerfully, but only the girl was unaware just how forced his smile looked.

Sasuke didn't say anything, but glanced at Itachi, who returned the look with a slightly troubled one of his own. This situation should normally end in their favour – but when had life ever been easy for them since the dead started walking again?

With just five minutes left until Gaara's father – "Fucker's called Rasa." – showed up, they went through hastily thrown together plan one last time.

"The second the exchange happens and Moegi's sister is close to us, I'll shoot," Itachi said, keeping his voice low enough so that Moegi, who was resting curled up in the chair, wouldn't hear him. They had moved into the kitchen, adding some simile of privacy to their discussion.

It was highly unlikely that Moegi hadn't witnessed violence before, but that didn't mean they were going to callously discuss cold blooded murder where she could hear them.

"He'll probably suspect something, but if we're quick enough he can't do anything," Itachi continued calmly. "Even so, Kisame, it might be best if you hide nearby and try to sneak behind him just in case."

"Covering all the bases is a good thing with that arsehole," Naruto remarked. "Fucking jackass isn't as stupid as he looks unfortunately."

The crackle of the walkie-talkie – which frankly Sasuke had almost forgotten about – startled them all and Sasuke yanked it out of his pocket. "Yeah?"

"Where the fuck are you?" Tsunade asked icily. "It's nearly two thirty in the morning; you should have already been back by now!"

Kisame grimaced, rubbing the back of his head. "Knew we'd forgotten something," he muttered.

Sasuke flickered his eyes to Gaara, who looked back calmly. He clicked on the button. "Sorry, we ran into a – complication."

"How about that for a euphemism?" Naruto drawled, leaning back in the rickety kitchen chair.

"What do you mean, a complication?" This time it was father coming through; his voice sharp with concern.

"We found a girl in the practice whose sister went missing. When searching for her, we found the one who's responsible for taking her sister," Sasuke answered as succinctly as possible. "We're currently setting up a trap to get rid of him."

It took a bit before father's voice came through again. "Don't take unnecessary risks," he said firmly.

"We won't. We just – we can't leave them behind here," Sasuke sighed, bracing his free hand against the scuffed looking table.

It would be easy to just abandon Moegi and her sister and leave them to the non-existing mercy of Rasa. They had no relationship whatsoever with the girls, hadn't even known one of them for more than a couple of hours at best, but what would that make of them if they would abandon such a young girl and her sister? The undead had stripped many of their humanity already – Sasuke refused to let it strip him from his.

"Just be careful, okay?" Father said.

"And get your arses back here as soon as possible, fucking idiots!" Tsunade cursed before the line abruptly died.

"She's going to kick our arses so bad," Kisame said sombrely.

Naruto side-eyed him; a hint of a smirk dancing around the corners of his mouth for the first time this night. "Afraid of the old hag, big guy?"

"You better be too if you know what's good for you," Kisame retorted darkly. "She'll wipe the floor with you, injured or not."

"She'll have to catch me first," Naruto said flippantly, waving his hand.

Itachi checked his watch. "Kisame, get ready," he said and the large man nodded, silently disappearing out of the kitchen. Itachi turned to Gaara next. "You are completely okay with this? It's still - "

"He hasn't been my father the day he decided to let his fists do the talking," Gaara said flatly, handing over his crossbow to Naruto. "I really don't give a shit. First chance you get, you shoot, simple as that. Don't even hesitate for one second."

"Well, that's clear," Sasuke murmured.

Gaara looked at him sharply before he shrugged. "Fucker's had it coming a long time ago," he said curtly. "Ready to go?"

"Let's go," Itachi decided, hiding his gun underneath his jacket. "Naruto-kun, do you feel well enough to hold Moegi-chan?"

With how unpredictable Rasa might be, they didn't want to get Moegi caught in the crossfire. Because they also didn't expect the girl to willingly stay behind, however, they had agreed that Naruto would hold her, keeping her safe. He was a bit too unsteady on his feet to be the one to deliver the killing shot; Sasuke would take over if for some reason Itachi's first shot failed.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Naruto sighed and pushed himself off from the chair, grimacing slightly as he put weight on his injured leg again. "Let's just get this over with, all right? Never thought I'd be saying this, but I'm really looking forward to sleeping in a bed."

"I think we're all looking forward to that," Itachi smiled faintly before growing solemn again. "Let's go outside; we'll be better off being there first."

The late hour and worry about her sister were clearly wearing Moegi down. She whined softly when Naruto bent down to pick her up, settling her on his hip. He had his own crossbow strapped against his back and held Gaara's crossbow in his one free hand. It looked quite uncomfortable with the young girl clinging onto him with her arms wrapped around his neck, but he didn't show any signs of discomfort when he walked over to the door, following Gaara. Moegi's eyes were drooping; she was obviously fighting against the fatigue, a battle she was stubbornly winning so far.

"We're going to get nee-chan?" she asked, sounding more awake now.

"Yeah, we are," Naruto confirmed, flashing her a quick grin before he turned serious. "You have to stay with me until your sister is with us, okay? We don't want to give that mean man a chance to hurt you."

"Okay!" she agreed, eyes widening. "I'll stay with Naruto-nii-san!"

"Good," Naruto praised her and she beamed before yawning loudly.

Sasuke followed right behind him and couldn't help but frown at the dark stain he spotted on Naruto's jeans, right where that cult priestess had cut him. It could just be blood from one of the zombies Naruto had killed earlier, but …

"We'll need to look at your wound when we're back home," he murmured.

Naruto inclined his head slightly, sighing a bit. "Probably," he admitted begrudgingly. "Baa-chan's going to have a field day – or night."

"She might knock you out and keep you confined to the infirmary," Sasuke said dryly. Behind him Itachi snorted amused.

"I'd like to see her try," Naruto said loftily.

He really did thrive on testing her patience, didn't he?

At some point when they had been inside, it had started to rain. It was barely more than a drizzle, coating everything in a sheen of glistening droplets, filling the air with its typical petrichor scent. In spite of everything, Sasuke found himself inhaling deeply, letting the familiar scent settle in his nose. It was almost like one of the many nights he had shared with his brother before, when the rain would keep him up and his older brother would take him outside on the balcony, where they would breathe in the petrichor scent and listen to the drops hitting the roof and the plant which had been steadily climbing up the wall back then. It would be exactly like then, except for the confrontation that was awaiting them.

They walked into the street, leaving behind the safety of the house. Several abandoned cars were still neatly parked on each side of the road and Sasuke knew that behind one of them Kisame was hiding, awaiting the moment he would need to strike. Gaara stepped forwards until he was standing in the middle of the street; his arms resting idly at his sides. Sasuke and Itachi halted a bit behind him with Naruto lingering at the back, covered by both brothers. It wasn't a position Naruto liked to be in, Sasuke knew, but with Moegi clinging to him and his own injured leg there was just no way he take part in attacking.

The sound of a steady footfall had them all tensing up and Sasuke watched with narrowed eyes how Rasa turned the corner, dragging a teenager with him. She was smaller than him, barely reaching his shoulders, and her jeans were ripped around the knees. Her dark red sweater hung loosely around her frame, covered in old blood and dirt. A large knife was strapped to her right hip and Sasuke frowned when he took in the weird veil covering her face. She was walking sluggishly next to Rasa, being tugged along forcefully rather than actually walking on her own. Had he been drugging her? A vile taste coated Sasuke's mouth as he refused to contemplate why Rasa would have needed to drug her.

Rasa's eyes glittered when they landed on Gaara, whose only reaction to seeing his father up close was a twitch of his left hand. "Kept my part of the deal," Rasa drawled and stopped in front of Gaara, keeping a short distance between them. "Come here now."

"Let her walk to us first," Sasuke demanded, growing uneasily with the way the girl was swaying back and forth, looking like she was going to drop down any second now.

"Nee-chan!" Moegi called out excitedly. "Nee-chan, I'm here!"

Her sister gave no indication she had heard her.

"Equal exchange," Rasa smirked. "He starts coming over to me at the same time."

It was expected, of course, but that didn't make it any less enervating.

"Don't like this," Naruto muttered underneath his breath.

"Nee-chan, I'm here!" Moegi called out again, but her sister still didn't respond.

"Well, here she is, have fun," Rasa smirked and shoved her forwards when Gaara started walking towards him.

The second she was shoved forwards, a breeze sprang up, lifting up her veil –

Showing off her empty eyes and the large hole in the right side of her face where once her cheek had been; mangled flesh and bits of shattered bone moving in the most disturbing manner when she gurgled, stumbling forwards with her hands grasping blindly at the air.

Moegi screamed.

AN2: Who saw this coming?

Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me.

I hope to see you all back in the next chapter! Please stay safe and take care of yourselves!

Cuddles

Melissa

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