Sasuke's breath was ragged, the weight of the camping bag stuffed with cash dragging on his back as he sprinted down the narrow corridor of the bank's underground. His fingers were slick with sweat, wrapped tight around the grip of his AR-15, the barrel still cool... for now.
Just in front of him, Itachi—Crow— threw up a closed fist, signaling a halt as he reached a T-junction. Sasuke and the third member of their team, Sakura Haruno, stacked up behind him, breathing hard.
This was their lifeline. This cramped, pristine hallway was their key to escaping a job that had gone from tight and clean to a fucking bear trap.
Sakura—Cherry—shifted beside him, adjusting the heavy sack of bills slung across her shoulder. She quickly checked the Benelli M4 in her grip, counting her remaining shells. Thirty shots. Still full. Good. She hadn't fired a single round yet. The same couldn't be said for her Glock, though, holstered against her thigh.
"Snake," she whispered to Sasuke, her voice barely above the sound of their breathing. "How's your ammo?"
Sasuke flicked his eyes to his rifle's mag, then quickly patted the pouches on his vest. Five left. Enough? Probably not.
"Enough," he muttered anyway.
Itachi nodded, taking a slow peek from cover, scanning the intersection ahead. The faint wail of sirens bled through the thick walls. The cops were already outside, waiting. Someone had tripped the alarm. Somehow, someone had screwed up.
Itachi tensed, listening...
The sound of footsteps—heavy boots shuffling, hushed voices barking orders.
He clicked his tongue. "SWAT."
"Fucking great," Sakura sighed sarcastically, though the sweat on her exposed arms betrayed her unease.
Itachi's brow furrowed in thought. "They were expecting us... I wouldn't put it past Danzo to—"
THWACK!
Itachi jerked back just in time, a bullet burying itself into the wall where his head had been a second ago. Another bullet hit the wall, sending more chunks of plaster flying against his Kitsune mask.
And another.
Sasuke's gut twisted. "Shit."
Another, shot echoed through the corridor. The air cracked as the bullet buried itself in the wall—this time from a parallel trajectory.
"We're getting sandwiched," Itachi muttered.
More gunfire. Suppressing fire. The team ducked as rounds tore through the walls, filling the air with choking dust.
Sasuke gritted his teeth. "We need to fall back."
"Where?" Sakura asked, glancing between them.
Itachi nodded, already making the call. "Back to the vault. We can hold there."
Sasuke's pulse spiked. That was not what he wanted to hear. "Why are we heading—"
"It's more defensible than this hallway," Itachi snapped. "We stay out here, they'll pin us down and rip us apart."
More gunfire erupted behind them. Close. Too close. Sasuke cursed, already hearing movement behind them. More boots. Coming fast.
They were about to be caught in a crossfire. Trapped. They had no choice.
"Move!"
Sasuke and Sakura pivoted, pushing back toward the vault, their footsteps pounding against the tile. The distant shouts of SWAT officers echoed behind them.
"Stack up! Keep pressure on them!"
Another shot slammed into the wall just behind Sasuke's shoulder. He could feel the heat of it as he rounded the corner, body low and fast.
Sakura was right on him,shotgun tight against her chest, her checkered shirt bouncing with her footsteps from where it wrapped around her waist. Itachi was bringing up the rear, his weapon raised and his finger ready to fire on any new presence.
The corridor leading to the vault yawned ahead, dimly lit and cold as hell.
They weren't out yet. But for now?
They were still breathing.
As they turned into a bend, Sasuke slowed down to a stop, gripping his rifle tight as he pressed his back against the cold marble pillar, his breaths ragged, his heart hammering in his chest. Sweat trickled down the back of his neck, dampening the collar of his t-shirt beneath his jacket. His grip on the AR-15 tightened, fingers slick against the polymer grip. A little bit up the hallway, through the dust-choked air, he caught Sakura's gaze. Her masked face was partially hidden behind her own pillar, her chest rising and falling with the same frantic rhythm.
"Sakura," Sasuke whispered, barely audible over the ringing in his ears. "Breathe. You're good."
She nodded, her grip tightening on the shotgun. She inhaled sharply, steadied herself. It was just another job. Another firefight. Another obstacle between them and freedom.
Up ahead, Itachi crouched low behind his own pillar, his AR-15 tucked against his shoulder. He was still, listening to the shuffling boots of the approaching SWAT team, watching.
Seconds ticked by. Minutes...
Then... a metallic clink echoed down the hallway.
Sasuke's blood turned to ice as a small, narrow cylinder rolled to a stop at their feet.
"Stun grenade!"
BANG!
Sasuke squeezed his eyes shut, teeth clenched as the concussive blast hit them like a hammer. His skull rattled, his ears screamed, his balance wavered. The world blurred, his limbs felt weightless for a split second before reality came crashing back in the form of—
Gunfire.
Automatic fire erupted, sending chunks of plaster flying off the walls as SWAT officers stormed into the hallway.
Sasuke gritted his teeth, blinking away the daze. The world spun, but his hands moved on instinct. He raised his rifle, pressed the stock to his shoulder, and squeezed the trigger.
One shot, two, three... He breathed. One. Two. Three.
Controlled bursts like his brother had taught him.
Itachi was already firing. The muzzle flashes from his AR-15 lit up his location in strobes of white-hot light. Shell casings clattered against the floor, the metallic clinging punctuating the loud roars from his rifle.
The SWAT team held their ground, shields up, their movements disciplined. Sasuke's rounds pinged uselessly against their ballistic plates, sending sparks flying.
Sakura was in the fight now, too. The boom of her shotgun cracked through the air, shaking the walls. Buckshot hit a riot shield square in the center, but the officer only staggered, still moving.
A single barked order from the SWAT commander cut through the chaos. "Establish a base of fire! Cover the advance!"
The shielded officers surged forward in formation, their boots crunching against the ground in perfect unison as some officers broke off from the formation, taking cover behind pillars and laying down fire.
Sasuke barely had time to reload. His fingers worked automatically—ripping the spent magazine free, sliding a fresh one home, racking the charging handle back with a Shhhk-clack. He glanced up just in time to see one of the officers lean out, rifle raised.
Shit.
Sasuke ducked just as a burst of 5.56 rounds chewed through the pillar beside him, spewing debris into his face. His heart pounded, the world narrowing to nothing but the fight, his instincts screaming at him to move.
"This isn't working," Sasuke growled.
"They're closing in," Itachi confirmed. His own rifle rattled as he fired off another burst, only for the bullets to harmlessly ping off the riot shields.
They were getting boxed in. Pushed back.
Itachi fired off another burst before ducking back behind cover. The SWAT team edged closer and closer, their formation unbreakable. Itachi cursed under his breath. In a matter of moments, he would be overrun.
"I'm pulling back!" Itachi barked, his voice cutting through the chaos. "Cover me!"
Sasuke and Sakura didn't hesitate. They leaned out from behind their respective pillars, weapons raised. Muzzle flashes lit the corridor as a hail of gunfire tore through the corridor, descending onn the SWAT team. The officers ducked, some kneeling behind cover, others firing back in disciplined bursts. Bullets chewed into the walls, showering the floor in fragments of marble and drywall.
Itachi took the opening, darting back down the corridor, his shoes squeaking against the tile as he slid into cover behind a pillar. He pressed his back against it, heart pounding. "Cherry, get ready to move!" he called, checking his magazine. Almost dry.
The team held their breath as return fire came in hot—rounds slicing through the air, slamming into the walls with deafening cracks.
With practiced precision, Sasuke ejected his spent magazine, letting it clatter to the floor as he slapped in a fresh one. Itachi did the same, his hands moving almost sub-consciously.
"Go!" Sasuke snarled.
Sakura sprinted from cover, her boots hammering the floor as she dashed past them. Itachi and Sasuke leaned out in unison, rifles roaring as they laid down suppressing fire. The SWAT team hesitated, pinned by the relentless barrage. Sakura dove into cover behind Sasuke, tapping his shoulder. He nodded once—his cue to move.
Without hesitation, Sasuke pivoted, breaking into a sprint as Itachi and Sakura kept up the assault, gunfire erupting like thunder through the narrow space. Sasuke slid behind cover, breathing hard.
"They're gonna push us back into the fucking vault!" Sakura called out, her voice barely audible over the cacophony of gunfire. "We can't keep this up forever!"
Sasuke leaned out, aiming for the legs, but the SWAT officers were trained for this. They maneuvered carefully, keeping their shields angled. A bullet zipped past Sasuke's head, sending him pressing against the wall.
Another grenade rolled towards them.
"Flashbang!" Sasuke shouted.
All three of them turned, shielding their eyes.
BANG!
The explosion rocked their senses again, their equilibrium shot to hell. Sasuke barely opened his eyes in time to see dark silhouettes moving towards them. He forced himself to focus, raising his rifle, but his hands were shaking. His ears were filled with static. He saw Itachi raising his weapon, trying to provide cover fire, but their backs were almost against the vault doors. They were running out of space.
Sasuke's mind raced. They had seconds before they were overwhelmed.
Sakura's voice suddenly cut through the haze. "Cover me!"
Sasuke squinted, his ears ringing. "What?!"
"C-O-V-E-R... M-E!"
His jaw clenched. He turned to Itachi, who nodded once in understanding.
They moved.
Sasuke and Itachi leaned out at the same time, unleashing hell. Bullets riddled the hallway, kicking up dust and debris.
Sakura sprinted forward.
She moved fast, darting between cover, her boots slamming against the tile. The SWAT officers hesitated for half a second, thrown off by the sudden aggression.
She skidded to a stop behind a pillar, breathing hard.
Then, she loaded AP slugs. They had cost them a lot, but she had sworn they'd come in handy. Her hands trembled slightly, slipping round after round into the tube. One...Two... Three... Four... Five.
Five shots in the tube. One more in the chamber.
The SWAT commander barked out orders, taking cover as his team reloaded their weapons to prepare a counter attack.
An operative took cover behind a pillar, waiting for the signal to lay down suppressing fire. He slid a new magazine into his carbine, his hands twitching as he peeked from behind his cover—
It all happened in a manner of seconds.
BOOM!
The first shot from the Benelli rang out like a thunderclap.
A riot shield cracked, the officer behind it dropping like a sack of bricks as the AP slug tore through his armour. Blood sprayed against the walls.
BOOM!
Another officer crumpled, his knee exploding in a spray of bone and blood before he went down hard.
Sakura crouched back behind the pillar. She slid in one more round into the breach, her last slug. She swallowed, steeling herself—then leaned out.
Through the dust, an officer snapped his carbine toward her, eyes locking onto hers from behind his visor.
BOOM!
His body jerked back, blood splattering the wall as the first slug found home. Before he could collapse, she fired again. Thmp! Chest shot. He crumpled.
She adjusted her aim lower. The gun roared.
Clang!
The helmet of the officer with the busted knee caved in, his shield clattering from limp fingers. Two shields down. One more left. Sakura stepped out, shoulders squaring, the Benelli's barrel tracking the last shielded officer—
A muzzle flash.
Pain seared through her upper arm. She gasped, flinching as the bullet grazed her skin—but her finger still squeezed the trigger, almost accidentally.
BOOM!
The slug punched through flesh and bone, burying itself in his throat. He hit the ground, already gone.
Sakura twisted toward the next silhouette—
And froze.
A gun. Leveled at her face. So close she could see the rifling inside the barrel.
Sakura's shotgun was still raised. They both fired.
THWACK!
Searing pain exploded in her stomach.
She staggered as her shot missed, crashing against the wall, her shotgun slipping slightly from her grasp. Her vision blurred.
The SWAT officer adjusted his aim, rifle pointed at her head. Sakura tried to lift her shotgun...
Click.
Empty.
Her heart pounded. Her life flashed before her eyes as his finger twitched.
Rifle fire.
The SWAT officer jerked violently, bullets ripping into his ribs. He dropped.
Sakura's vision swam. She barely registered the figure running toward her.
"Cherry!"
Sasuke...
He stood next to her, his rifle still smoking. His breaths came fast, erratic. Without hesitation, he aimed low, putting three more rounds into the fallen officer for good measure before spinning toward her.
"Cherry..."
Sasuke was at her side in seconds, kneeling, eyes frantic behind his mask. He slid it off, his face twisting in barely contained panic at the splotch of red growing against her tank top.
Itachi's voice came from ahead where he now stood, guarding the corridor. "Sasuke! How bad is it?"
Sasuke barely heard him. His hands were already moving, reaching for anything—anything—to stop the bleeding. He ripped his jacket off, pressing it firmly against her stomach, his jaw clenched.
Sakura let out a strangled breath, trying to smile through the pain. "I'll be fine..."
"Liar," Sasuke snapped, his voice shaking. "You're not dying. Not today."
His hands pressed harder against the wound. Blood seeped through his fingers. He swore under his breath, his mind racing. Itachi stepped back to cover them, keeping his rifle trained down the corridor. "We need to move. Now."
Sasuke swallowed hard.
He wasn't going to let her die in this fucking bank. He swore it.