Year of the Rat (2008)

WOW it's been a long time since I updated. I blame this chappie.

Pairing Sasuhina and Naruhina

It's never going to be SasuSaku, trust me

T h e – A n i m a l – H o u s e

Chapter Nine

Chances

Sasuke and Sakura are looking for Ino after she disappears and meets Neji for the first time.

It continues right from the last chapter.

O0o0

Sasuke wondered why he was walking around the school grounds with Sakura of all people. How did he always end up in situations like this?

"I can't find Ino!" Sakura had told him ten minutes ago. And yet somehow in the grand school she was able to find him and not Ino. Sasuke was rather tired of her impressions of acting like a damsel in distress. In order to placate her, he was forced to help her.

Sighing, he silently accompanied her to find Ino. Hence, he had to show her around the school grounds. They managed to find their way to the front of the school steps. Sasuke ignored the fact that Sakura had linked her fingers with his, there was no point in pulling away from her, she would still be persistent. He was aware of her blatant crush on him and he wondered when she would finally give up on her feelings.

She gave him a tender look. "I know you're angry that Ino and I came here."

That's obvious.

The embarrassment and shock of Ino jumping on his back had unsettled him. He hated drawing attention to himself. School was supposed to let him unwind and not mull over his status as a member of the zodiac. It was irritating enough with Naruto around, and now there was Ino and Sakura to consider. He was going to be paranoid not only about his fan girls jumping him, but Ino randomly attacking him while he was at school.

Sakura stopped him on the steps of the front entrance. Her green eyes were begging for him to understand, "Orochimaru offered us a chance to be here and we accepted it. I mean, before he would restrict our contact with anyone that wasn't aware of the secret. He has allowed us the chance to fit in-"

He couldn't hear her talk about Orochimaru giving chances to people. Sakura shouldn't be so naïve about that man, there is always a secondary motive with him. Sasuke closed his eyes; he had to remember that it wasn't her fault that she was still in the dark about certain matters concerning her. His memories resurfaced of a time where he had, in a desperate attempt, gone to Orochimaru for authority over a certain matter. He didn't want to relive the moments where he had willingly gone to Orochimaru for help.

Today Sasuke could not stop being outraged at Sakura. He couldn't help but explode at her, "You know that this isn't the time to talk about this crap. That bastard doesn't do you any favors, he's the fucking devil and he wants something in return!"

And there Sasuke saw something in her jade eyes. Sakura blinked too quickly, and turned away from him. What did she do? "But he-" she began and stopped talking. He followed the movement of her eyes.

He twisted his head to her direction and Sasuke's dark eyes widened. Instantly, he recognized the car driving to the school's front entrance. It parked right in front of them. Windows were tinted; however, the driver's seat was visible enough that he could make out Kabuto. That meant...

The rear door opened and Asuma Sarutobi 's head poked though the door. The bearded doctor slowly led the powerful man out of the car. The older man had to be supported by Asuma to even stand straight. Gradually they moved to be in front of Sasuke and Sakura.

"Hello my dear Sasuke," Orochimaru greeted him. His low raspy voice sent involuntary shivers down Sasuke's back. Sasuke would be fine if he didn't make eye contact with him. Or the man would see how to a great extent he truly feared him. "It is a delight to see you again Sakura. I came to your new school today to see how Ino and you were adjusting. Though it seems that Ino is not present at the moment…"

"Orochimaru." Sasuke managed to speak despite feeling faint. He couldn't breathe; it felt as if Orochimaru was sucking all the oxygen from his lungs. He clutched Sakura's hand a little tighter. "Hello Asuma."

"Hello sir. Ino and I are doing quite fine, thank you for asking." Sakura replied in a pleasant tone. She gave Sasuke a quick look that he ignored. His mind was racing about his thoughts of his childhood...

Asuma nodded his head at the others in acknowledgement. Sasuke knew that Asuma had to remain devoted to the head of the Main House and as the Rat; he was the closest to Orochimaru. Asuma could not speak unless he was told he to, obedient to only the sickly Orochimaru. He was the man's personal doctor and delegate; Orochimaru was constantly ill and Asuma was forced to attend to him nearly everyday.

Suddenly, the head of the Main House had moved closer to Sasuke. "I'm not feeling well. Why haven't you visited me Sasuke?! I need everyone to be with me."

Sasuke's head was suddenly forcibly jerked to look at him. Malicious canary eyes... He flinched in horror. Orochimaru had lunged to grip Sasuke's neck in a loose chokehold. Regardless of fact the sickly man was shorter than him, he had a fantastic strength. He always did.

Sasuke's hand had let go of Sakura's. Orochimaru nails dug into Sasuke's skin and his grip tightened.

"What have you been up to, my dear boy?"

"I have been busy." Sasuke strained to speak and he swallowed to catch his breath. He was panicking against a man he could not fight. However, his pride would not allow himself to plead for Orochimaru to release him.

"Busy with that houseguest of Kakashi's? Hinata Hyuuga- cough cough. You're getting awfully close to her, I wonder what you have told her about us..." He managed to hiss at Sasuke before the Head of the Main House started to uncontrollably cough in a violent manner.

His eyes widened. How the hell did he find out about her? The man released his grip on Sasuke to cover his own mouth. The sound of his coughing hurt Sasuke's ears.

Finally Asuma spoke, placing a hand on Orochimaru's back. "Sir, I think we need to take you back to the main house. The cold isn't helping your cough," Asuma advised him, back to doing his job as doctor to Orochimaru.

"Fine, cough I hope to cough see you two soon. Especially you Sasuke." Orochimaru calmly said. His demeanor had rapidly changed again. Asuma and he went back into the vehicle and they drove off.

Until he stopped staring at the departing car, he didn't realize how much he was trembling or how fast his heart was beating.

"Are you okay?" Sakura quietly asked him.

His hand found hers again and he wrapped her in a hug. He couldn't stop shaking. "No. Please just stand here for a minute."

Sasuke felt ill.

Afterschool, Hinata and Naruto were walking around inside the school grounds, they were waiting for Sasuke to come after club meetings. Since Kakashi's threat about locking them all out unless the three returned to the house together, they continued to arrive together.

Subsequent to her brief talk with Neji, Hinata was feeling relieved. It was as if a heavy burden had been lifted from her shoulders. She had finally been able to speak to Neji sincerely about her feelings.

She had found a small group of people despite only knowing them for a few weeks depended on her for something, even if it was something frivolous as cooking them a meal or tidying up for them. In the Hyuuga household, she was not to do housework that was assigned to people of lower class, and her only achievements were her mundane marks she received from school. Those that surrounded her in the Hyuuga Household were only superficially nice to her due to her father's influence on others and her position in the family. She had been told by so many people that she was useless. The only ones she had support from were her friends, Tenten, Kiba and Shino and they were already ferociously independent. It was nice to be needed.

However, something was troubling her from what her cousin said. As if Neji knew something about Naruto and Sasuke's history. Hinata was supposed to be careful of them… except for what reason?

Hinata and Naruto unexpectedly paused in front of the school's main entrance. Hinata had felt a bit uneasy being alone with the bright friendly blonde. They usually had Sasuke silently accompanying them on their walks to school or back to Kakashi's house. But that discomfort disappeared as he was very talkative and energetic, and mentioned all the events that occurred today. Naruto was similar to Kiba in that way, that he had managed to get her to loosen up. Hinata managed to reply back to him a few times.

"S-so, aren't you glad that Sakura and Ino are here? That's five members of the zodiac here now." Hinata commented, in her effort to strike up a conversation. It was going to be much more interesting at school with those two.

Naruto's focus was on kicking a ball of paper near the garbage can before he distantly replied, "I guess I'm glad... I really don't spend much time with the others. I mean, we never hung out and that time at Kakashi's doesn't count since Ino and Sakura were really there to see their precious Sasuke. I'm the fox- the trickster. They'd rather gaze at Sasuke for hours than hang out with me."

Hinata bit her lip and sharply looked at him. Although his eyes were cast downwards, with the simplicity of his words it seemed as if he lost that spark in his blue eyes. She opened her mouth, but there was nothing she could think to say to comfort him.

"Look there's Sakura and Sasuke now." Naruto suddenly said.

Hinata glanced out the glass door and saw Sasuke and Sakura outside, though she didn't possess the courage to disrupt their private conversation. Sakura didn't like her, which was made very clear. The pink haired girl had glared at her several times throughout the lunch period. Sasuke was tolerating her at the present moment. That was an improvement to their 'temperamental friendship'. And it was vice versa for Hinata's temperamental feelings for Sasuke.

Naruto and Hinata silently watched as a car drove right to the other pair. And out stepped a sickly man that had to be assisted to walk by a tall man with a beard.

"Who is that talking to Sasuke?" Hinata asked Naruto who had suddenly froze. She could feel it in the air, there was something wrong...

"...Orochimaru...why is he here?" he said in a barely audible whisper. Naruto's body had tensed when the newcomers approached Sasuke and Sakura.

The frail man immediately caught her attention. His pale complexion made it appear that he needed to go to a hospital. His long black hair hung limply on his head and his yellow eyes were very peculiar- even at the far distance they stood, she could still see the vivid colour of his eyes. Hinata couldn't keep her eyes off of the sickly man.

She got the impression that Sakura and Sasuke weren't happy with the situation. Hinata gave a slight gasp as the older man grabbed Sasuke's neck. He was shouting something to Sasuke and Sasuke just stood there helplessly. Hinata immediately reached over to push open the door.

"What are you doing!?" Naruto harshly asked her, his hand quickly blocking the door. It effectively stopped her. "It's none of your business what's happening outside!"

"I-I..." what was she going to do? What could she do? The course of action to take when she actually went outside never crossed her mind. Her shoulders drooped, showing her resignation. "You're right. It is none of my business," Hinata quietly responded.

Naruto was standing far too close to her; she was close enough to brush against his shoulders and have him transform in the school. His breathing had gotten louder and it was distressing. Her eyes were drawn to the silver band bracelet on Naruto's hand once again. A beautiful bracelet. There was an indescribable presence regarding the bracelet. He saw her eyes looking at it and he quickly moved his hand away from the door.

"Trust me, don't get involved with what's happening outside. Let Sakura or Asuma handle it."

The concern she had was that Sakura and that bearded man weren't doing anything to stop it...

Hinata whipped her head to the turmoil occurring outside. She could have sworn she heard her name being shouted by Orichimaru.

Naruto suddenly grabbed her hand. Naruto's tone spoke of urgency, "we need to go!"

Although she unsure about leaving Sasuke alone, she followed him.

Hinata hoped someone could give her answers about that man...

Naruto and Hinata arrived at Kakashi's place at five. They had spent the remainder of the afternoon in silence watching the girl's volleyball team practice. It was the safest place for them to be- a crowded area away from that man. Naruto could not calm down over Orochimaru coming to the school... he was grateful that Hinata hadn't asked him any further questions about had happened.

First, Naruto had been shocked by Ino and Sakura transferring to Konoha Private Academy. Sakura and Naruto didn't exactly have the best relationship... one part of him was in love with her and the other part wanted to forget about the pink haired girl. For all the years he had known her, Sakura either ignored him half the time or was beating him up when he said something stupid. They couldn't stop this cycle of infuriating the other. Especially when they had fought several months before. Those fights had left him feeling angry and raw. He was uncertain about how he felt about her now and what was between them: friendship or hate?

With his superior hearing, he had accidentally eavesdropped on the conversation. Orochimaru had found out about Hinata living with them! Orochimaru didn't want Hinata there if Sasuke wasn't spending enough time with the head of the main house. Before Orochimaru's visit, Naruto had never considered the consequences of befriending Hinata and having her stay at Kakashi's house. And now Naruto was fearful of the consequences of Hinata involvement with the zodiac members.

He felt bad for treating her harshly; Hinata was a nice person who really didn't deserve to be involved in this mess. He grimaced when he thought back to the way he reacted to Orochimaru in front of her; his behaviour was deplorable. However, Naruto couldn't possibly tell her the dark truth about the zodiac members.

Naruto was positive that Sasuke could handle Orocihmaru's assault. Sasuke was strong, and was Orochimaru's favorite in the 'collection,' as that man liked to call them. He simply couldn't stay there any longer. Orochimaru made him sick to his stomach and brought out the inner demon within Naruto. The bracelet on his hand was itching...

Naruto and Hinata opened the front door to find Kakashi there. "Oh welcome back you two," Kakashi greeted them at the front door. "We decided on Chinese takeout since none of us helpless men here could cook."

"Hello Mr. Kakashi."

The blond boy looked surprised. "Sasuke's back?" Naruto asked him as he dropped his school bag on the floor. Hinata paused to nod her head at the both of them and quietly headed upstairs.

"He came back nearly an hour ago with Sakura and Ino. I was amazed to find him without you two. I hope you had an enjoyable walk together." Naruto's left eye twitched. Why was Kakashi always implying something about Hinata, when she was alone with him or Sasuke?

O0o0o0

He strolled over to Kakashi's open office door to see the man dial a number on his cell phone. Naruto sat down on the carpet waiting for him to be done talking. There was something of the puzzle he didn't understand, and needed Kakashi to explain it to him.

"Hey!" Kakashi greeted the other person on the line, faking a perky voice. Naruto shuddered. It was somewhat unsettling for Naruto to hear. "How are you?"

Naruto could clearly see a smirk on the man's face behind the mask. "Oh nothing. I just wanted to call an old friend and catch up, you know... and I may have a tiny little favor I want to ask of you."

Kakashi made a hand motion to Naruto to go away and Naruto begrudgingly got up. He rolled his eyes at the lazy man and his bad timing.

There was something Kakashi was planning.

The older man covered the mouthpiece of the phone. "I know you have something to ask me. Sasuke came by too. Don't worry, I'll explain myself soon enough."

It was a slow chapter so I'll speed things up next time. I'm sorry that it took so long for it to come out, I used to update monthly (like in 2oo6) but I doubt I'll have the time again to update so soon. So I hope everyone continues reading this fic and please review because I need comments and criticism. And I need to know if anyone is still reading this story!

anywayz later : )

Also Orochimaru is a guy, not a cross-dresser and he has no pairing!

Coming soon is my Ino spinoff from The AnimalHouse! End of May check it out!!