Chapter 11: The past unearthed
Sasuke and Naruto sat across from each other on the couch, both half dressed, what was a sudden burst of passion was now gone. Both of them left with their thoughts about the situation and how the hell they could solve it.
Naruto fidgeted grabbing his discarded pants from the floor, he kept glancing up at Sasuke who seemed to have a bit of a dazed expression, "How far along are you?", Naruto had reached the point where although he could not believe that a MAN could get pregnant he also could not push aside the weird behaviour of Sasuke and well Itachi was Itachi and for all Naruto knew he may have some fucked up secrets up his sleeve.
"Almost three months" Sasuke paused, it felt so strange bringing this out to Naruto and then just sitting there calmly talking about it, his eyes running over the blonde, sucking everything in, expecting, just expecting for Naruto to get up and walk off on him claiming he was a nut.
Sasuke tensed, "You know…. I'm sorry… I shouldn't have…you can go if you want," Sasuke started to get up looking around wearily, he had done the wrong thing right? He shouldn't have told Naruto… He's get found out…everything was done for, how could he be so stupid.
Naruto grabbed his wrist, "Stop…god what's wrong with you Sasuke… I mean one moment you want me the next you want me to go, you drop huge bombshells on me and you just want me to go?"
Sasuke paused awkwardly "No its not like that, forget everything I said…"
"You didn't cheat on me," Sasuke's eyes went to Naruto's as he said this, Naruto pulled Sasuke back down onto the couch, "I…shouldn't have thought you would…"
"But…Itachi I…"
Naruto stopped him with a look, "I don't think I can really blame you for that damned brother of yours coming and taking advantage of you in your sleep."
Sasuke bit his lip looking away from Naruto,
Was it like that? Was it not cheating?
"I should have known something was up… I shouldn't have let you kick me out, I should have known, and now you plan on leaving…the baby…you should have told me,"
"No….NO! Naruto you… DOBE!" Sasuke clenched his fist, what was it with Naruto EVERYTHING always had to be his fault, he always forced all the blame onto himself, Sasuke grabbed Naruto's face between his hands and glared into the other boys eyes, "Don't…don't, you always make out everything is your fault, its not, I got myself in this mess, I pushed you away, you have a life now, you have…Hinata…"
Naruto's stomach seemed to swallow its self, he felt regret and shame, "If I knew…"
"It's too late now." Sasuke was back to the cold hearted asshole he has been when he had told Naruto to get lost.
"…then what the FUCK! You just fucked me and now we are BACK to this again?"
Sasuke gritted his teeth, "Can't you just accept the fact that I missed you, it was spur of the moment thing…"
"Oh great, fucking great Sasuke, you know you are fucking fantastic at playing with peoples hearts? No I don't know what is wrong with you, well actually I do…you're a fucking male going to have a baby! Don't push everyone away, you just told me what's going on and already you are planning your next step for getting rid of me."
"It's not like that." Sasuke said sternly.
"Yes it fucking is!"
"You don't understand!...you wouldn't unless you were in my shoes and you are not."
"Oh so what now Sasssssssuke? You are gonna play the hopeless victim that has the world on their shoulders and no one to understand them? Don't get too up yourself Sasuke, I'm here, open your eyes, if I have to I'll leave Hinata. Just from now on put some, some TRUST in me, is that so much to ask for?"
Sasuke was about to spark back up, when the front door got pushed open, Kakashi's head appearing around the door frame, Sasuke sucked in his breath, yes was today the day where anyone could come parading into his house?
Kakashi's face turned from a curious frown to a smirk, Naruto could feel Kakashi's eye on them and what he was probably seeing, Naruto quickly grabbed his shirt shoving it over his head, his eyes flashing to Sasuke who he could see wasn't much modest himself sitting only in his boxers and glaring at their sensei.
"Sensei…." Naruto started, as Kakashi came walking into the room, smirk plastered across his face.
"Sasuke, everything fine now?" Kakashi asked as he approached them.
'If only you knew half of it…' crossed Sasuke's mind, as he sternly started grabbing up his clothes, "Why are you here?"
Kakashi glanced to Naruto, "I spose the mission wasn't a total success?"
Sasuke glared at Naruto after this comment, "Heh….not a total success sensei,"
"Well at the least I hope Sasuke is up for his team 7 duties, because that's why I'm here." Kakashi glanced to Sasuke for his approval for being part of team 7 again.
Sasuke rolled his eyes, such a stotic youth Kakashi thought as he continued, "Tsunade has sent for us, I came to retrieve you guys, as soon as you guys are dressed we should head off for the Hokage's office,"
Kakashi motioned with his head as he headed outside, meaning he would wait for them. Naruto stood nervously as he watched Sasuke pull his shirt grudgingly over his head, "Mission?" he asked sarcastically.
"You think I'd come willingly here?"
Sasuke shoved on his pants not answering, before looking up.
"Uh… errr Sasuke," Naruto looked down to Sasuke's pants then nervously up to his face, Sasuke glanced down, "Great!" before going off to his room to grab some new clean pants.
3 and a half months earlier
"You've been surprisingly tough for us to track…Anko," Itachi's perfect smile crossed his face, "But now we have found you…you will not escape,"
The tomboyish brunette, glared at Itachi, her hand fastened around a shuriken, Kisame laughed as he stood to the side, "looks like she's going to fight,"
The shuriken flew at Itachi's face, one moment it was inches from striking him square between the eyes the next he was standing behind Anko, his smile disappeared, "Seems like she is,"
Anko's heart raced she knew what they wanted and she wouldn't, wouldn't let them have it, she quickly formed a seal turning to release it when… instead she was captured, her eyes taken by Itachi's, swirling sharingan…but not the usual sharingan.
The sky went red, almost like everything was bleeding, and a black moon like a black hole, her mind escaped her, this was…the Magekyou sharingan, everything flashed one brilliant flash of crimson, and then around her she was bones, piles and piles of bones, skulls stacked up against trees, half decayed pieces of flesh rotting off tinted yellow bones. She tried to close her eyes but even when she did she saw the flashes.
"WHAT DO YOU WANT!" she screamed out, although her voice was hoarse.
Opening her eyes, she was the shadow of Itachi, his hand brushing against the back of her neck, she tried to move but her body felt like ice, it was frozen to the spot.
"This is your greatest nightmare right? Ever since you have been carrying it around with you, a world of corpses," His voice was sickly sweet, low but every word reached her.
"…You can't,"
He cut her off, "Yes we did get to Orochimaru…the myth its true…and you, you are holding it, inside you."
Tears fell from Anko's eyes, wetting her cheeks, hot flushes coming over her, "Even he wouldn't tell you… it was meant to die with me,"
"We have our ways, our methods, don't worry we made sure he died painfully for it."
"It'll…it'll be a monster…even you in the end wont be able to control it…it'll over pass you,"
Itachi smirked, "good, very good."
Then she couldn't move at all, every limb was frozen to the spot, she wanted to say 'no' to say 'stop' but even her face was slack, everything frozen.
The blade felt hot, she would have cringed if she could, her breath sucked in sharply, the flaps of her torso fell open, she couldn't bear too look, although it seemed the beat of her heart had got louder.
Itachi linked his fingers under two of her ribs her chest going up and down erratically, he could see it, the small vial, then crack.
Anko screamed inside as she saw two of her ribs fall to the ground, blood spurting out, and then the flap of her torso closed, she fell to the ground finally able to scream out, pain filling her all over.
Her eyes went blurry from the forming tears, the red sky slowly dissolved, the bones went, she was back in the forest where she had been, Itachi still stood over her, wiping the blood off the vial before holding it up to the light, he laughed, "It's all true,"
Kisame took a step towards her, raising his sword, Itachi raised his hand, "Leave her, she'll die anyway."
Kisame looked to Itachi who tucked the vial into his coat, both of them forming seals before disappearing.
Blood seeped out around Anko, her breathing uneven, she shakily raised her hand to her chest a blue glow emitting from it, she wasn't good at this, she wasn't a medic nin, but she knew at least some, maybe enough to keep her alive until she could pass on what had happened… and… her darkest secret.
Sasuke hadn't looked in his direction the whole way to the Hokage's office, Kakashi took the charge, chat chatting ideally until they got their, they saw their pink haired team mate, standing out front, she looked wearily at Sasuke.
"Hi Sakura-Chan," Naruto smiled, trying to make light of what was going on, maybe if he acted like his normal silly self things wouldn't be so awkward.
Sakura smiled, "Hows Sasuke-kun?"
"He's…"
"I can answer for myself dobe," Sasuke cut in, before looking to Sakura, "I'm right here you know,"
Sakura laughed nervously, before Kakashi butt in, "Come on guys, lets go we havent had a mission in what seems like ages."
Tsunade's office was a mess, but this was usual for the big breasted Hokage, although her face was sterner then usual, "Team 7," she addressed as they walked in.
"Tsunade-sama," Kakashi addressed, team 7 standing in a line, Sasuke had an expression like he didn't wanna be there.
"Nice to see you are feeling a little better Sasuke," Tsunade said before flicking through some of her papers, Sasuke didn't answer, Tsunade sighed before looking up.
"The mission you are going to be assigned, is a little more complicated then usual…" Tsunade paused, as if to let it set into their minds, "There are two parts to it, first off there are reports that Orochimaru's lair has been destroyed, I had already set off a team to investigate, but non of them have come back."
"In other words you want us to check it out?" Sasuke put in, bland voice.
"Yes…but there is something else, Anko has gone missing, she was part of the investigation team, although she was posted at a whole other point in the forest… I have the coordinates of where she was posted, what's curious is, the other investigation team went missing first, we were still getting messages from Anko, but shortly after her messages stopped, I believe whoever got to the investigation team, did it to get to Anko."
All three of team 7 nodded.
"Your mission is to first go to Orochimaru's hideout, check things out before going to these coordinates and finding Anko, find out what the hell is going on."
"HAI!" they joined together before bowing and leaving. As they reached the outside gate Sakura paused, "Orochimaru and Anko? How do thous two even relate to each other?"
"Anko was Orochimaru's old apprentice before Kabuto," Kakashi answered, "I always knew Anko knew more then she really told the rest of us…she knew things about Orochimaru's projects, maybe things too dangerous to even talk about."
Sasuke listened to this, how could something like this come out just now, was everything connected in some way? Sasuke felt his gut sink, a feeling of foreboding overwhelming him.
"Who would even think of destroying Orochimaru's lab? Who would be strong enough to attack that hideout?" Sakura shook her head, " and if someone was after Orochimaru then why would they be after Anko as well? It just makes no sense."
"It's one of Orochimaru's projects…" Naruto uttered before looking to Kakashi for confirmation, "It has to be, some project that Anko was in on, must have from back in the day when Anko was an apprentice." Naruto shook with anticipation.
"So whoever, destroyed Orochimaru's lab must have got to Anko as well…" Kakashi mused, "Then the question is, who was it that did this? And what did they want?"
Night befell them, Orochimaru's lab was only two days travel away from Konoha, so they would only need tomorrow to get there, "Lets camp for the night, we need our wits about us," Kakashi, called to the team, they set up camp.
Things had come so suddenly, Sasuke felt like he couldn't think, everything was just evenly falling to place, without even Sasuke knowing what it was all about, his stomach churned in hunger. He knew he shouldn't be out here doing missions, not with the secret he held inside himself. And only Naruto knew, Sasuke's eyes flashed over to where Naruto was, how could everything between them always be so rocky, just when Sasuke had told Naruto everything…
Sasuke knew he had brought it on himself, something Naruto had said 'to trust him' if only Sasuke could do that, would he have screwed things up so badly with the blonde?
Perhaps not, but was things too late now? How could Sasuke possible ask Naruto to just walk into all this mess, to drop everything for him, to be there for him, could he? Could anyone possibly ask that of anyone?
Sasuke held his stomach, as he leaned back on a tree, his watch was first, the sky was dark and all he could hear was the sound of animals, looking up to the sky, was everything connected?
Naruto watched from where he was camped to sleep, Sasuke would never know how beautiful he was to Naruto. He looked so sad…so confused, Naruto wished he could do something anything, to walk over there, say its ok? How could it be? Everything was so messed up, yet…how could it be that everything felt like it made sense? In some weird way…
The current mission, Itachi…Sasuke being pregnant, everything making sense… how?
The only thing that didn't make sense was Sasuke and Naruto's relationship and where they were in it? Naruto would go up and say something.
He approached Sasuke, "Sasuke…" but the brunette did not answer him, Naruto walked around to the front of him, Sasuke was asleep, his eyes flickering under his eye lids, his body jolting, Naruto fell to his knees grabbing Sasuke and shaking him at the shoulders, "Sasuke!"
It was dark, a crimson river in front of him, Sasuke took a step forward, was this a dream? What was going on, he reached the river and saw his appearance, his was the same as ever leaning down he slipped his hand into the red water, it was sticky and warm, he brought his hand back, his breath getting caught in the back of his throat, it was blood…
Jumping up he looked around him, why did this seem so familiar?
"Sasuke," that sickly sweet voice.
"Itachi…" Sasuke didn't even have to look around to know who it was talking to him.
Itachi moved closer until he was facing Sasuke as they stood by the river of blood, "You're not alone anymore hey? Is that what you think? Because you told that dumb blonde?"
Sasuke caught a view of his reflection in the red water, his stomach was big, heavily pregnant, he looked down touching it before looking up to Itachi.
"You don't need Naruto, you're never alone… and as for that boy," Itachi started to smile, intent in his eyes, Sasuke gritted his teeth, "No!"
"No!"
"NO!"
"Sasuke!" the voice broke through, Sasuke's eyes flashed open, Naruto was in front of him, the blondes hand on his shoulders shaking him, "Are you ok?" Naruto asked as he searched Sasuke's eyes for an answer.
Sasuke shook before leaning forward pushing Naruto away, stomach acids filling his mouth, his stomach emptying itself onto the forest floor.
Sasuke felt Naruto's warm arm grab him around the shoulders pulling him back, Sasuke felt dizzy, he closed his eyes seeing the river, seeing his stomach, his eyes opened.
"It's ok…I'm here," he felt Naruto's warm breath against his neck as the blonde held him, Sasuke let himself slowly relax, he wrapped his arms around Naruto as well. Even as Itachi's face stayed in his mind, he wouldn't, couldn't let anything happen to Naruto.
"I wont let anyone hurt you…" Naruto said to Sasuke as he held him close, he still felt Sasuke shake.