The Author Says: New story! heheh. the chapters of this story will be shorter than those of my other fic, I Think I, coz I challenged myself to be less longwinded and more to-the-point. Updates might be slower than that of ITI, for two reasons. One, coz I'm actually writing this, as in pen-and-paper writing, which I find I much prefer to writing on the computer. Yup, I'm old-fashioned like that. So this means that I actually have to type it up after writing. Two, I'm only writing this fic when I have free time at work, or when I want to take a short break from writing ITI. Therefore, updates might be a little slow.
Warnings: Probable slow and erratic updates, relatively short chapters, probably cliched ideas, usage of Japanese words, author's laziness, author's limited vocabulary, probable OOC-ness, though I'll try my best to keep 'em in character, possible spoilers, and some other things that I'll warn you about next chapter, coz telling you now would spoil the little surprise XD. If you're not interested, please don't read and don't flame.
Disclaimer: Kishimoto-sensei is doing a superb job with Naruto. I couldn't have possibly come up with all his cool characters, wonderful conspiracies and kick-ass fights.
U/L: 30th November 2007
Extra Note: This chapter has been reloaded and certain mistakes have been corrected. Much thanks to Spork or Foon!
Brilliant cerulean blue eyes took one last glance at the village.
Their gaze rested on the five stone heads carved prominently into the mountain that protected one side of the village.
One last look, then the blue eyes were turned away.
In That Moment
by TooDarnLazy
Chapter 1
Five years later
Uchiha Sasuke frowned inwardly as he walked out of the darkened building. As usual, he was the last to leave the Hokage Tower, and the stars were winking in the Prussian blue sky that was almost the same shade as his hair. The brunet didn't bother to nod to the two chuunin guards at the main door. He had been ignoring them for years; he wasn't about to start acknowledging them now. He slid his hands into the pockets of his standard-issue jounin pants that he wore with the usual dark blue jounin long-sleeved turtleneck and dark green Konoha vest. They were… sufficient, he supposed. He didn't particularly like it, but wearing the same outfit for years allowed him to get used to it, although he mostly still preferred the loose haori-like top he used to wear when at Otogakure. At least with that shirt he could shuck it off easily to make way for the wings his level 2 curse seal transformation came with. He had worked through quite a number of jounin turtlenecks and Konoha vests due to the transformation. Well, he always got new ones free of charge, so he wasn't complaining. A perk of the job. It was just the hassle of having to replace ripped uniforms that irked him.
Sasuke started towards his apartment. He had been given a rather spacious apartment in a quiet district, and he didn't have to pay rent for it, only the utilities. It was another perk of the job. He snorted at the foolish generosity of the Council of Konoha.
ANBU 12's report scroll.
He stopped short as the thought popped into his head, then scowled to himself. Careless! he scolded himself, then quickly turned around and retraced his steps. The chuunin door guards raised their eyebrows a little at his return, but he ignored them and went in, heading straight to the office next to the Hokage's. He passed the Hokage's quarters and noted that no light was coming from the crack under the door – Tsunade must be asleep.
He continued on towards the office and passed the Hokage's library on his right. He was about to take another step past the library door when his keen eyes noted something amiss – the door was opened a crack.
Sasuke was instantly on the alert, Sharingan activated. He knew for a fact that the door had been closed and locked with chakra seals when he left (he scoffed at the simplicity of the chakra seals). No one had the authorization to access the library except the Hokage, the Council Elders, Sakura as the Chief Medic, the ANBU Commander and Vice-Commander, and himself.
The brunet pressed himself beside the library door, and a brace of kunai and shuriken appeared in each hand. He quickly sensed for chakra signatures within his vicinity and found none. That, however, didn't mean much, and he knew it. Any A- and S-rank shinobi and even some B-rank nins would know how to effectively mask their chakra if they weren't performing jutsu.
Just then, he felt a faint chakra flare from inside the library. The unknown ninja must have used either an escape jutsu or a concealment genjutsu, Sasuke reasoned, then scoffed. If the unknown ninja had used a concealment genjutsu, it would have done him as much good as trying to hide an elephant behind one's back, since Sasuke had the Sharingan.
But what troubled Sasuke when he felt the chakra was the familiarity of it. It was one that he felt he should know, yet couldn't swear as to its owner. He gritted his teeth – the chakra felt vaguely like that idiot's but it couldn't possibly be his.
Thinking about the idiot made his heart hurt, so he shoved all thoughts of the idiot out of his head for the moment – he could brood about the idiot at home, like he did every night - and adjusted his grip on his weapons before slinking noiselessly into the library. With the Sharingan, he could easily pick out a humanoid shape pressed against the wall, its chakra glowing around its body. Sasuke slipped into an attacking stance and called out, "I know you're there against the wall. Show yourself and give up."
The brunet watched the figure stiffen when his voice rang out, then – was the person trembling lightly? He could see the person's chakra rippling lightly, indicative of trembling, before the person took a deep breath and dispelled the genjutsu. Sasuke scowled – he could no longer see the chakra outline, and neither could he see the person in the dark. He tensed, ready to fling his weapons at a second's notice when the person sighed and spoke, seemingly to himself.
"Of all people to find me, it had to be you, didn't it?"
Sasuke felt a surge of nervousness and annoyance. Nervousness because, like the chakra, the person's voice was vaguely familiar – he was sure he had heard something like this voice before, and yet it wasn't the exact same voice he remembered. Annoyance, because he couldn't be sure of the voice nor the chakra.
"Who are you? Show yourself!" he demanded, and kicked open the door behind him. Dim light from the corridor spilled into the library, casting a rectangle of light on the floor in front of the door.
If Sasuke could have had his way, he'd probably attack and capture the unknown ninja right away, the ninja probably missing a limb or two. However, because of his job, and the fact that they were in the Hokage's library – an extensive collection of valuable scrolls – meant that he had to take it slow, however much his hands itched to draw his chokuto.
Two tense seconds passed, then Sasuke heard a reluctant sigh, followed by footsteps shuffling nearer to where he was. Soon feet appeared in the dim light, followed quickly by a body covered in a long black cloak with red cloud designs outlined in white. Sasuke narrowed his eyes, remaining in his attacking stance. The ninja, however, kept his head and face out of the light.
"Akatsuki," Sasuke growled softly. He quickly formed a few handseals, and within five seconds an ANBU squad surrounded him, tense and alert as they faced the Akatsuki member.
The intruder was rather small in size, from what Sasuke could see. He couldn't determine whether the ninja was a male or female, since the ridiculous cloak effectively disguised any body shape. Sasuke squinted as his gaze rested on the cloaked nin's chest. Was it him or did the chest area swell a little?
"Take him into custody," Sasuke ordered the ANBU in a cold, authoritative voice. With a quick nod, the four ANBU members quickly tied down the Akatsuki member's hands by his? her? sides using chakra-enforced wires, and bound the person's feet as well. The cloaked figure fell to its butt when its feet were tied, and the Konoha nin were treated to a selection of curses.
Sasuke raised an eyebrow. Why didn't the Akatsuki member put up a fight?
Satisfied that the bound figure was secure, Sasuke slipped his weapons back into their holsters while smoothly turning on his heel and striding out of the library.
"Bring the prisoner to the Hokage's office and guard him while there while I wake the Godaime. If he escapes, you will be demoted – if you're not dead yet."
"You weren't kidding," Tsunade said in a slightly awed voice as she took in the seated figure of the restrained Akatsuki member in front of her. Beside the Hokage, Sasuke resisted the urge to snort in irritated disdain. Joking? Him?
Tsunade strode to her desk and seated herself. She leaned forward and rested her elbows on her desk, with her fingers interlaced.
"Who are you, and what does Akatsuki want from my library?" she asked authoritatively. Sasuke stood beside her, observing the prisoner surrounded by the ANBU squad in front of the Hokage's desk. Strangely enough, the prisoner hadn't so much as twitched, much less tried to escape when he went to fetch the Godaime.
In the light, he could see that the Akatsuki member had bright yellow hair; a shade that he had seen only on one other person. The rather spiky hairstyle painfully reminded him of him as well, although Sasuke was quick to observe that this person's hair was long and went down into the collar of the cloak. There was no way that this person could be him. He would never have kept his hair that long. They couldn't observe the nin's face, though, since the prisoner had their head bowed, and the yellow bangs and ridiculously high collar of the cloak were doing a good job of hiding the person's face. It was obvious, however, that the person was wearing a scratched hitai-ate around his forehead. Sasuke couldn't make out the insignia on the metal plate.
At the Hokage's voice, the prisoner gave an almost imperceptible flinch and very slowly raised their head.
Sasuke froze and felt himself stop breathing, and he could hear the Hokage's breath hitch beside him.
A woman's face stared back at them with disturbingly familiar features – beautiful cerulean blue eyes and three whisker-marks on each cheek. The whisker marks creased a little as the woman grinned, although there was no humour in her guarded, almost-dead eyes.
"Hey obaachan, yarou. Long time no see, eh?"
Glossary-of-sorts
- Otogakure: Hidden Sound Village.
- haori: the jacket-like part worn over a men's kimono. basically I'm referring to what Sasuke wears when he was in Oto.
- chokuto: Sasuke's type of sword. It's not a katana, because katana are curved. Sasuke's blade is straight, and it's known as a chokuto.
- hitai-ate: forehead protector.
The Author has More to Say: Heeheehee... I think some of you can guess what the little surprise is ;-)
Reviews and constructive criticism much appreciated!