Never. Never. I will never own Naruto.
"Code R! Code R!" Morino Ibiki's voice warned through the loud speakers. All ANBU employees stopped in their tracks, trying to remember what exactly Code R was.
Alas, from the scurrying, bustling halls trying to get things prepared, Hatake Kakashi sat in his office, reading yet another new edition of his favorite novel, made only by his favorite fatherly figure, Jiraiya. Deidara burst through his door, hassled.
"Oi, Hatake, what's Code R, un?"
Kakashi turned a page lazily before marking the book and setting it down. "Code R stands for Remember-this-is-a-Drill, Deidara. Everyone's just freaking out because they don't read over codes."
Deidara sighed in relief, plopping onto a loveseat. "Oh, okay. That's good."
Kakashi merely nodded before picking up his place in his book again, while Deidara stayed in his seat, trying to get comfortable. He figured that it would just be a regret to go out there in the halls while everyone thought they were about to die in an invasion or something. Better to stay with Kakashi and his – what's that?
Deidara observed the novel in his Head's hands, wondering. "Hatake, what's the big deal with those books anyway? Are they any good?"
Hidan entered the room at this time, harried, and started chuckling to himself when he saw the mischievous glint in Kakashi's eyes.
Kakashi smiled under his mask and leaned forward. "Deidara," he said solemnly. "Let me tell you a little story about these… sacred books."
XXX
A Snake's Hiss
W-What the hell was that? Sakura shrieked to herself. Was he… was he harassing me or something?
No, you idiot, he was trying to make moves on you! Obviously, he likes you! Inner Sakura coaxed. Sakura shook her head. No way! Why would he want me when he could have anyone else?
Inner Sakura sighed. See? This is how one-sided romances start! And drama! Damn, girl, lots of drama!
Sasuke watched with an air of satisfaction as Sakura stared, dazed and blinking at him. It was nice to know his touches never failed.
"Um, Sasuke-kun?" A loud, distinguishable voice called loudly through the crowd. The sexy smirk vanished from his lips, replacing it with a sneer.
"Sasuke?" Sakura echoed, confused. "Wh –"
"Shut up!" Sasuke hissed. He glanced around, finding a golden crown bobbing through the crowd. He 'tch'ed in exasperation and started pulling Sakura through the back exit door.
"H-H-Hey!" she protested, blushing when she felt his warm, large hand wrap around her wrist. But she didn't pull away.
Uh oh, do I sense some chemistry? Inner Sakura grinned. Sakura shook her head, trying to shudder away the thoughts. Can it! Sakura reprimanded. The heiress suddenly felt the warmth being sucked away from her hand, and cold air breezed through her light dress ruthlessly. She shivered again, pulling her arms closer to her chest to evade from the heartless wintry weather.
"Cold?" Sasuke murmured with a light smirk. She looked up at him, eyes wide.
"Oh, um no! No, I'm fine." She turned away and walked in the other direction briskly, trying to hide her pink face.
Sasuke shook his head, sighing. Damn stubborn girl. He started unbuttoning his blazer as Sakura sat down on a white bench.
Shit… that guy is ripped, Sakura! Wait… is he… is he about to fu –?
"Sa-Sa-Sasuke!" she squeaked, twisting her head around as he threw off the blazer. "What-What are you d-do-doing?!"
Light cloth weightlessly fell over her shoulders, and she peeked, seeing Sasuke in a tight black shirt. She blushed. "Why did you –?"
"You were cold, weren't you?" he asked emotionlessly, gazing at her. Sakura nodded mutely.
"I… I wasn't that cold –"
"Whatever." Sasuke said, cutting her off and waving it away with that nonchalant look he threw her. The heiress dropped the subject quickly and began to pull her arms through the sleeves of the blazer, a bit better and relieved. She smiled tentatively at the Uchiha. "Thanks." She murmured softly.
He didn't answer.
He was watching her carefully. And Sakura, suddenly warm, avoided his eyes as much as she could, instead finding her surroundings virtuously appealing.
They had unknowingly stumbled into the middle of the theatre gardens, right where the Fountain of Luck was built. The Fountain of Luck was surrounded by bushes of roses and oaks and cherry blossoms, and it indeed held a grandeur sight. She could feel her breath hitch as she took it all in, the floral scents that gave off the most attractive aroma, and the moon. Oh, God, the moon was the most beautiful thing in sight. Beaming brightly through slivery shrouds of milky-white mist, giving off a dazzling moonlit reflection from the fountain, stained with coins and the white marble of the fountain shining.
Sasuke didn't know what the hell he was thinking. In fact, he wasn't even thinking at all. All he knew was that he staring at her innocent face, the demure smile she wore as she pointed out all the beauties in what enclosed them, stunning, naïve and childlike eyes just staring. Staring. He wasn't feeling at all uncomfortable. Wasn't feeling like he was being observed as a hot male, like he was being undressed with her eyes. Because somehow he felt that all she was seeing was him. And nothing else.
So Sasuke subconsciously slipped his hand into his pocket, flipping her a coin. One for her, and one for him.
She jumped in surprise as the penny thumped into the soft earth. "What… w-what was that for?" She asked, bending down to pick it back up.
"Make a wish." He murmured quietly, ready to throw his into the fountain.
"W-Wait!" Her palm was soft against his. She smiled playfully as she lowered his hand back down to his side slowly. His eyebrow rose; he glared at her.
"Let's do it together." She whispered, pulling her arm up. Sasuke gave her an amused smirk, but nodded, obliging. He waited as she closed her eyes tightly shut, her lips moving fast but softly as she wished. And then, her eyes opened, bright and big. She grinned at him. He threw his arm back, nodding his head at her, and he counted quietly, "One."
I
"Two."
like
"Three."
you…?
SPLASH!
The coins landed in total opposite directions, but nonetheless managed to penetrate through the water's surface.
Sakura couldn't contain the grin that spread through her face. She giggled and turned towards Sasuke. "That was fun!"
Sasuke gave her a short nod. "Aa."
"C'mon, Sasuke-kun! You had to enjoy that atleast a bit!" She shook his arm, as if doing so would make him spill. But he only glanced down at her, amused. In so many ways she was still such a small child. Maturity held so little against her.
"…Sure." He said.
Sakura broke out into a fit of giggles again, obviously thinking to herself she was so victorious. But he sighed, shaking his head and casting towards her a look of exasperation. But his irritation was short lived because she had abruptly stopped laughing. Her eyes were wide, and she pointed towards the theatre.
"Sasuke-kun," she murmured.
Since when has she ever called me Sasuke-kun?
"Sasuke-kun," she repeated. "Look."
The lights were out in the theatre. Everything was dead in silence.
Sasuke pulled her behind him instinctively, feeling his back pocket for his gun as his eyes narrowed.
And then there were screams.
What the hell is going on?
XXX
"I HAVE THE CINDERELLA GIRL!" a loud, smooth voice boomed through the sheer darkness. "AND IF ANYONE MOVES OR SCREAMS I'LL KILL HER!"
Ino screamed. "Wha-What the hell?"
A warm hand covered her mouth roughly, and her eyes widened. She started squirming around when another hand was placed around her waist, trying to keep her from wriggling.
"Shhhhhhhhhh, dammit! It's Shikamaru!" the voice whispered in her ear. Angrily, she bit into his skin, and he restrained himself from giving out a yelp. Leaning closer, he hissed, "Ino, I swear, if you hurt me I won't save your sorry ass!"
She wrenched his hand away, sneering. "I don't need your damn help! I just need the lights back on!"
"They're not coming back on until those guys get what they want!"
"I can handle myself! I just… I just need my phone." Her hands searched blindly around her purse, and then she cursed. She hadn't thought to bring it. It was still at home, on her windowsill.
Shikamaru sighed, and then turned away. He started mumbling under his receiver, but no one would answer. What? He thought, baffled. Quickly, he started fiddling with the dial, fearing for the worst.
Oh, no. C'mon, c'mon!
XXX
"The receiver's dead." Neji whispered to himself, just realizing this now. "Those bastards broke off all transmission."
He whirled blindly to Hinata, who had hid tearfully behind him. "Hinata-sama," he said urgently, "let me see your phone."
Still quite shocked that the lights wouldn't come back on, she fumbled through her purse expertly with her keen eyesight, shakily handing the phone over to Neji. He took grasp of it and slid it open, angrily cursing when he realized that there was no signal, either.
"Neji-niisan…" Hinata whimpered. "W-Why… why…?"
"We're under attack." He replied bluntly. "And someone might get killed."
XXX
"Naruto!" Sakura called, slightly relieved to see the blonde running towards them. All she wasn't relieved about was that worrisome expression painted all over his face.
"Teme." Naruto said severely. "Transmission's gone. Lights and backup power are cut. All ready checked. Can't find Shikamaru and Neji, either. Plus, they have the upper hand." Naruto's face flickered from worrisome to distraught. "They might kill someone."
"We should bring the girls home." Sasuke replied, clipping his voice so it sounded professional like Naruto's.
"But, Sasuke-teme, shouldn't we fight ba –?"
"Look, our priorities right now are to get these girls safe." Sasuke interrupted, holding Naruto's gaze. "We have to do it, Naruto."
The blonde growled. "Look, teme! Someone's life might be endangered over there! We have to fight back or else they might kill someone! And if you're just going to sit your ass down and do nothing about it –" Naruto poked the man's chest angrily, "–then I will. I came to find you because I thought you could help me. Could help everyone." Naruto shook his head furiously. "Sometime's teme, you've got to do more than just your duty." And with that said, Naruto ran off, back inside the darkness – and to Sakura's horror – pulled out a white pistol.
"Dammit, Naruto! Come back here!"
"Sasuke…" Sakura breathed. "What is… what-what was with t-that –?"
"Look, now's not the time." Sasuke cut short, flashing off a similar gun. "I have an idiotic dobe to save."
XXX
"Neji-niisan, are you done yet?" Hinata whispered. There was this strange feeling in her guts. It felt like there were knots in her stomach, untying and tying and making her feel so frightened. It was worse than anything with Naruto.
It was horrifying.
Neji made her hold her phone light as they slipped their way into the hallway, where he thought the light outlets and fuse box would be. They had to crawl underneath these two goons' legs, and succeeded inconspicuous. He was determined to try and rearrange the cords so that the lights would come back on, though he knew he was no Shikamaru, it wouldn't hurt to really try…
Okay, blue, green cords… Gotta snap this yellow one… With his hands, he ripped the cable a part, throwing it out of the way as the end threads flickered with lost energy. Hinata gawked. I… I should be strong. Like Neji-niisan! For Naruto-kun! So when he sees me, he can be proud.
"Hinata-sama," he grumbled. "Shine the light to left."
She pulled back from her thought, moving her wrist slowly according to his directions, hoping to be precise. "Like this?" she questioned softly.
He nodded once. "Yes."
She watched in trance amazement as he pulled out some kind of device from his tux jacket, and then started to wire it up with the cables. Attaching a white cord with a blue one and – with raw strength – jerked another cord. The device looked very similar to a GPS system, but Hinata knew it wasn't. It suddenly lit up with a dim blue light. Neji used the hem of his jacket to clean the screen, and then pressed his thumb against it. It gave a small bing!
"All right, Hnata-sama." He said, grinning. "Time to bust those bitches." He stood up from his kneeling position, thrusting his hand out for her to use. Eyeing it, she gently grabbed hold, and then drove herself upright, watching curiously as he slickly flipped switches on the fuse box. And then, he frowned.
"Oh, no. What is it?" Hinata wondered.
"This damn fuse box." Neji mumbled. "I don't get it. The cables I cut and redid should have gone and re – ah…" Shaking his head, he smirked to himself, working his fingers with a single switch.
There was a click. The lights flashed a bright white, soaking them in blinding brightness.
XXX
The confident, rich and beautiful Yamanaka Ino had never felt this outlandish, uncomfortable feeling as it surfed through her, easily upsetting the heiress. It made her usual bubbly and direct actions shaky and hesitant.
"Ino, don't be so troublesome." Shikamaru breathed. The two were crawling blindly in the darkness, Shikamaru insisting they go to the fuse boxes. He knew how to fix it, he coaxed her, and so she went along. His hand was on the small of her back, just to keep her from trembling again. The genius knew she on the verge of a nervous breakdown, and he wasn't exactly… trained in that expertise. He even let her hold his white pistol, which was very troublesome, but at least she was too preoccupied with being afraid and didn't ask where the gun had come from.
"OUCH!" Ino screamed, wrenching her hand back. Shikamaru pulled the back of her dress impulsively. Snatching the gun from her grip he shot up, grabbing a figure and putting the nose of the pistol to the side of their head.
"Holy shit! Get the fuck away!"
"Naruto, what did you do?!"
"Sakura, get behind me, dammit!"
Shikamaru's eyes widened. He became unguarded. "Naruto? Is that you?"
In a blink of an eye, Shikamaru was overthrown, his hands behind his back in an awkward position and grabbed roughly with a gun jabbed hard to his forehead. "Who are you?!"
The pineapple headed man clenched his fists, closing his eyes as he tried to say calmly, "Naruto, let go of me. I'm Shikamaru."
The blonde's grip loosened, and Shikamaru stumbled forward before regaining his composure. "Shikamaru? Oh, thank God. Where's the others?"
"What happened?" A deep, stern voice added.
"Well," he replied, dusting off his tux, pissy that Naruto could easily beat him, "we got separated from Hinata and Neji when the lights shut off, I've bumped into about eight crying kids, and Naruto here just stomped all over Ino's hand."
"That hurt, you bastard!" Ino shrieked, huffing on the floor. A flash of pink ran towards her – and because none of them could really see well – toppled over the Yamanaka heiress.
"Ow!" they both screamed.
"Shut up!" Sasuke hissed. "They'll hear –"
"So, they've hired you."
The three men tensed, whipping around simultaneously with their guns poised stiffly.
They could see the outline of dumpy, skinny man, his hand clutching onto a sniper.
"Aren't you three a little too young to be playing with those dangerous toys, boys?" he mocked in the darkness – oops, scratch that.
The crystal chandelier relit itself, pervading beams of light throughout the theatre hall. Heads looked up, relieved, and children stopped sobbing. Sakura and Ino stared openly at the stick-skinny man in front of them.
"Shit." Stick-skinny cursed, turning red. "What the hell's happening?" he growled angrily.
A bullet whizzed soundlessly, dangerously whistling very near his left ear. He darted out of the way, eyes turning into slits. "Hey blondie! Watch where you shoot that thing!"
Naruto's massive grin stretched through his face, and he readied his pistol again. "Snake member, right? You aren't going to be after this – AH SHIT!" Naruto bounced back as Skinny-stick rammed forward, sniper completely aimed at him. Sasuke took this advantage, readying his pistol while the man was still preoccupied with killing Naruto. He growled angrily when he was interrupted by a knife flinging fast towards him, which thankfully he evaded easily, stepping to the side. A woman with her black hair tied back stepped out of the shadows, grinning wickedly. "Your fighting me, cutie." She murmured seductively. Sasuke spat in disgust. "I don't fight women." He retorted smugly. But he winced when his eyes trailed down, finding a senbon needle lodged right through his thigh. Swiftly, he jerked it right out and threw it back at her, hoping it wouldn't miss. Surprised, she could only barely dodge, leaving small cut mark against the side of her cheek. The Uchiha growled again, unsatisfied, rushing forward with top speed, tucking his gun back into his holster and jumping right into her, throwing the woman a smooth punch to the jaw. He smirked as her eyes rolled back for a moment, and then snapped shut. She gnashed her teeth together when her body flew backwards, back clashing onto a marble column. After a few moments for her to recuperate her breathing patterns, she sneered, slowly rising to her feet and blowing a stray lock of hair from her face. Blood was gushing from her mouth and the back of her head, but she ignored it. "Bastard." She muttered under her breath, clicking her tongue displeased. Sasuke smirked. "Tired?" he teased, eyebrow quirked. She snarled loudly, plunking the needle that was lodged in her ebony locks. Her hair cascaded down to her lower backside and she bolted forward, plunging straight for Sasuke.
Crouching, he froze in his position, awaiting her steadily. When she hurtled her fist out, needle at the ready, he grappled hard onto her wrist, ceasing her actions. Smirking, he jerked firmly, twirling her so her back was pushed against his chest and her hands were held behind her. The Uchiha gracefully slipped the senbon needle from her grasp and slid it into his pocket gently.
"Let go of me!" she ordered, outraged, writhing against him. He shook his head, bringing his lips to her ear.
"Game's over." He breathed, smirking.
"What are you anyway? Bulimic?" Naruto sneered, smirking when Skinny charged, enraged, flashing off three small knives.
"DAMN YOU!" he screeched, lunging one straight to the blonde. Naruto, quite stunned, stayed planted to the ground, knowing he wouldn't be fast enough to dodge the incoming attack. Instead, he agilely fastened his gun near his face and rapidly started to twirl it, hoping to deflect the knife.
It worked.
The metal bounced from the pistol's skin and clanged noisily to the ground at the blonde's feet. Naruto bound away, and all the while Skinny was still running, too caught up in his speed and momentum to stop himself. The knife that lay on the ground poked a hole through his sandals as he tried helplessly to stop, and he gave out a piercing, chilling scream. He skidded to an end and dropped to the ground, his foot badly bleeding.
Naruto chuckled and squatted down next to him, pointing cheerfully at his foot. "Ouch."
"There must be another one of you," Shikamaru grumbled, pacing around the two tied up delinquents. Recently, Skinny was now Hachi and the woman was Ami. Naruto and Sasuke had tied the two of them up with piano string against the column Sasuke had punched Ami into, but they refused to say anything else as of now. Neji and Hinata had joined them a couple of minutes after the fight had ended, with Neji escorting Hinata over to where Naruto was guarding the other two confused heiresses after calling ANBU for people to take the two Snake comrades immediately. Sakura and Ino had bombarded the three men with demands of answering their questions, but none had answered, instead deciding to ignore them now and get everything settled later. The Cinderella Ball was called off, and everyone was ushered out by the police force. The Ball's dancing parts were to be held in the town's hall. The only reason the heiresses and the guys got to stay was because they held power, therefore, control.
"Where are your comrades?" Neji demanded icily, glaring at them through pale, cold eyes. Shikamaru had told them they should at least try and get some information out of them before ANBU's Interrogation Force did the same.
Ami turned her head stubbornly, with Hachi closing his eyes, ignoring the world around him. Sasuke wanted to light the two on fire, but everyone had ignored this, instead deciding to just keep persisting until someone broke.
"You guys were too easy." Naruto said, not noticing how the two Snakes winced and turned to glare at him. "Maybe they… underestimated us?"
Shikamaru's fingers snapped. "No, no, that's it!"
The three others turned to face him, perplexed. "What's… it?" Naruto echoed.
"They didn't underestimate us. They were testing us."
"Hah! Well they failed!" Naruto exclaimed, grinning. "They couldn't beat us."
Sasuke stepped forward. "Yeah, well that's not what they were here to do, dobe." His eyes turned on the two. "So, do you guys have photographic memories?"
Naruto eyed him curiously. "What are you talking about –?"
"Do you?" Sasuke repeated heavily, voice low and dangerous.
"They were sent here to study your moves. Ah, very devious of them." The entrance doors banged open, and everyone's heads turned towards two males.
Itachi and Deidara sauntered through in their official ANBU uniform, Deidara pausing at the marble column to swiftly unwrap the two from the string and Itachi holding them tight in case they were to flee.
"Good job, though." Deidara nodded, cuffing up Ami. "We would have come earlier, yeah, but we had some trouble along the way." Deidara was blushing as he remembered a certain speech with Kakashi, but tried to hide it as he moved over to Hachi and did the same thing. Then, swiping his hands, he looked the two up and down, chuckling. "You guys aren't much. I would have expected more, un."
Ami glared. "We were at a disadvantage. They outnumbered us." She replied stiffly.
Shikamaru scoffed. "Neji and I didn't even fight you. It was two against two."
Itachi cleared his throat, taking out two black blindfolds from his breast pocket vest. He threw one over to Deidara, and then started wrapping the cloth over Ami's eyes. He nodded towards Sasuke. "Good job. We'll get back to you guys later. Morino wants these two at the Interrogation Office right away." He then gave a short glance towards the girls in the corner, protected by Naruto. "Might wanna get them home, too."
And with that the two ANBU strolled off, placing the Snake members inside their van and pulling away, leaving the seven all alone.
The four men sighed in relief, lucky to have all the trouble over with.
Or at least… half of it.
Hinata coughed. Ino's throat cleared. And then Sakura stepped up, tapping Naruto on the shoulder with a frown. "All right, show's over. I want to know what's going on and I want to know now."
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DarkxBlossom aka Dax: Woohoo! Chapter 5 is DONE!
Jiraiya: Oh, yeah. Say, you know quite a lot of young women. Care to share any digits? Like this chic in the picture you have here. Who's she?
Dax (snatching away yearbook): No! That's my yearbook, man! You can't look at that! And what the heck?! You were checking out a TEACHER!
Neji: This is so scarring in so many ways.
Naruto: That teacher doesn't actually look half bad.
Neji (punching Naruto): Dude, shut up! She's not your age.
Naruto: Well, look at her, Neji! Dax, let him see –
Dax (snapping the thing shut): No. Can we just… just get back to the storyline, here?
Neji: Please.
Naruto and Jiraiya: Fine…
Dax: Okay, thank you! Naruto, care to start?
Naruto: Right! So, as you can see, things are just beginning to heat up in this chapter. But seriously, doesn't everyone agree how cool I was when I like, deflected that knife with my super awesome gun? I mean, it was super-cool!
Neji: Whatever. If I hadn't even fixed the lights you wouldn't even see that knife coming at you –
Jiraiya: PLEASE, GENTLEMEN! I think we all know who the super cool hero in this story was.
Dax: Thank you for noticing, Jiraiya –
Jiraiya: I mean, it's obvious it was ME.
-crickets chirping, everything is silent-
Naruto, Neji, and Dax:…
Dax (chuckling nervously): Right… well then! Neji, please go on.
Neji: Yeah, okay, remember, REVIEW. They help Dax write even faster and longer chapters.
Naruto: PLUS, I gain more FAME!