Mixed With the Lightning of Slaughter [ch. 12]
previous: 11 - mere anarchy
12 - stained and made bloody
I don’t think I ever want another team again. This one is already too much to handle.
Ahead of him, Pakkun dropped off the tree branch onto the ground. Kakashi followed him and cleared the next hop, coming into a small clearing. “Yo,” he said, purposefully casual. “Run into the Oto nin?”
Shizune was scowling when she finally looked up at him, the visible healing chakra dissipating around her hands. “I’d think you have better things to do than taking side trips,” she commented. “I felt a group of genin going past just a while ago-you go reinforce them. Iwashi, sit down. You shouldn’t have been so rash as to completely disregard all common sense. I don’t believe I ordered you to just up and try to engage them.”
Iwashi was the least injured of the other three, and looked the most reproached. “As Oto nin they should’ve been stopped,” he muttered. “Plus, Genma and Raidou-“
“Have a bit more faith in the village’s security than to think that the Oto nin are going to go without being pursued,” Kakashi interrupted. Even though the village’s security hadn’t caught them initially… “The Hokage already ordered me to follow the genin as backup, since I finished my last mission and returned after the genin were already sent out. I don’t suppose you can give me any specifics on the Oto nin?” He hoped that he had made the right decision to veer off to the side, letting the Oto nin and Konoha genin move farther away from him, letting his team run farther and farther, away and out-saw in his mind the spiky blond hair and the quiet smile, the Sharingan eye looking up at him under the rock under all that rock-
Kakashi drew in his breath sharply; he could do no more than trust that Shikamaru and his team could handle it by themselves for a moment longer.
Raidou opened his eyes and finally spoke. “They activate some kind of seal on their bodies which drastically increases their stamina and strength. One of them has two heads and has some phasing ability, one of them’s like the Akimichi, one has multiple arms and the other specializes in genjutsu-but by tackling us four on two at first, they mostly used taijutsu to surprise us.”
Avoid prolonged physical contact, stay on the lookout for genjutsu, don’t be intimidated by size… multiple arms? Kakashi frowned. Must be the one who attacked Naruto and manipulated chakra threads. And the genjutsu-the one who Sakura faced. Can use genjutsu at a distance too, by seals.
“Seals on their bodies, huh?” Pakkun grunted, scratching the skin behind his ear as he sat. “Doesn’t smell right to me,” he added as he reached up with a front paw to rub his nose. “It smells draining.”
“They’ve gone beyond the shinobi arts,” Genma said; he lay against the tree, barely moving. “Tsunade-sama shouldn’t have just sent genin after them…”
“She trusts them to do their task,” Kakashi said. “Shizune, you’ll take them back to Konoha?”
Shizune slowly stood, looking down at Genma. “Iwashi,” she finally said, “take Genma and Raidou to the hospital once you get to Konoha”-then glanced at Kakashi. “You don’t suppose the Oto nin will get backup?”
“Backup?” Kakashi repeated. “I don’t know Orochimaru’s mind, but-“ he jerked his head at the trees. “Another one’s always good, if you’re willing.”
“I’ve stabilized those two as best as I could,” she said. “But if we let the Oto nin get away like this, the political implications…” she shrugged. “Not good for Konoha’s standing.”
Kakashi sensed there was something more, dark anger flickering behind Shizune’s eyes. Don’t really need to ask, though, and as for time-he nodded to Pakkun. “Let’s go, I’ll update you on what Tsunade told me.”
To make up for all those other times when I was too slow, sensei-let me be fast enough, just this once.
-----
“What the fuck kind of shinobi is the kid?” Tayuya said suspiciously, twirling her flute between her fingers. Jiroubou had called them to a halt as soon as they’d reached the valley, where their target stood on the water, twitching with tension and looking in their direction (yeah, so we’re too pissed to even be sneaky, damn Uchiha, so be as nervous as you can be-watch us, fear us).
Sakon only looked disgusted. “He probably overreacted to the Seishingan and the curse seal, who knows? Maybe he’s calmed down now.”
“Better have, Konoha’ll be onto us soon,” Tayuya spat, glancing at Jiroubou-he had narrowly avoided most of the massive black flames which had suddenly erupted out of nowhere when he was just about to knock the boy out. His right side was burnt in patches, his left shoulder was dripping blood, and he had forsaken his usual placidity in favor of silent fuming.
Sitting to her side, Kidoumaru set down the bow and arrow he had just formed from chakra. He didn’t look as though he’d fully recovered from Uchiha’s lightning attack yet, even as he began to piece threads of chakra together. “I,” he said softly, “am going to kill Kabuto when we get back. A spy who can’t even do his job properly and give us the correct information-between the invasion and now, there’s no fucking way he could have learned all this, especially since most of the time he was laid out in the hospital. But Kabuto didn’t tell us about the black fire, or how he channels the lightning out through his body-“
“-or how batshit crazy he’s acting,” Jiroubou muttered. “Maybe level two caused irreparable damage to his brain. You done?”
Kidoumaru held up the lattice of chakra threads which he had swiftly mapped out, and examined it against the light. “Finished,” he said.
A smirk spread over Sakon’s face. “Time for me to go, then.”
-----
He can sense the Oto nin staked out along the shore, so Sasuke walks backward on the water, the spray of the waterfall flung against his back. They should not have made it this far, he thinks, for he had gone into Orochimaru’s lair all alone, walking into the enemy’s den-no one flanked him, back then, just a path of destruction and death scattered in his footprints, and they should not have made it here, this place-I fought Naruto, he remembers now, envisions the thickening marks on Naruto’s face and the fox’s crazed grinning face spinning out of the red chakra-
-when Madara’s control over the other gathered bijuu had dissipated, and Kyuubi had exploded-
The Sound Four hovers at the edges of Sasuke’s awareness, but in front of him he sees his one track splitting now. One: the Valley of the End, Orochimaru, Madara, and Kyuubi surrounding him with all the promise of hellfire and oblivion. And two: the Valley of the End, again.
Last time, Sasuke tells himself. Last time that happened, and this time… This time there is something new.
Or maybe, he thinks wildly, this is all a dream, a genjutsu-not even Madara’s, but one of Kyuubi’s making, because Kyuubi has experienced enough at Madara’s hands for it to enjoy screwing with a Uchiha’s mind. Except the Kyuubi wouldn’t bother with such an intricate illusion and would just go for his jugular-
Or maybe-and perhaps this is the wildest thought of all, backtracking on life and starting again-this is real-
(Susanoo and Kyuubi together, in that one moment before everything imploded. My name is Uchiha Sasuke, he repeated to himself, and I am-seventeen-thirteen-)
-and does not have time to think how or why as he sees one of the Sound Four racing across the water; has barely enough time to duck to the right and draw his chokuto-
Draws, instead, at empty air-not here, he realizes, he’d left it behind him when-he skids across the water to a stop and looks back.
“Sasuke-sama!” Sakon yells at him. “Are you going to learn from Orochimaru-sama?” Or not? his words ask silently. If you dare say so.
“Orochimaru?” he echoes back.
(His face forms out of the landscape, grinning grotesquely in the fashion of a skeleton, moving lifelessly, blankly, as do the skeletons which grope about blindly and reach into his mind’s depths when he dreams, all snapped bone and slashed tendons and slit throats, drowning the Uchiha district in blood with the moon shining down too innocently. Around them the ground-which-is-not rises up and down, cracked and dry-
-is parched ground himself, sliding up and around in bumpy knots, but he channels chakra to his eyes and lets red overtake his pupils; I will not die, the mantra runs in his head, I will not die until I kill Itachi-)
-until I kill-
“Learn?” he asks. “No. Not now. Not from him.” A flash of pain shoots through his eyes, and the corners of his mouth turn up mirthlessly. (“Orochimaru… you are weaker than me.”
“… Big words, from the leftover Uchiha.”
Not now, not ever. Thrown away on the floor, discarded like trash, the leftover left to live, never never never-Should’ve died like all the rest, the voice whispers inside him, reaching out to the void.)
“That’s not possible, Sasuke-sama,” Sakon replies, his voice sharp and blunt-of course, as if they had meant to let him leave and thus risk bringing Orochimaru’s punishment upon themselves. “I think it’s best you come with us, so you can control the curse seal for your own use.”
“For my own use?” Sasuke laughs tersely. “I don’t need to use it.” He leans back warily into a crouch, tilting his head up-sees the blue of the sky clearly defined, and then the outline of nearby trees blurring suddenly; blinks, deactivating the Sharingan suddenly, a frigid blast of fear swamping him, because it was his vision that had worsened-
-as though he is standing in two places at once, watching Sakon, watching himself watch Sakon and Sakon watch him; watches most of all, disinterestedly, the darkness encroaching, a vast gorge separating himself from the other himself as he stares down into the abyss-
… blinks, and Naruto turns his head back to look at him, baring his teeth in a savagely triumphant grin. “You bastard, stay alive,” he orders. “You’re always the survivor, so you’d better stay alive, or else I’ll kill you.”
Strange how easily Sasuke slips back to the old days-ah, he thinks, the dead last once again reveals his utter lack of logic. But his sight hasn’t cleared and he stares back unseeingly-the blond hair comes into focus, then the whisker marks. “Why the fuck are you here?”
“Heh.” Naruto squints his eyes. Sasuke is eerily reminded of Kakashi. (Dead two months now, but Naruto, just like Kakashi, keeps parts of his precious people alive.) “It was all because of you. Bastard.”
-and then he looks properly at Naruto’s face for the first time, and sees the blood, and looks down at himself, and sees-
No, he thinks. Not now. Not him.
… blinks, and Sakon is saying, “Yes, you do,” his face reflecting boredom, and strangely, suspiciously, a hint of anticipation. Sasuke stares back-senses again the vacant space in his mind which has been cleaned out too cleanly, that same frigid feeling creeping up his body as biting as the lake breeze. “Orochimaru-sama will make sure you aren’t as pitiful as you are now! You don’t even understand what I’m saying, do you?” He bares his teeth in a grin lacking all kindness. “Pathetic-“
Sasuke looks skyward and sees the arrow shooting up, the threads streaming down in a knotted pattern-his mind processes the situation, supplies him helpfully with trap, but he takes one step to the left-too slow, his body is too damn slow, and he curses out loud as the ends shoot down around him and Sakon plunges a hand into the water. The net draws up the chakra flash which pulses through the surrounding water, locking it into a hardened shape.
I won’t be caught that easily. “Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!” He raises his hands to his mouth and lets the fireball come to life, racing out furiously against the net, but the flames pass through the squares harmlessly. (Kidoumaru’s work, he recognizes, just like in his hospital room.)
Sakon is smirking; but he won’t be for long, Sasuke thinks furiously. He cannot stand being hemmed in like this, imprisoned-
-by the Uchiha, and fate-himself, walking through the forest into the dark, driving forward as tunnel vision narrows away all sight of the world till the only thing he sees is-
“Brother,” he breathes out.
His back faces Sasuke, but Itachi turns his head and says, “To kill them and watch them die, that is our fate-“ And you followed yours as I did mine, his eyes speak without words, until black turns red and the Mangekyou blades come to undo his world all over once more-
He grips his right wrist with his other hand and brings it down to waist level. “Chidori,” he grits out tightly, and looks up through the chittering of the lightning. He’s used Chidori Nagashi already, not Chidori (Kakashi’s jutsu, and he’ll let his teacher keep his own), but he has punched holes in so many lives that he can certainly punch through a goddamn chakra net.
The Sound Four does not know this. But then again-he activates the Sharingan again, ignoring the pinched feeling along the cornea, the blood drying along the lower eyelid (from his eyes, but now he does not try to think how or why)-they do not know him at all.
(“Your reflexes are awful!” Something deep inside him shifts, breaking into a thousand shards, and he cannot see his own reflection in the jagged pieces which mock him with reality.
He hears someone screaming, and then he realizes it’s coming from inside him.)
-and he charges forward.
-----
“What are you guys doing here?”
Kiba seemed to be having a mild aneurysm; even Akamaru looked affronted on his partner’s behalf. Sakura sniffed, tossed her head, and said, “Sasuke-kun’s our teammate, of course we’re going to be here.”
“Hmph,” Shikamaru said. He looked partly relieved, partly disgruntled. “Surprising that Tsunade-sama let you out of the hospital to follow us.”
Naruto laughed even louder than usual. “Ahahahaha, baa-chan’s cool like that!”
Shikamaru narrowed his eyes-he must realize that’s not true, Sakura noticed, Naruto’s way too obvious when he pretends-but didn’t say anything.
“So,” Naruto continued, far too casual to be genuinely so, “have we got anything new on the Oto-“
Neji jerked his head suddenly forward, the veins around his eyes bulging out. “About fifty meters ahead,” he said. “Looks like there was a fight-“
“Must’ve been Sasuke!” Naruto turned to Sakura, gesturing wildly. Let’s pull on ahead, his eyes pleaded with her.
Sakura had to look away from him. “Anyone still there?” she addressed Neji. We need to know what the area’s like first, she thought. Can’t walk into traps like that.
Naruto… she wanted to cry, or smile, or both. She could imagine him going after Sasuke forever and ever, his vision narrowed down to nothing else. She wanted to thank him, for always being himself; wanted to hit him, for that same reason. We’ll go after Sasuke-kun together-we can reach him in the darkness, but we can’t just save him. The only person who can save him is himself, if Sasuke-kun chooses to come out…
The realization burned less than it might have-once she would have dreamed of Sasuke saving her, or her saving Sasuke, in some brilliant flashy battle, life and death on the line, and everlasting love proclaimed solemnly afterward. But battles within the heart-
She knew, silently, that she could only do her best to understand.
“It’s deserted, no noticeable traps that I can see.” Neji frowned. “Evidence of-burning though…” he trailed off to look at Kiba.
“That must be from the wacky fire Kiba smelled earlier,” Chouji commented. Akamaru barked in agreement.
Lee pulled forward to match Shikamaru’s pace. “Sasuke-san’s will of fire is strong,” he said as if stating a fact. “Don’t worry, Sakura-san, Naruto-kun! Sasuke-san is not a stupid ninja!”
“Of course not!” Naruto scoffed. “He’s just a bastard, that’s all. Should’ve asked me to beat down the Oto nin for him!”
Sakura smiled weakly, but said nothing. She remembered Sasuke looking at her but not seeing her in the hospital; remembered walking out onto the roof to see the scorched damage, the lights flickering, and Sasuke’s face then-
He wasn’t seeing us then. He was seeing something else entirely.
Distantly she heard Shikamaru directing Chouji, Kiba, and Lee off to the side. “And you said the clearing’s completely empty, Neji?”
“Yes,” Neji replied, as they all slowed down at Shikamaru’s signal. “And I don’t see anything suspicious. It seems whoever fought here left in a hurry.”
Shikamaru frowned, but nodded to Naruto. Naruto pumped a fist into the air and surged forward; Sakura followed behind closely, channeling more chakra to her feet. After this was finished she was going to go train, and improve her stamina. Or something.
They came into the clearing. Sakura took it all in-blood splattered on the dirt, a scorched patch of tree trunks, a blade forgotten on the ground. Her heart beat fast in her chest. It was definitely Sasuke-kun-who knew where he had figured out how to release lightning like that, but those marks-
There was huge splintered pieces of wood nearby. “Looks like a barrel,” Shikamaru said as he dropped down; one by one, the other members of the team came into the clearing, cautious and wary.
“He broke free then,” Naruto said slowly, a smile spreading across his face. “See! I knew baa-chan couldn’t be right! There’s no way Sasuke would just leave the village like that, they made him go!”
“Yeah.” Sakura tracked the signs of struggle to the far side, where they led into the forest. Where had her faith gone? She kept coming back to that one instant: herself peeling apples, sitting peacefully next to Sasuke-kun’s bed, and then he’d just moved-
-and when she looked into his eyes she had seen something completely alien.
But he was still Sasuke-kun, she told herself; she could not forget the rage and despair, but she could set it aside. “He went this way,” she said, motioning to the disturbed foliage which created a path for them to follow, and felt her heart soaring up oddly with a flutter of hope.
Sasuke-kun had not been completely swallowed up. And as for her-I won’t have to see their backs forever, she told herself grimly. One day… I’ll be in the front.
She glanced at Naruto-saw him look back, blue eyes blazing-and gave him a broad smile. “Let’s go,” she said. “He can’t possibly have got that far away yet.”
-----
Chapter title from:
Leaves pallid and sombre and ruddy,
Dead fruits of the fugitive years;
Some stained as with wine and made bloody,
And some as with tears.
-Algernon Swinburne, “Dedication, 1865”
(“Orochimaru… you are weaker than me.”
“… Big words, from the leftover Uchiha.”)
-Ch. 344 (“The Snake”)
In light of all the canon that has happened since my last update (last September ahahahaha so much fail on my part), I should probably state explicitly that future!Sasuke’s storyline follows canon as far as the end of Ch. 392 (“Susanoo”). I have taken some of future!Sasuke’s memories from dialogue after that chapter, but consider those lines spoken under different circumstances.
Will try to be better about updating in the future. ;____; It is completely all my fault; suffice it to say that first year of college turned out more busy than I imagined.
Comments are adored and fed cupcakes. :)
next: 13 - and the wrath of hearts that burn