Dangerously Beautiful

Chapter 11 Recalled Naruto sighed loudly, pulling on his orange sweatpants with his hands to keep them above his waist as he dashed down the street, taking short corners and small alleyways in his attempt to find Itachi. He knew now that his life was in danger, he had to find him as quickly as possible, if nothing else just to warn him the team of Anbu were after his head. The young blonde grumbled as his pearl blue eyes scanned the restaurant district, seeing the Ichi raku ramen, the local barbeque place, and the many small diners that littered the blocks, but still no sign of Itachi anywhere. Naruto scratched at his whiskers and continued on, hearing from behind him a group of rustling tree leaves and feeling at least three kunai grace by his spiky light-colored hair. The young boy spun around frantically, spotting a few Anbu team members assembled in the trees and on the rooftops. The young Anbu who had tossed his kunai at the intruder calmly picked them up from the ground, staring at the twelve year-old through his thick ceramic mask, "Young boy, you're in a surveillance area, you should leave before you get hurt." He advised, swiping his kunai off of the ground and sliding them back into their proper place at his side. Naruto cocked his head curiously, "Surveillance?" he asked, spinning around to see dozens of the highly trained ninjas surrounding their target, holding their hands to their ears as they waited for the signal from their team captain. The young blonde took in a quick breath as he realized who they had been trailing, seeing Itachi dressed in his usual long black cloak and straw kasa walking calmly down the street, the Anbu too stealth to even alert an S-rank criminal of their presence. Naruto balled up fists at his side, watching as the Anbu standing next to him pressed the radio to his ear, awaiting orders from the Hokage herself. "Yes? Right, move out when ready..." he muttered, giving proper instruction to his team, pulling on his radio again to add another comment as he pushed past Naruto's shocked form, "He won't go down easily, be prepared with the reinforcements. I don't want any screw-ups." He added, looking down at the curious blonde and holding his right arm in the air, preparing to make his 'move-out' signal. Naruto knew he couldn't allow that to happen, his knees shook as he looked around for something he could do, or disrupt to stop their plans. Desperately he sprinted forward at full speed, the Anbu that had aligned around him letting out tired breaths as he headed to their target, grunting as he sped quicker and quicker to the unsuspecting Itachi. The eldest Uchiha turned to see the blonde only a few seconds before he rammed into his stomach with his blonde, spiky head, knocking the S-rank criminal on his backside. Itachi rubbed his aching head, sitting up and glaring at his young lover with blood-red eyes, "Just what the Hell do you think you're doing, puppy?!" he demanded, the hair on the back of his neck suddenly standing on end. He could feel the dangerous presence of his enemies surrounding him, his Sharingan easily making them out in the crowd, some in the greenery and rooftops, and others hiding inside of the small buildings. The criminal stared Naruto in the eye quietly, being extremely careful not to move away from him. He knew as soon as he left the safety of being too close to one of their own citizens to attempt an attack, they would hit him with full force. Silently, he pulled Naruto closer to him; embracing him with both arms and holding him to his chest, knowing the Anbu around him were now virtually powerless. The young blonde touched Itachi's back, "They know you're here..." he whispered, his blue eyes scanning his lover's back to make sure no one was going to make a foolish move. "I can see that, puppy..." Naruto bit his bottom lip, "I don't want you to get hurt." He whined, stifling back his tears and noticing the Anbu teams were beginning to close in on their desired target. Itachi sighed, pulling back from the embrace and nodding, "I won't." he promised,mminmming the blonde's body to the dirt ground and leaping high in the air, his frantic hands sending long kunai flying towards every member of the team he could spot before vanishing across the rooftops, speeding up and down the small streets to escape the dozens of following Anbu. The young blonde let out a relievedh uph upon seeing the eldest Uchiha escape safely, receiving a stern glare from the few Anbu who remained posted around their assigned area. He looked up nervously at them, letting out a fumbled laugh, "I-I'm sorry, I just saw him and I figured I could capture him..." he lied through his teeth, noticing the Anbu in front of hppeappeared skeptical. The first who had spoken to him before leaned down to the boy's eye-level and grumbled, "You should mind your own business, boy. Keep your nose out of real shinobi matters." He commented, making sure to kick up dirt over the young teen before disappearing with the rest of his team. Naruto crossed his arms over his chest stubbornly, sticking his tongue out at them as they fled away. Meanwhile Itachi took in a strained breath, his chest heaving as he peered around the corner, sure the Anbu couldn't find him in the obscure place he had chosen to hide. There was a small alleyway blocked out by old wooden boards and metal fences, the barrier at least twenty feet tall, the only other way to reach the small, somewhat abandoned area was to come in through the top, the eldest Uchiha figured that would be a satisfactory enough location to rest for a few minutes. 'Dammit, why is every Anbu in Konoha after me all of a sudden?' he wondered, his head still spinning and looking around suspiciously even at the smallest of sounds. He couldn't take the chance they were surrounding him, even with his amazing ability, when faced with over a dozen members of the elite squad, it would be pretty difficult to escape intact. The eldest of the Uchiha clan brushed back his long black hair, thinking perhaps someone had spotted Kisame when he had burnt the hotel down, and now the entire town was after them. 'Damn, this is going to be harder than before.' He muttered quietly, pacing the small alley. "There he is!" Itachi spun around to hear the resounding voices of the trailing Anbu members who swarmed around him like insects. There were at least ten or twelve following his every move, all of them scaling the alleyway wall and running after him. "Shit." Ii cui cursed angrily, swiping his black coat around and hurrying down the long alley, seeing many corners and small turns he could take in front of his eyes, his mind wandering as to which path he should take. With a quick thought he held his hand to his forehead, creating the symbol for creating replications and molding his chakra. Soon, right before the baffled Anbus' eyes, appeared five versions of the wanted criminal, each taking a different path around the corner. It was consuming a lot of his much-needed strength, but he figured it was worth it if the heat died down. The original Itachi took the far left path, hurrying down the small street and edging into a corner. The following Anbu stopped in their tracks, each of them searching the small paths for any sign that the S Rank criminal was present. The eldest Uchiha slowed his breathing, something he had found very useful when he was a member of the Anbu team, to just remain perfectly silent, even beginning to pace his heartbeat as . A. A few minutes passed, and Itachi kept his breath in, his lungs feeling as if they would explode at any minute. Silently he listened to the radio on the Anbus' ears, "Yes, yes ma'am, we've lost him in the southern region, I will send my team to the east and to the outskirts to search for him. Yes." The young woman speaking to the Fifth Hokage over the small radio quietly nodded, holding her arm up and directing her team to the lower area of the large city. Itachi let out a long breath, relieved that he was finally able to breath freely again, and walking slowly down the alleyway, soon realizing it was a dead-end street and cursing quietly. He stopped at the far wall, balancing his back against the brick building and taking in the frigid air, closing his eyes at the feeling of being able to walk freely again. He had been trailed in the other countries, particularly countries that had held a peace treaty with Konoha, but it seemed nothing compared to the dozens of Anbu who were following him now. When he thought about it, it made perfect sense that he would be chased with more intensity in the town where he had brutally butchered an entire family line, taking away one of Konoha's strongest cornerstones. Itachi sighed, he had felt so drained ever since that night he had shared with Kakashi, his arms, his legs, his entire body felt extremely weak, as if a sarcastic reminder that he could not kill his ex-lover the way he had planned, he could not do that simple task. The young Uchiha closed his blood-red Sharingan eyes, his black locks falling over his forehead as he remained still in the small alley. Suddenly, his peaceful silence was shattered by the sound of a loud thump behind him, an arm wrapping around his neck, a kunai held between pale fingers. Damn, even as much as he had tried, one of the Anbu had tracked him down. Itachi swallowed the lump in his throat, feeling the man's grightighten behind him, even feeling the sickening hot breath against his neck. "Thought you could get away, did you?" A low voice questioned almost mockingly, his fingers dancing on the handle of his sharpened kunai. Itachi shivered at the voice, feeling a twinge travel up his spine as the weapon approached his throat. The eldest Uchiha noticed the young Anbu's hand was shaking, shivering, as if he was frightened or hesitant, and causing Itachi to chuckle lightly, "Oh, poor kid, is this your first time killing someone?" he teased, making very light of his current situation. The grip on his neck tightened sharply at the criminal's smart comment, cold sweat dripping from the Anbu onto the young Uchiha's shoulders, "No," the mysterious ninja began, "But I won't kill you until I get some answers." Itachi could feel the awkward familiarity in his voice, like he had heard that low, resounding voice hundreds of times over, but he didn't want to believe it. It was impossible that he could have found him. His knees quaked, his legs feeling almost like jelly as the person spoke behind him again, seemingly draining every bit of energy he had left. "First, where's Sasuke?" The young Anbu behind him questioned, pressing his body against the Uchiha's forcefully from behind, again repeating his inquiry, "Where's Sasuke?!" he shouted, his bellowing voice echoing through the streets and alleyways. Itachi forced his head around; turning to see such a familiar and predictable face it was almost nauseating. Kakashi, there he was, his mask hung loosely around his neck, obviously falling over by the chase, his shaggy gray hair hanging over his eyes, sweat dripping down his forehead from the intensely hot weather, and tears falling from his eyes. It was painfully clear he did not want his encounter with Itachi to be like this, nor did he want to admit that Sasuke was even missing. The eldest Uchiha's blood-red eyes widened sharply, "Ka... kashi..." he muttered quietly, the words he had uttered finally sinking through his thick skull, "Sasuke's missing?" he questioned in his low voice. Kakashi clenched his teeth together angrily; it was bad enough Itachi had done something to his younger brother, now he was trying to lie about it blatantly? The gray-haired Jounin moved the blade of the kunai closer to Itachi's Adam's apple, "Don't bullshit me. Where is he?" he asked once again, too concerned with the youngest Uchiha's safety, his student's safety to beat around the bush on the subject. "I swear I don't know." Itachi yelled back, feeling his ex-boyfriend grab his shoulders and slam him into the nearby wall, smacking the Uchiha's head against the tough brick wall angrily, his face extremely red. The gray-haired Jounin looked almost like a demon in Itachi's eyes, that fiery expression, the pink in his cheeks, the overexagerated wrinkles in his forehead. In the long time the dark-haired criminal had known him, he had never seen him like this, such intense hatred and fury gathered inside of him. He seemed like an entirely different person from the kind, caring, overall harmless young Jounin he used to be five years ago. Itachi shook, his fingers feeling numb. Kakashi growled, waving his hand in front of Itachi's face as a threat, "I swear, if you did anything to hurt him, if you touched one hair on that boy's head, I will kill you." He said, almost like a promise. The eldest Uchiha scuffed, wondering silently why Kakashi was acting so concerned for Sasuke's safety, knowing the young Jounin would never be so concerned for Itachi's well-being. He stared at his sandals for a long time, realizing it was far to painful to look Kakashi in the eye, "Did... did something happen to Sasuke?" he asked, trying to sound sympathetic. "Like you care." Kakashi returned like a deadly blow, stepping forward and quickly gripping Itachi's large black collar in his right hand and pulling them so closely together their breaths mingled. "Get the Hell out of Konoha, and don't you come back." He demanded. Itachi's eyes widened, why hadn't the young Jounin simply killed him on the spot? The eldest Uchiha stared at his ex-boyfriend's hand that held his neck, the soft, inviting hand that used to wrap around him when he was feeling low, the hand that used to touch his face with feathery light touches just to make him feel better, the hands that had wandered his pale body many times and delivered the most extreme pleasure he had ever experienced. He could not help himself any longer, even with all the hate and frustration he had pent up inside of him over the years, he had to touch those comforting hands again. Slowly his smaller pale hand touched the top of Kakashi's own lightly, trailing his fingers and allowing a grin to come to his face. His momentary happiness was interrupted when the young Jounin yanked his hand back, swiping the kunai over the top of Itachi's hand instinctively, and watching as a small amount of blood spurted out. The eldest Uchiha pulled his hand back in shock, staring at the open wound and glaring at the one who had harmed him. He couldn't believe his old boyfriend would do such a thing to him, and for his own brother. He felt disgusting. "I don't care about the past anymore," Kakashi began quietly, stepping back a little and staring at the one he once loved, "If anything happens to Sasuke, and I find out you're involved, I won't hesitate to kill you." Itachi scowled, "I didn't know you cared about Sasuke that much." He muttered, his own chest aching painfully at knowing he was not the only one who had occupied Kakashi's heart. Kakashi sighed, placing his cat-themed Anbu mask over his pale face and staring back at his ex-boyfriend with gravely serious eyes, "I'm taking care of him, like an older brother would." He muttered angrily, making sure to stare Itachi directly in the eye. He had not been a brother to Sasuke for five years, even murdering his entire family and leaving him completely alone, someone had to take care of the young boy, and Kakashi allowed that responsibility to fall upon his shoulders. He ran his fingers through his thick gray hair, his heart thumping like a drum at seeing Itachi standing so close to him, the thought sending a chill up his spine. As much as it pained him to turn his back to him, the young Jounin decided he must, and began walking the opposite direction. Itachi bit his bottom lip, Kakashi was leaving him behind again, like five years ago he felt the crushing loneliness as he took a few steps, "I'll let you go," The gray-haired instructor began, looking back for a short second, "I don't have time to deal with you today, and finding Sasuke is more important than capturing you." He explained, stomping down the alley and escaping into the streets. After only a few feet of walking, Kakashi was forced to stop, propping himself against a wall to catch his balance, and letting out a long breath, his legs feeling incredibly weak, his knees were quaking and shaking. His head felt as if it were pounding in his skull, knowing it was because of how close he had just been to Itachi. Thoughts began to ring out through his head, uneasy thoughts and questions, if it all came down to it, would he actually be able to kill the one he had once loved with all his heart, the one who had once loved him. Cautiously he stared at his own helpless hands, wondering if he could drench them in the blood of the eldest Uchiha. The young Jounin closed his eyes and took in the warm air around him, falling to his knees and ripping the Anbu mask off of his pale face so his tears were able to fall freely from his eyes. He knew Itachi was telling the truth, that he honestly knew nothing about Sasuke's disappearance, but then who did? What had happened to the young Uchiha? So many possibilities entered his mind, most of them negative, was he dead somewhere? Lost? Kidnapped? Murdered? He couldn't stand to list the possible outcomes, just holding his hands together and praying he would come back safe. "Dammit," he cursed, slamming a tightened fist into the pavement, "What the Hell's been going on lately?!" Sasuke grunted as his limp body was slammed into the large oak tree in front of him, his back making a sickening cracking sound from the force of the impact, blood spurting out of his pale lips. His eyes had dark circles under them, a sign he had obviously not gotten any sleep for a long while, scars and wounds covering the extent of his body. His clothing was ripped and torn, and soaked in the mud he had been thrown into various times. The youngest Uchiha fell to the ground, his forehead bleeding into his neck as he took in a deep breath. He was helpless, entirely helpless against his opponent. Kisame let out a chuckle, leaning down to smack the boy on his cheek, "For an Uchiha, you're pretty weak, kid." He teased, delivering a hard punch to his abdomen and grinning widely with sharp teeth as he watched the young boy keel over in pain, his powerless arms struggling to hold his aching gut. "Now, when will you show me that Sharingan?" The S Rank criminal from the Water Country demanded, licking his scaly lips. He needed to see those blood-red eyes, to stare into them and know the boy was an Uchiha, more importantly, he needed to see the eyes so it would almost feel like he was beating his irresponsible partner, the man who had made a fool of him and constantly degraded him. With a firm kick into the young teen's side, watching his reaction and laughing angrily, "Show it to me you worthless Uchiha." He repeated, yanking on the chain he had wrapped around Sasuke's neck and forcing him to stand upright. The youngest Uchiha felt incredibly light-headed, his arm resting on the nearby tree so he wouldn't fall over. The past day had been nothing but Hell and torture, he had been wandering the forest, thinking about everything that had just happened to him when suddenly he was hit over the head violently. When he woke up he was fashioned in this terrible, sharp chain collar and beaten terribly. Ever since then he had not gotten a wink of sleep, alwfearfearful if he drifted off, Kisame would simply kill him. "I wonder why Itachi didn't just kill off a weakling like you when he killed the clan?" The loud-mouthed Kisame questioned, grabbing Sasuke's neck and squeezing it in his hand, enjoying the strained choking sounds he produced. Sasuke wanted to punch Kisame, to slam his fist into his jaw so many times he couldn't speak any longer, he wanted to gut him with a kunai like the gruesome, slimy fish he was. Above all, Sasuke wanted to defend himself, and his family's honor, but when his body was ravaged and wrecked so badly it was nearly impossible. He attempted to raise his fist painfully, noticing the scraped knuckles and bleeding palm, his fingers not even coiled tightly around. There was no way he could fight in this condition, so he allowed himself to go limp, willing to take any of the brutal beatings Kisame could deliver. Kisame grabbed the chain that hung around his neck, pulling back a fist and pounding him in the face, over and over again, watching that radiant pale complexion be destroyed by the dark red traces of blood, the bruising over his eyes so painful the young Uchiha was forced to close them, simply waiting for the rest of his punishment. Another punch, and another, this time to his belly, nearly knocking the breath right out of him before the S Rank criminal crushed his knuckled into Sasuke's chest, a distinct 'crack' resounded through the forest, and the young ninja was no longer able to stifle his reaction. "Aahhhh!!" Sasuke shouted, holding his chest and falling over, cringing as Kisame's thick sandal pressed down on his belly, his massive weight nearly crushing him, he continued to put more and more weight on the helpless boy, while Sasuke struggled desperately to rip the foot off of him. Kisame let out a sadistic chuckle. "You really are powerless." Sasuke shivered, he hated that word, hated all the truth that was inside of it, he was powerless, when he was seven years old, and even now he could do nothing. As much as he had trained and studied and suffered to be the best in his graduating class, in the end it all meant absolutely nothing. He couldn't defend himself in a situation like this, he couldn't even overpower Kisame, who was even weaker than his older brother, how could he ever hope to best Itachi? Groggily Sasuke collapsed on the ground, feeling a sharpened kunai slip coldly over his cheek, the warm blood falling off of his chin. Once again Kisame had decided to cut and pierce his skin rather than simply bruise it, knowing the scars would last far longer. Another cut, this time to his arm, and another to his neck, barely skidding past his vital veins before Kisame grabbed Sasuke's entire head in his broad hand, slamming it back into the trunk of the tree over and over, hearing the thick sound it made and continuing until he was sure the boy was too dizzy and disoriented to fight back. He was enjoying this too much, being able to finally vent his anger against his demanding partner without worrying about retaliation. Kisame grinned evilly, standing and monitoring the area around him to make sure none of the troops of Konoha happened to be patrolling. When he was sure they were not around, he delivered a shameless kick to the boy's belly, noticing he had completely stopped moving, his chest no longer rising to show he was even breathing any longer. Kisame scratched his dry scales, "I wonder if he's dead." He muttered. Sasuke stared off into the distance, still able to see the comforting sight of the wide doors to Konoha, the large gates that were only a half mile or so away. His mind was jumbled so much from the constant blows it was hard to focus on one thing, nearly impossible for him to think about any sort of order. The first person to logically come to his mind was Kakashi, his caring teacher who had been taking care of him lately. Though he was currently furious with what the lying Jounin had done with his own brother, it was impossible not to desire he was in the arms of Kakashi rather than under the control of the sadistic Water country ninja. He remembered how comforting it was to be with Kakashi, to kiss him and be held tightly in his arms, to make love to him without any hesitation, to know that his teacher always knew how to make him feel better. A slight smile came to his face, though it hurt his swollen and cut lip to do so. He suddenly began to think of his parents, of his kind mother who prepared a packed lunch everyday for him, making sure that everything was made the way he liked it, the mother who used to tuck him in at night and kiss him on the forehead. And his father, though he was strict and somewhat demanding when it came to Sasuke's abilities, he made sure to let him know everyday he was proud of his progress, though he was obviously not excelling at the same rate as his genius brother. Sasuke blinked incredibly slowly, his bruised and black eyes aching as he finally managed to close them fully. Another swift kick was delivered to his stomach as if Kisame was attempting to see if the unmoving boy was still alive. The youngest Uchiha let out a strained breath and continued to think, beginning to wonder what his teammates were doing at this time. Sakura was probably yelling at her parents, or searching around Konoha obsessively for him, not even suspecting what extreme danger he was in. Naruto, on the other hand was probably in denial about the whole thing, he was so trusting and naive sometimes, he was probably eating ramen and stuffing his face like usual, denying anything had happened to his rival. Sasuke grinned when he thought of the funny blonde, the way he sipped his noodles as loud as possible and let them hang limply out of his mouth like an idiot. The youngest Uchiha coughed, blood staining the dirt in front of him as his thoughts faded off to Itachi, his older brother, the role model he had once looked up to as a hero, and also the one who had single-handedly shattered all he knew about his life. Sasuke stared at the ground, playing with the small pebbles with his broken fingers. He felt so helpless now, like a child who was purely at the mercy of someone else. It was impossible to escape this feeling of weakness that had been overwhelming him lately. It felt almost like when he was a young kid and his brother had to baby-sit and watch him all the time, picking up the sharp and chokable things and moving them aside, and making sure he didn't crawl off of the roof. Though he knew it was a little strange, Sasuke wished his brother would rescue him now, take away the thing that was harming him and save him like a real older brother. Itachi would never do that sort of thing though; he only cared about one person-himself. Sasuke's thoughts were interrupted as Kisame began dragging his limp, motionless body through the rough dirt path, and further from Konoha. The youngest Uchiha cringed as he watched those beautiful gates with 'a' and 'n' written above them fade further off into the distance. The large criminal sniffed snottily, wiping his thumb across his nostrils and continuing on, seeing the afternoon sun beginning to shine through the thin clouds above, a sign it was getting relatively late. "I'll let you live today. Tomorrow I'll finish you off as a sort of present to Itachi-" he joked, "I'm sure he'll love to see it." Naruto sighed, letting out some unpleasant grunting sounds as he climbed up onto the roof of his small home, sitting atop the wooden shingles and staring out at the wide scenery before him. A few Anbu passed him by on their individual shifts, following their radio signals and watching the activity below them. One bounced off of the blonde's rooftop on his way to the southern edge of town, nearly missing Naruto's head. The young boy cursed under his breath, pulling his knees up to his chest as the evening breeze began to pass by, "I hope Itachi's okay..." he mumbled into his legs, his pearl blue eyes appearing so worried and distressed. His chest ached at the thought that the Anbu had in fact found him. What would they do to someone who had murdered an entire clan? Naruto quickly discarded the possibilities and stared off at the wide forestland that surrounded the city. "Hmm..." The young blonde muttered, thinking of what Sakura had told him earlier, "I wonder if Sasuke's okay..." Naruto scratched at his scalp angrily, as if punishing himself for even thinking such a thing, "No, no, no! What am I thinking? Sasuke doesn't even care about me, why should I give a damn what happened to him?!" he shouted angrily, putting on his pouting face. It was impossible not to be worried about him though, he was his teammate and his rival, if anything did happen to him, they could never have that definitive battle that would prove which one was greater. The young blonde definitely didn't want to risk losing a sparring opportunity with the Uchiha, an opportunity to finally show off his most powerful attack. Naruto grumbled, staring off into the distance, his light eyebrow rising curiously at what he saw. Usually the forest ground outside of Konoha was virtually deserted, only a few students going out there to train, but it wasn't even the proper season yet. Curiously he took a few steps forward, nearly falling off of his own roof before stopping himself at the edge. There appeared to be two people, one significantly larger than the other. He squinted carefully, trying to make out what was so far away. He spotted the shorter one between the large trees; he was dressed in all black, his hair dark to match. If Naruto didn't know any better, he would think it was... "Sasuke!" Hm, well that's if for this week, I think DB will end in like four or five chapters, so it's not that far away for those of you who don't like long, drawn-out endings. I really struggled to finish this damn chapter on time because my art teacher is CRAZY, she's like, ooo express yourself, what's an abstract symbol that represents 'distress'? What the Hell, I don't know, woman! That's why you're the teacher! Oh well, I guess I needed to vent that. Ha, and BTW I thought it was funny that one reviewer actually guessed what happened with Sasuke, b/c he DID meet up with Kisame. Not such a good thing though. Poor Sasuke, I have a habit of torturing him in fics, maybe because he looks so pretty drenched in blood!! *sadistic laughter* Hm, well everyone needs to see ep. 81 and 82, because its so Itachi-centric I think I'm gonna' have a meltdown. Oh! And if any of you haven't seen the first few eps of Kyou Kara Mao yet, *wink* it's great. REALLY for girls, like hints everywhere, and you don't even have to look. OH! BTW, I wrote about the pic where Itachi kissed Kakashi and all, and it inspired me to draw a little piccie. Sorry it's kinda crappy cause it's copic marker colored and not photoshopped, but it's okay. Check it out: (take out the spaces) H t t p : / / u c h I h a a d d I c t I o n . d e v I a n t a r t . c o m /