Being a Yazkuza's Bride

Chapter 14: Escape



Juugo flipped his cell shut and sighed, his silver eyes glancing carefully around his surroundings making sure that no one had overheard his conversation. He pulled his baseball cap down over his messy brown hair and turned up the collar of his jacket to obscure part of his face, then started stalking through the dimly lit corridors.



"Fucking floating death trap."



He hated ships, and suffering from sea-sickness didn't help at all. So wandering down these moving hallways was practically torture for his stomach. If Sasuke hadn't asked him personally to do this, he wouldn't go anywhere near this contraption. Luckily they were about to dock soon, and he would finally be back on dry land. It meant however that he had to hurry and fulfil his task.



It was odd how he was suddenly taken away from his surveillance job, but he guessed that this Naruto kid was important to Sasuke; that's the only way he would risk having his cover blown. Finding the room where the blonde was held wasn't too difficult; everyone on the ship talked about the pretty boy Orochimaru had brought in. The problem would be how to get him out of this place without being discovered.



Orochimaru's men were everywhere, well most of them were half-drunk, so that would work in his advantage, but Kabuto, that guy was different. He would always be vigilant, keeping his eye out for anything shifty. Juugo had worked to keep himself in the background, to not be noticed, and that would come in handy this time.



He found the room soon enough, at the top deck near the hull of the cargo ship. Slowly he opened the door to reveal the dirty room where the blonde was kept in. He was lying in bed passed out, probably drugged. A pretty boy, just as expected from one of Orochimaru's 'interests', messy blonde hair surrounding a slender tanned face, and whisker-like scars on his cheeks. He wore a plain vest, and had a blanket over his torso.



So this was Uzumaki Naruto.



Juugo grabbed onto his shoulder and started shaking him. "Oi kid, wake up."



The blonde scrunched up his face in discomfort, but didn't show any sign of waking up. So Juugo shook harder, until those eyelids fluttered open to reveal clear blue orbs. The man blinked a few times, definitely disoriented as to where he was, glancing around the place.



Suddenly the blonde took a sharp breath and jumped from the bed, pushing Juugo away from him and rand towards the door. But the brunette acted quickly, reaching for Naruto's shoulders and twisting them both around so as to force the smaller back on the bed. Of course Naruto tried to struggle again but Juugo was bigger and managed to subdue him



"Let go of me, get the fuck off me!" he shouted, kicking and punching, but it didn't affect the brunette at all.



"Calm down, Sasuke sent me!" Juugo replied as calmly as he could.



As soon as Naruto heard the young Uchiha's name he stopped moving and looked up at Juugo with hopeful blue eyes. Just hearing Sasuke's name completely calmed him down. "Really, Sasuke sent you?" he asked.



"Yeah, and we're going to get you out of here."



"Wait," he said and scooted away to create more space between them. "How can I trust you?" of course he would ask himself that. Suddenly a guy coming out of nowhere saying that Sasuke had sent him, it sounded almost too good to be true.



"I don't really think you have a choice," he stated. "We're going to dock soon, and if you don't want Orochimaru to get you we have to leave now."



Well if you put it like that, 'anybody at all' seemed to be better than Orochimaru.



He nodded and tried to stand up, only to find that his legs felt too weak. It seemed like the drug he got injected with was still in his system, and it was only the adrenaline rush from before that actually kept him from collapsing. The big guy sighed and reached down to help the blonde up from the bed, hooking one hand around his waist, and Naruto swung his arm around the taller man's shoulder to steady himself.



"What's your name, anyway?" Naruto asked as they slowly went out of the room.



"Juugo, and I already know yours Naruto."



"Ah, I guess Sasuke told you everything¡­?"



"As much as I needed to know, now be quiet," he ordered.



Quietly they went down the narrow hallways, pressing as deep as possible into the shadows. Naruto had already lost track of where they were going; his sense of direction became completely useless as they slinked through twisting hallways and narrow corridors. Doorway after doorway they walked through, and down metal grid stairs. Occasionally he would look through the porthole windows to glimpse the port. It looked like they had docked.



It was a fishing port, the smell was enough to make him realize that, and it looked like they were reaching closer to the exit. He could hear the cawing of seagulls, and men shouting in a foreign language. Suddenly Juugo stopped; he raised a hand up to tell Naruto to stay put and then went through a doorway, a few seconds later he came back, motioning Naruto to follow him.



Slowly he went through the door, glancing around fearfully, hoping above all that this wasn't just some cruel trap. But no, for a moment he closed his eyes when he felt the cooling sea breeze, and the adrenaline came back. Finally he was outside, but not out of danger. He saw Juugo just in front of him, crouching low behind some barrels. Naruto copied his movements and followed him, his heart rate speeding up the further they moved from the cargo ship.



Juugo bit his bottom lip. They were moving towards towering cargo holds, and just beyond that there was a forest and a small fishing village. If they could make it there they would be safe. But he was worried; someone should have noticed Naruto missing by now, yet so far no alarm was raised. He should be thankful for small favours, but Juugo knew there was no such thing, and instantly nothing felt right.



They kept on going through the maze of cargo towers, with only Juugo's sense of direction leading them. The brunette stopped near the end of the cargo tower, raising his hand to tell Naruto to stay put. There was a big gap between them and another tower, which was right in line of sight from the ship. Juugo had to check if someone was watching, nothing could go wrong now, they were so damn close¡­



So he walked out, silver eyes keeping an eye on the ship and not looking behind him. It was only the sound of gunfire that made him swing around. The bullet, instead of hitting his back, pierced his shoulder; he staggered back with a muffled shout, silver eyes searching from where the shot came from. Juugo heard the laughter first, and just like that as if he melted out from the shadows, Kabuto appeared.



"I knew you couldn't be trusted," the silver-haired man said, pushing his glasses up.



Naruto's heart was pounding and he was frozen to the ground; his mind was blearily focused on the situation, all he saw was the brunette falling, and now all that blood. So much blood¡­



"You always stood out Juugo, didn't socialize, didn't drink, always so quiet, like a wallflower. It made me suspicious¡­ but you hid your background well¡­" Kabuto commented, cocking the revolver in his hand. "Didn't think you were working for Uchiha though."



The brunette coughed, and with some effort lumbered up into a sitting position. His shoulder hurt like a bitch, and that gunshot sound must have alerted others to their position. He gritted his teeth, glanced at the scared blonde from the corner of his eye then back at Kabuto, and his fucking smug face. They had to get out of here quickly, before reinforcements came.



Naruto stared between them; what were they going to do now? He didn't have a weapon or anything to defend himself with. He could try and run, but there was no way he would leave Juugo behind. Not to mention that there was a possibility he would also get shot, even if he was meant to end up as merchandise and be sold. So he looked around, and his eyes brightened when he saw a rock lying just a few feet beside him; if he could get to it then maybe he could knock Kabuto out, maybe they could escape? He was preoccupied by Juugo right now, so maybe¡­



"Did you really think you could get away with it?"



Juugo snorted. "It isn't like your boss had half a brain to work things out-" SMACK



"Shut up!" he shouted and slammed the butt of the revolver against the brunette's face.



Juugo just grinned, ignoring the sting in his cheek; he knew that it had been a bad idea to rile Kabuto up by mentioning Orochimaru, but it was the only way to get the man to move closer to him. If he did this right he could overpower the smaller man, even with his injured shoulder.



"Shut up, don't talk about Orochimaru-sama like that you cur!" he raised his gun, ready to slam it down again, but instead there was a sickening sound of rock against flesh, and Kabuto fell to the ground in a heap.



Juugo stared wide eyed at the blonde now standing over him, a blood-covered rock in his right hand, huffing and puffing as the adrenaline wore off. "Did I kill him?" he asked almost fearfully.



Juugo looked at the prone form, and shook his head when he noticed the steady rise and fall of Kabuto's chest. The man was still alive. He let out a sigh of relief and slowly struggled into a standing position with Naruto's help. As he hooked his arm around the blonde's shoulder he glanced behind him, noticing a few people already coming towards them from a distance.



"C'mon, we gotta get out of here," he urged the blonde forward. Naruto complied with a grunt, and they both staggered into the dense foliage.



OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO



Inari hummed to himself as he pulled on the small fishing line, his little feet swinging back and forth over the water. Short black hair was covered by a ridiculous old pot like a helmet, and sharp black eyes watching the swift shadows move under the cloudy surface. This stream was full with fat fish just waiting to be caught; he had been here every day for the past week, and today he felt lucky. With a tongue stuck out between his lips he wiggled the line to attract the fish.



Suddenly the bushes behind him rustled and shook; Inari turned around in confusion and gasped when he saw the two men stumble out of the undergrowth.



"Help us!" the taller one shouted in a bad mandarin accent, before they both fell to the ground.



Inari sprang up, looking at the two men fearfully before running back to his village to get some help.



~OoOoOoO~



Blue eyes stared dazedly at the crackling fire; he pulled the blanket that was borrowed closer around his frame. They had waited for what had seemed like forever by the river before an old man and a young woman came back to them, shouting in a foreign tongue. Juugo had only managed to utter a few words before he completely passed out from the pain. The old man's name was Tazuna, and knew a little Japanese so that Naruto wasn't completely lost as the older man helped him lift Juugo's bulky frame and guided them to his home.



The woman, his daughter Tsunami (that little kid's mother) had some basic medical experience, and with Naruto watching on, removed the bullet from Juugo's back, before stitching him up. Now he was just sitting in their main sitting room, in front of the fire with the brunette resting in the sleeping room. The family had a simple home, filled with basic needs. Nothing too extravagant like a TV or phone could be found, but it seemed just right.



A shadow fell over him; Naruto looked up and saw the woman named Tsunami standing over him with a tray filled with food. She was a nice girl, long black hair framing her pale face, kind black eyes that complimented her smile.



"Z¨¤i zh¨¨l¨«, w¨¨i n¨ªn," (Here, for you,) she said, handing him the tray.



"Ah, thank you!" he replied, then realized that she couldn't understand him, so he simply smiled and nodded.



The food was also basic, rice with fried fish, but he didn't care. It felt like he hadn't eaten in days and he heartily tucked into the food. In his frenzied attack at the fish he didn't even notice the old man sitting down opposite him, a smoking pipe in his mouth. He scowled, watching the blonde and his eating habits before snorting.



"Where you from?" the old man asked.



Naruto stopped eating. "Tokyo, Japan."



"Pretty far away from home you are," the old man replied back.



"Ah yes, you see-" but Tazuna raised his hand to silence the blonde.



"I not need know your past, but you and him can't stay here long. This small village and people will talk, when he feel better," he said pointing to the room Juugo was in. "You will leave, yes?"



Naruto stared at the older man for a while then nodded in agreement. There was no way he was going to argue with that, the man was probably risking a lot sheltering them both here. He was only glad that they were safe for now, and for that he had no reason to ask for more help.