Project Logos

Project Logos

Part 1, Chapter 1


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Sakura took a deep breath, flicking the communicator she wore in one ear on, listening to the now familiar test sequence, the tones fading to background noise as she pulled on the black gloves that completed the outfit. It was the same on each of the five members of the cell: dark and tight, yet still elastic enough to move in. She looked to her right, making eye contact with Ino, whose blonde hair was pulled back on top of her head in a neat bun, keeping it out of the way.

Ino nodded once, and she shifted her gaze to the left, catching the eyes of their other team mate. Lee hadn't been able to make their last strategy meeting, but he'd been there for all of the equipment tests and the single practice run they had planned a week before. This wasn't the first time the three of them had done something of this sort, just the first time they'd done it on such a scale.

Sakura knew it was the Hyuugas who made this project in particular possible. When the shy but determined Hinata had approached them two months with information on a secret laboratory facility beneath the famous Logos building they'd been a bit hesitant to believe her. Hinata had proof though, evidence of the weird research trials held there, precise documents with hypothesis and findings, with pictures and everything. After that they'd jumped at the chance to take on something of this magnitude.

Sakura could still hardly believe they were there though, sitting in a parked van outside the gates to the underground parking area of the towering office building. Her heart was racing with excitement, and she couldn't suppress the small smile that spread across her face. She snapped the eye phones down over her face, thumbing the switch on the side that set up the link with the computers in the van, pulling up the stats on her teammates, and the digital blueprint of the building.

There were two different sets of blueprints for the now famous tower, there was the official set, and then the real set, showing the layout of the under ground labs. They had a vague idea where their target was, but outside of that they knew little about the contents of the rooms they saw on these schematics.

The lab they were in search of was supposedly the site of the new Akatsuki chimera(1) project. The details of the project in it's current stages were few and far between, but the pictures they had seen of the former trials were a bit gruesome really, most of the animals they had tested and combined in this way had died, or had been put to death soon after. It made Sakura's stomach twinge a little, remembering the grisly scenes those pictures had painted. She took a deep breath though,r eminding herself that the reason they were here was to stop these experiments, and save those innocent lives.

She poured her focus back onto the task at hand when the communicator in her ear crackled to life, sending out a series of tones telling them that it was time. She nodded once more, standing up straighter now as Hinata approached, dressed in the same sleek black uniform as the rest of them. Hinata nodded back, clicking her own eye phone into place and thumbing it on. They were ready.

X

You could say that Sasuke Uchiha had had a normal childhood, but it would be a stretch of the truth really. His childhood had not been anything like most children's, but it was as typical as it could be for someone whose parents were both dedicated business people, and whose brother was a prodigy in the biomedical field. While other children had been playing tag in the park and eating ice cream with friends, Sasuke had wondered through the labs, setting up small experiments of his own.

He always wished he could be as smart and driven as his older brother, and vowed that one day he would be just like Itachi, running his very own lab. When he told his Aniki about his dream the boy had almost smiled. Almost being the key word.

Still, it bothered Sasuke that he had never been allowed below the 4th floor. He knew that his brother worked somewhere down there, and he would always beg Itachi to take him down, but Itachi always gave a small shake of his head, saying the experiments were to delicate and important, and that Sasuke might hurt himself or compromise their data. That answer never failed to throw the boy into a pout. Itachi always pulled him close though, dropping a light kiss on his forehead before poking it lightly, then turning around to leave.

Sasuke got bored on the upper levels though, so he tried everything he could think of to get down there. Nothing had worked so far though, but that didn't mean he was going to stop trying. So he sat on the third floor, staring at a bank of computers, trying to think of a good plan.

X

Ino flipped the night vision switch on her goggles, throwing the darkness into sharp relief and contrast as she stepped from the elevator shaft door. She scanned the area, not coming up with any human presence in the immediate vicinity. She tapped the stud on the side of the communicator once, signaling the rest of the team to join her. The soft sound of footsteps behind her told her they had. She waited, doing one last sweep of the hallway before giving the team a slight nod, moving forwards as they followed behind.

Ino paused to consult the map on the screen in front of her, the transparent display overlaying the image of the hallway in front of her. She indicated the room they were aiming for on the display, using the little blinking indicator on her glove. Sakura nodded, taking the lead, waving the rest of the team to follow her. A quick scan of the area pinpointed all sources of human chakra on the floor, only three of them in the direction they were traveling though.

The door was forty feet down the hallway, and they moved silently, Sakura leading the group and Ino picking up the rear. They paused at the door once again. Sakura raised an eyebrow at the chakra reading, now close enough to get a clear read on it. There was a weird pattern to the reading, something not quite right, and she vowed to get her equipment checked when they got home.

Still, there was only that one reading, so she thumbed her stun gun to the on position, resting it on her shoulder as she nodded to the group behind her. Still, what she saw when she jammed the lock picking card into the slot and pushed the door open, all in one swift movement, was enough to make her drop her carefully aimed gun in shock. The room was dimly lit, with a pile of blankets in one corner and well chewed rubber toys scattered across the floor. It was the figure on the other side that did it though, huddled next to the other wall. It wasn't a very intimidating figure really, short and tan, with a mop of shaggy, golden blond hair falling into his wide blue eyes. Atop his head though, were two adorable red, fuzzy ears, a tattered looking stuffed animal clutched to his breast, one ear of the little plush bear inside the boy's mouth.

She was frozen to the spot, but the spell was broken when Hinata edged past her, her eyephones already flipped upwards, in the process of pulling off her black gloves. She knelt down in front of the trembling figure, holding the hand out for the boy to sniff. It only took a moment, the boy looking confusedly up at the figures, before he snuggled his face into the outstretched hand, rubbing his cheek against it a little. A smile spread across the shy girl's face, and she slid forwards, moving her hand to scratch the boy's ear. He flinched away for a second, but recovered quickly, getting up to his feet shakily and teetering towards her in lurching little steps. There was a small smile on his face as he glanced up at the others, curious.

Then there was a yell from the back of the group, and Sakura had her gun back up in one swift movement, aiming towards the sound. She gasped once again, Ino was being held from behind by what appeared to be another boy, his hair was red, but like the blond before them he had little furry ears on his head, only his were more rounded, the hair on them shorter. The blond boy was steady in a flash then, grabbing Hinata's wrist for balance.

"No, Gaara No!" His voice came out high and loud, like a child's, but the red headed boy seemed to listen to him, loosening his hold on Ino and moving towards the blond.

"Is Naruto okay? Who are these?" Gaara's voice was lower, but held more hostility, like he really could take them out. Sakura shivered.

"They're good, Naruto doesn't know them but they're good." Gaara seemed assuaged by the words, and released Ino, sidling over to Naruto warily eyeing them still. It was Hinata who spoke though.

"We just want to take you out of the lab, is that okay?" Naruto's eyes widened a little.

"But Ita-niisan said we shouldn't leave. Gaara and Naruto aren't allowed to leave." Gaara shook his head a little.

"It will be alright, Naruto. I'll make sure it's okay." He still seemed mistrustful, but followed without much hesitation.

X

They were out of breath from running by the time they reached the van. They had triggered an alarm on the way out, and had been forced to take evasive measures, but all members of the team, and the two recovered boys, had made it out alive, if not uninjured. Sakura had taken a nerve dart to the leg, and the appendage was now numb and useless, and Lee had suffered minor wounds and abrasions to his legs fending off a security team.

Still, once they entered the van they were pretty much home free. They did wait until they were on the open road, with Neji driving rather fast and Ino scanning for any possible pursuit, to tend to those injuries, and attempt to get any more information from the two boys they'd recovered. They didn't come up with much, a few names and details about the labs, but not a lot they didn't already know or suspect. They still deemed it success though, as their goal had been recovery of specimens from the underground labs.

The cars screeched to a halt, turning swiftly into a small, open alleyway, that led them to what looked like small garage. Lee tapped the stud on the side of his communicator twice in quick succession before pausing, and doing it again, three more times. There was silence for a second, before he heard a familiar answering pattern of beeps, and the door to the garage pulled back with a whine of complaint, rusted metal on rusted metal.

The minute they were inside, the team relaxed, more-so when they heard the distinct click of lock tumblers sliding back into place. Sakura rose first, opening the back door of the van, and hopping down onto the worn concrete of the floor. She reached back up then, helping Lee jump down before she turned to Hinata. The Hyuuga heiress shook her head though, jumping down on her own, and the driver's door slammed shut the next second, leaving only the two chimera still in the van. She turned back with a smile, holding out her hand to the blond one.

"Come on then, Naruto was it? Come on down and we can take you inside and make sure you're okay." The blond smiled, nodding and edging his way forwards. The red headed boy hissed lowly, grabbing Naruto's other arm tightly. The blond smiled and shook his head a little.

"Come on, Gaara, they're okay. Besides, they're not threatening, they just want to help." His voice was low and soothing, almost more of a purring hum than actual words. It seemed to convince the red head though, because he edged his way out of the van behind the blond, even if mistrust still lingered in the back of his mind.

X

Itachi sighed into his cup of coffee, cradling his head in his hands. It was too early in the morning for this shit, he'd been called in at 6:15 am by a frantic staff member. Apparently, during the night there had been some sort of a break in, and some of the more valuable of their "special experiments" were abducted, and were now out of the compound, and in the hands of some unknown organization. He'd been at the Logos building in 10 minutes flat, the fastest he'd ever made that particular trip, and had been sent the security footage directly.

The team had been experienced, he could see that much from their movements and the way they communicated so smoothly. They were pretty good as well, they had somehow managed to bypass the first security system, and the alarms, but they missed the backup system. Itachi drained the cup of coffee in his hands, setting the empty mug down perhaps a little bit more forcefully than necessary.

Precious few people outside of the direct scientific channels knew about the Akatsuki and their projects, and next to no one outside of the direct line of the group itself knew of their location in the Logos building's hidden underground labs. And yet the scans of the stills lifted from the surveillance equipment turned up next to nothing, no one in their known files matched any of the figures on the tape.

Itachi slammed his hand down on the table again, his frustration mounting, making his blood boil in his veins. Itachi was a scientist, to his all problems had logical and precise solutions, measured and exacting outcomes for known equations. Except here, nothing was behaving logically, nothing was coming out as expected. He would have to make a few phone calls, and see who else he could put on this little problem. He had to figure this out, as the head of the Akatsuki special labs he simply could not allow such valuable research materials to walk away. Not with the amount of time and money they had already put into these synthetic biology projects.

The quiet mechanical whir of the door behind him jolted him from his thoughts, and he whipped around, ready to take his frustrations out on whatever sorry excuse for a team member dared to interrupt him right then. The dour mood withered away at the sight though. It wasn't the expected timid figure in a white coat, but a rather concerned looking Sasuke, holding a hot mug of coffee in one hand. He held the mug out like a proverbial olive branch as he stepped into the room, a small nervous smile playing on his lips.

"I heard you were having trouble with something, so I thought you might want some more coffee, Aniki. I made it strong, just the way you like it, left it black. It should still be pretty hot to." Itachi couldn't help but smile a little, a bit of the tension leaving his shoulders. Sasuke always could do that to him, even when no one else could. He was pretty sure that was the main reason the guards and other team members tolerated the boy down here. Son of the company's head or not, this was valuable and easily compromised research, not something to be trifled with.

He sighed as he accepted the warm mug with a nod, setting it behind him as Sasuke's arms wrapped around his neck, the boy's chin resting on his shoulder.

"What happened, Aniki? Was it something bad?" Itachi sighed, shaking his head as he took a sip of the coffee. That was a godsend, just like Sasuke had been right then.

"We had a little break in, Sasuke. Last night these people came in and took some of the more valuable research specimens from the synthetic biology labs downstairs. We're not sure who they are, but we need to find them and get those specimens back. We have pictures from the second surveillance systems, but they're a bit blurry. It could take awhile."

Itachi, wrapped up in the situation at hand, did not notice the brief flash of well concealed, yet surprised, recognition that flashed over Sasuke's face for a second before it was gone.

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(1) a chimera is a biological fusion of two or more genetically different tissues to form one organism.

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A/N: credit where credit is due, i was helped on this chapter by my good friend josh, from my writing group. as much as lunch with an ex-bpyfriend's new boyfriend is kinda awkward, the boy is a good kid and an awesome friend. props to him ^.^

now, Good? Bad? Ugly? Read, Review, and Let Me Know! ^.^