Forced Fate

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Sasuke was panting, finding it hard to draw air into his

lungs. It was too much work, took too much energy. He felt

completely drained.



'Dammit.' He silently cursed, gritting his teeth in pain and

determination. His body was so fatigued, but he couldn't let

it give out, if he did he'd die. His knees trembled, begging

Sasuke to rest.



"Mmm." Sasuke groaned, involuntarily going down on his knees.

'Shit.' He silently cursed. His body wanted so much to give

out, and he could feel that his mind wasn't far behind. But

right now it willed his body to move. 'Move damn you. Move!'





Slowly, as if he'd had a thousand pounds resting on his

shoulders, Sasuke stood, staggering along the hallway.

'Almost there.'



'So tired.' He was sweating. Just standing was an immense

exertion. He felt hot and cold at once. 'Don't give in. Don't

give in.' He mentally repeated cheering himself on. His knees

felt like jelly. He didn't know how much longer they'd

support him.



Sasuke grit his teeth, determined to keep moving, albeit at a

snail's pace. It was all he could manage. The walk down the

hall to Sakura's door seemed endless.



It had been a mission like any other. Nothing had marked it

as unusual or different, not even the fact that the patron

had demanded Sasuke take the mission rose warning signs.





It had become a regular thing, customers personally

requesting Sasuke or Tayuya or Kabuto for missions. If the

client was important enough, or high paying enough and

Orochimaru was in a benevolent enough mood, the customer was

granted their request. No big deal. In fact it had become

common practice lately for clients to request specific ninja

for certain jobs. It was a sort of perk for high paying

patrons.



Roughly thirty-six hours ago…



A businessman requested Sasuke for an escort and possible

killing mission. He'd claimed he had very dangerous men after

him. He wanted someone of Sasuke's repute to protect him, and

if possible eliminate the threat. He'd also had a large

amount of money to pay for the Uchiha's services, and since

everything seemed normal, his wish was granted.



Sasuke's reputation as a dangerous ninja had spread among

patrons of the Sound. It wasn't an uncommon occurrence for

customers to label him as valuable and offer any price for

his services. In fact, he'd become the most sought after in

the entire Sound, so once again, the businessman's words and

request seemed like any other, but it wasn't...



Eight hours later…



The forest air was cool, and the sky was beginning to

darken with the last of daylight. Sasuke kept unconsciously

rubbing his arms, darting his head around looking for a sign

of what was to come. 'Something isn't right.' His skin was

tingling with warning sensations.



The two subordinates he had with him kept casting him

sideways glances wondering what was wrong, but neither dared

ask. Sasuke was an elite, Orochimaru's favorite, a feared

Uchiha, and they were simply novice, inexperienced ninja. It

wasn't their place to question someone like him.



Sasuke ignored the two other ninja of his group. He was too

busy assessing his surroundings to bother with their

insecurities. He had his senses honed to the area around

where he and his group traveled. So far he hadn't sensed

anything.



'Everything seems normal.' He thought, but still couldn't

shake the feeling that something was off.



No sooner than he finished his silent statement he was

forcefully thrown backwards by a large explosion, rolling

across the ground with the force of the shock wave.


/>

He barely gained his feet, hadn't quite had a chance to right

himself, when a huge gust of wind threw him into a nearby

tree. "Umph!" Sasuke grunted. He was thrown so hard that he

thought he might actually be imbedded in the tree.



Chaotic shouts, smacks, and booms immediately broke out all

around him, but he couldn't see. Everything was blurry, and

his head was spinning. He'd hit that tree hard.



Momentarily stunned, Sasuke blinked his eyes trying to clear

his vision. A blurry blob, obviously someone, was coming at

him… fast. One blob quickly became two, became three… Sasuke

shook his head, trying to hurry the blurriness away. His

vision went black for a moment; he felt hands grab him.





He was shoved to the ground, face pushed into the dirt. A

great weight, or several weights, settled on his back,

holding him down while someone bound his arms behind his

back, wrist to elbow. A sharp pinching-like pain was felt in

his arm and he could feel something being injected into him.





Sasuke struggled, but was so completely immobilized his

thrashing was little more than squirming… if even that. His

eyelids were quickly growing heavy. The last thing he

remembered before passing out were the death screams of his

two young subordinates.



Some time later…



Sasuke wasn't sure how long he'd been unconscious. It was

obvious they'd given him some sort of sleep serum, but he

woke to darkness and the sound of crickets and a crackling

campfire. A light evening breeze drifted over his skin and he

knew he was still outside.



The dark haired ninja squirmed a bit. He was still bound…

tight. He could barely move his arms. He was placed

haphazardly over a fallen tree. Slung over it, ass in the

air, as if he were placed on horse. His only view was of the

ground and a bit of the area to either side of him.


/>

Sasuke saw no one immediately around him, but he could hear a

male and a female voice engrossed in conversation.



Straining his ears he was able to discern where they were

taking him, their names, whose idea it was to subterfuge the

Sound and ambush him…



His captors were called Temari and Kankuro. They were from

the Sand village, and it was their brother Gaara who'd

orchestrated the plan for his capture. They were taking him

to Konoha.



As allies to the Leaf, the Sand ninja had taken up the cause

of capturing Sasuke. Apparently Tsunade had put out an order

to capture or kill Sasuke; the Sand had volunteered for first

try. If they failed the Hokage was going to send out a team

of her own in six months.



Sasuke had been deemed too dangerous to be left in the hands

of Orochimaru, their enemy. Those were the words of the

Hokage anyway, and according to Temari and Kankuro the

Kazekage agreed. So the two villages had banded together in

common cause to rid the world of Uchiha Sasuke.



'How noble of them.'



Sasuke remembered Gaara well; he'd been a worthy adversary,

albeit a crazy, sick son-of-a-bitch. The other two he knew

only as the red haired ninja's siblings. They hadn't really

stuck out as special to Sasuke, not like Gaara had. He'd even

fought the female before and easily defeated her.



Temari had said they were about six hours from Konoha. Sasuke

had silently cursed at that. They must have been dragging him

for nearly twenty-four hours straight. He'd been nowhere near

Konoha when he was captured, and now he was practically at

the fuckin' gates.



He'd heard them say they expected him to sleep for another

three hours or so, but that they'd administer more sleep

agent before they settled in to sleep. 'Just to be on the

safe side.' The male called Kankuro had said.



Sasuke remained as still and as silent as he could. He didn't

want to alert anyone to his wakefulness. Whatever it was

they'd injected into him it worked fast. If they managed to

inject him again, like they planned, the next time he woke

would be in Konoha. Probably in their jail, or an ANBU

interrogation room. He couldn't allow that. He needed to get

out of here.



Listening carefully to the area around him told him the two

conversing ninja were directly behind him, sitting around a

campfire. The rest of their team, and it sounded like there

were a lot of them, were in various areas in the forest

creating a protective perimeter around the camp.



Sasuke was bound, slung over a tree, and he was surrounded by

several alert ninja. 'How in the hell do I get out of this?'

Sasuke wondered contemplating the almost nonexistent options

he had for escaping.



Sasuke heard the shifting of feet and clothes as one or both

of the two behind him stood up. Drawing himself from his

thoughts he concentrated on their movements. They were

walking, coming toward him. 'What are they doing?' Sasuke

wondered, and he couldn't help but remember Kankuro's promise

to shoot him up with more sleep agent. He couldn't afford

that.



Closing his eyes he tuned into the sound of the footsteps,

blocked out all noise save the shifting of those feet. One

set stopped about half way to him; the other was still

coming. Sasuke concentrated on the set still coming toward

him, waiting to see if they would approach him…



Sasuke had no plan to get him out of this. He honestly didn't

know what he'd do if one of them got close to him, but he

couldn't afford to not do anything. He was a ninja. These

past two years had given him a lot of battle experience, and

if he couldn't consciously form a battle plan, then he'd

leave it up to instinct to decide his motives.



The footsteps were near on top of him now… Sasuke readied

himself, clearing his mind and opening his senses to all

around him. It was so important he not even twitch the

tiniest bit until it was time lest he alert the approaching

nin of his wakefulness.



The footfalls stopped…



Sasuke whipped around on his back, swinging his legs like a

windmill. Kankuro saw the Uchiha move and made to jump back…

He wasn't fast enough.


Sasuke almost immediately had his legs wrapped around

Kankuro's neck. All it would take is one good squeeze, and

the Sand nin would be dead.



Not wasting a second, Sasuke turned his sharingan gaze on the

female. "Don't!" He growled out.



Temari had been about to come to her brother's aid, but the

Uchiha's voice stopped her. She could see it in his eyes,

hear it in his voice… he'd kill Kankuro. She stopped, raising

her hands in the air to let him know she would do as he

asked.



"Smart girl." Sasuke nodded. "Now. Untie me."



Numbly, Temari nodded, making her way toward her captive

brother. She saw Sasuke tighten his thighs a bit, making

Kankuro give a strangled cry. "Tell the others to pull back.

And don't try anything. You may kill me, but I promise

you not before I snap your brother's neck."



Temari shivered. His voice was so cold, commanding. "He'll do

it. Pull back!" She yelled to the ninja around them.


/>

'What is he doing awake?' She silently questioned wonderingly

and not without a bit of irritation. It was only moments ago

they were congratulating themselves on a fine capture, and

now the tables had completely turned. 'How had things gone so

wrong so fast?'



They'd given him enough sleep agent to down an elephant. He

should have been out for at least another three hours. But…

What did it matter anyway? She could ponder the oddity all

day long, and it wouldn't change the fact that he was awake

and Kankuro was in mortal trouble.



As Temari knelt beside him Sasuke leaned forward, giving her

better access to his bindings. Her hands were shaking wildly.

She didn't want him to kill her brother… or her for that

matter. But it was different with her brother. It was

his life she'd be playing with if she tried anything,

not her own.



She was a ninja. Risking her life was part of the job, and

she was okay with that, but she wasn't okay with risking

someone else's, especially her brother's. "Please don't kill

my brother." She asked pleadingly. Her voice didn't nearly

sound as shaky as she felt, considering how intensely his

eyes were on her, but her speech was laced with the

desperation she felt.



She watched the Uchiha's chest heave with adrenaline-

heightened breaths, and mixed with the dangerous glint in his

freakish red eyes she was sure he was trying his best

not to kill either of them.



Sasuke heard her plea, saw the desperation in her eyes, but

he just couldn't bring himself to let it touch his heart. It

was frightening how little her fear-filled eyes affected him.

They shouldn't have laid their hands on him, played him for a

fool, and they most certainly shouldn't have killed

his subordinates. He involuntarily squeezed Kankuro's neck at

that last thought. The two ninja serving under him had been

eleven and twelve.



"Please." Temari begged, noticing the tightening of the

Uchiha's thighs. "I'll do anything. Just… please don't kill

my brother." She pleaded as she undid the last of Sasuke's

bindings.



Sasuke stretched his arms and hands, testing their mobility.

They'd been bound very tightly in an awfully uncomfortable

position for a long time. He needed to know that they'd work

properly should he need to fight. "Give me my weapons." He

commanded the girl. She nodded and leapt to do his bidding.





Sasuke placed his weapons about him, left his sword for last,

that he kept sheathed, but flexed his hands over the hilt. It

felt good to have it back with him.



Sasuke noticed the large fan strapped to the female Sand's

back. "Put down your fan and slowly walk backward."


/>

He strapped the dato to his back, pulled the blade free of

its sheath, and armed his other hand with a kunai. He watched

the blonde girl with the odd fluffy pigtails back away from

him, waited for her to get a comfortable distance from him…





Here was where everything became a blur in Sasuke's mind.

Once again it seemed that utter chaos instantaneously ensued.

There was movement everywhere.



Memory recalled flashes of movement, the clinking of swords

and knives meeting, pained screams, blood spattering…


/>

So many had come from the shadows to attack Sasuke at once, a

giant circle of death closing in on him. He handed himself

over to instinct, acted without thinking, relying solely on

intuition and reflex.



Sasuke was everywhere at once, sword slicing, parrying. Feet

flying, body flipping, kunai slashing. It looked a perfectly

choreographed dance, beautifully hypnotizing but deadly. And

then it was over…



Sasuke could only imagine what he'd looked like, dato in one

hand, kunai in the other, blood spattered on him from head to

toe covering his weapons like a crimson sheath. He must have

looked like a murderous madman, and perhaps just then he was.





He was panting, madness gleaming in his eyes, staring at the

girl and boy that had played a large role in his capture,

killed his subordinates. "The two ninja that traveled with

me… are they dead?"



Sasuke had heard their death screams, knew their fate, but

he wanted to hear them say it. He needed to hear them admit

to killing his team in order to quash that small bit of hope

he had that perhaps they'd escaped.



Temari nodded, feeling slightly ashamed. It had needed to be

done. Though young they were fighting fiends. The whole point

of the mission, the main objective, was to capture Sasuke,

and those two seemed hell bent on stopping them. Besides,

Temari didn't want to lose any of her team. It was

either the Sound's ninja or hers. She chose hers.



Seeing her nod, Sasuke's grip on dato and kunai tightened

several degrees, his knuckles turning a stark white with the

strain. He wanted to kill them… badly; he was so angry. He

could picture himself reaching out… one swipe of his blade,

and they both would be separated from their heads.



Those two had been so young, so promising, so… innocent when

compared with himself and these two. And they'd died. He was

supposed to look after them, protect them, and he'd failed.

Knowing them as Sasuke did, he knew they probably fought like

hell for him. And he let them down…



Sasuke's hands shook with barely restrained rage; he took

deep breaths through his nose. 'Don't kill them. Don't kill

them.' He repeated to himself over and over again, while a

separate part of his conscious mind replied 'Why not?'





Perhaps he hesitated because these two were familiar to him,

perhaps it was because he suspected they were friends with

his old team, and maybe it was because he'd disarmed them and

they were next to helpless. Sasuke couldn't say why he

vacillated in killing them, only that he did.



"Impressive… traitor…" Kankuro replied, seeing the murderous

light in Sasuke's eyes. His voice was weighted heavily with

sarcasm, and he spit every word with hate and disgust.

He needed to distract the Uchiha, get his mind off killing

them, even if it meant angering him further than he already

was.



Sasuke's eyes whirled to the face of the speaker. His eyes

narrowed with indignant rage. "You killed my team. They were

just boys." Sasuke spat, his voice laced with anger.


/>

"And what about you Uchiha? How many of ours did you just

slaughter?" Kankuro asked venomously.



"Twenty against one!?" Sasuke spat. He'd just been attacked

by twenty ninja at once and they had the nerve to be angry

with him for defending himself.



He darted icy glares between Temari and Kankuro. "Is that the

strength of the Sand? Is that the courage the Sand is made

of?" He curled his lip in disgust.



Silence answered him.



The sound of the Uchiha's deep angry breaths pounded at

Temari's ears. They sounded so frantic, so… strained.

It was then Temari realized that Sasuke was contemplating

their deaths.



Kankuro seemed unphased by the Uchiha's words, and returned

Sasuke's sneer with a wickedly crazed smile of his own. "I

hired him to lure you here. He was working for me." Kankuro

said, referring to the businessman that had set this whole

ordeal in motion.



Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the silly looking boy. 'Is this

dumbass actually trying to bait me?' Sasuke wondered in

disbelief.



"I sent him to the Sound. I ordered him to fool

you." The male Sand nin smiled scornfully. "He really is a

businessman though. I offered him a really sweet deal… a good

sum for your head on a platter. He didn't even need to do the

killing, just lure you in. Money for your traitorous life."

He watched Sasuke's still form, his trembling hands. He was

getting more and more enraged.



Kankuro was pleased with the Uchiha's reaction. If he made

him mad enough he might let his guard down a bit, and then

Kankuro would act…



Temari couldn't help but wonder what in the hell her brother

was doing, but she wisely kept her mouth shut. Kankuro could

honestly be an excellent fighter, but his lack of judgment at

times had caused his undoing more than once. She only hoped

now wasn't one of those times.



Sasuke's control hung by the barest of threads. He could feel

the cursed seal ruthlessly pounding at him to release his

anger, kill both of these fools. He didn't need the curse

seal to fuel his anger, he was pissed off enough as it was,

but fan his anger it did, and he had to wince at the intense

burning in his shoulder.



Were he to release the burning seal he'd mindlessly kill the

two, ruthlessly mutilate them, and he didn't want that. Not

because he didn't want to kill them, but because he wanted to

kill them in a more sinister way. He wanted to draw the fight

out, make them see the error of their ways, beg for their

lives, fall on their knees and grovel…



Two monsters warred within him. Both wanted vengeance and

death, but one was bestial and animalistic while the other

was cold and calculating… neither was good.



Sasuke's soul called for the blood of those that betrayed

him. The seal on his neck pulsed with hunger; it wanted

blood. The twenty or so victims he'd just slaughtered hadn't

even begun to sate the evil curse. And though he was already

covered in blood, he wanted more… Sasuke didn't need to

release the curse to feel it's malicious influence.


/>

Sasuke knew he was becoming a monster, could feel it more and

more each time he killed. His rational mind saw the

transition, felt the coming change, but was helpless to stop

it. Right now that calm rational side just stared in horror

as the cold murderous part of him warred with the

bloodthirsty animal part, both fed by the black curse that

pulsed inside him.



He looked Kankuro in the eyes, soaked in his arrogantly

defiant form. He could kill this man. He could cut off his

head and not give the nasty deed a second thought. He should

have been frightened by this revelation, revolted even, but

he wasn't. It just seemed so natural to be able to kill those

that had wronged him.



Black spots spread across his face and body. All indecision

on whether or not he should kill these two disappeared

beneath the pulsing death cries of the cursed seal. They were

traitors. They were enemies to the Sound, to himself, and

most importantly… to Orochimaru.



He turned his full attention to the two Sand nins. His eyes

became cold, gleaming wickedly. His mouth broke out in a

sadistic smile, and for the first time Kankuro shuddered with

fear.



Temari was absolutely horrified. The Uchiha's power spiked to

an unbelievable level. It was suffocating and immense. She

saw only murder in those cold red eyes. 'He's going to kill

us.' There was no doubt in her mind.



Kankuro and Temari were momentarily frozen in abject fear.

They'd never seen or felt such murderous intent, not even

with Gaara, and it had been unsettling.



Sasuke made to swing his sword, end both of their pitiful

existences with one sweep, when he was knocked backwards by

several kunai lodging in his shoulder, arms and legs.

Temari ran to her fan. Kankuro activated his puppet, sending

dozens of poison needles Sasuke's way… they hit.



Sasuke immediately felt an unnatural burning sensation where

the needles entered his body… 'Poison'. 'Shit.' Fighting was

useless. He needed to get help or he was going to die.





Sasuke sank into the ground, let it swallow him, and came out

a ways away from the fighting. It was one of Orochimaru's

techniques he'd learned.



The two Sand watched helplessly as the earth swallowed their

prey, but it didn't really matter. Kankuro had severely

poisoned him. He would die within hours. Chances of him

finding help in time were slim. They had no other choice but

to kill him. They'd tried to take him alive, but that proved

impossible. So they'd had to kill him.



Gaara sighed in relief. Thank God he'd decided to check up on

his siblings. He'd hated to riddle Naruto's friend with

kunai, but he knew the Uchiha was going to kill his brother

and sister. He'd had to do something to stop him.



He'd ordered Kankuro and Temari to capture Sasuke, but if

they couldn't take him alive they were to kill him. That's

what their orders were, and that's what ended up having to

happen. It was probably for the best anyway. Put the Uchiha

out of his misery.



'Pity.' Kankuro thought. Now they were going to have to

search for his body and bring it back to Konoha, or dissect

the secret of the sharingan and gain its power.



"Let's go." Temari ordered.



Sasuke looked around. Those bastards had managed to bring him

so close to Konoha, which meant he was quite far away from

the Sound, too far away to get help from them. There was no

way he could make to Orochimaru in time, not before the

poison overwhelmed his system anyway.



There was only one option for saving himself… he had to go to

Konoha.



Four hours later (Present Time)…



That was how he'd found himself at Sakura's door in the

middle of the night. The journey had been grueling. It hadn't

taken a whole lot of time, but it had seemed endless.

He'd had to use uncounted amounts of chakra, traveling at

tremendous speeds, using his sharingan to fool a few

villagers into revealing where the pink haired kunoichi

lived, scaling rooftops and concealing himself so as not to

be recognized…



After all his effort he only hoped Sakura could help him…

without giving his presence away.



Sasuke pounded on her door, silently willing her to answer,

but she never came. Sasuke wanted to weep with insane

frustration. He'd worked so hard to get here. He was near

losing consciousness, in pain, and if he didn't get help soon

he was going to die.



Thinking that perhaps she hadn't heard the knock, Sasuke

pounded louder, ignoring the nagging voice in the back of his

mind that suggested she might not be home.



"Go away!" She screamed from the other side of the door. He

managed a weak smile. 'Well she's definitely home.'


/>

"Please… Sakura… It's me… Sasuke." He cried out, or tried to

cry out, taking deep breaths between each word. What was

supposed to be a yell came out as a breathy whisper. 'No.'

His consciousness was hanging by a thread.



He tried again, but his breath failed him and his vision

began tunneling to a thin point. 'Dammit. Why can't I call

for her?' He sat panting; trying to calm his breathing, but

it was too late. He'd already pushed his body too far.

'Sakura. Hear me.' He silently begged…



She never came.



"Nnnn." He groaned, grabbing at his chest; it was so hard to

breath. 'Well, that's it. I'm going to die.'



Accepting his fate Sasuke sank to the floor in blessed

unconsciousness.



[I have spent years as a professional writer and what I know now is the only review that is no use to me is a review that lies. Kazuo Ishiguro 1954-]