Adult-FanFiction.org : Naruto

Flamethrower	By : LostinThought8 Category: Naruto AU/AR > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 1349 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I make no money off of writing this fanfiction.

Chapter List
- 2
- 3
- 4
Author’s Note: Hello, and welcome back to “Flamethrower!” :D

This chapter was really difficult to write for me. I originally started writing it in a completely different way, but then scrapped it because the chapter was getting too long. I had to completely re-write it, and I’m still not a hundred percent satisfied with it. (I feel this is as good as it’s going to get, though). This bit of the story wasn’t really the most fun to write for me, honestly. Still, it was essential in order to move the plot along and explain a few things.

WARNINGS: Language, brief mention of slavery and prostitution, brief mention of pedophilia.
This story is still being cross-posted to my FF account, Light Within Darkness. The link can be found in my profile.

And now, without any further ado, onwards to Chapter 3!

Sasuke had been following Naruto and Sakura for several days before deciding on a definite plan of action.

It was Sakura who’d ruined Sasuke’s original plan, which had been to corner Naruto, and use force to get the blond to come back to Sound Country. Sasuke had been planning on a fight-after all, anyone who could escape from one of Sound Country’s well-guarded Research Facilities had to be strong-but the dark-haired man fully expected to win. After all, no one had bested Uchiha Sasuke, Orochimaru’s strongest, smartest, and most capable agent, in a fight before. Besides that, Orochimaru had made it sound as if Naruto was some feral beast, a lab experiment gone awry, who needed to be returned to Sound Country immediately for his own safety. Sasuke had been counting on using force to “convince” Naruto to come with him back to Sound Country. He was sure that whoever the blond had escaped with was dead by now.

By the time the dark-haired man had finally found Naruto, he’d been quite surprised to see the blond’s fellow escapee not only alive and well, but traveling along with Naruto out of her own free will. Sasuke was further surprised to see that Naruto exhibited no animal-like or feral qualities. On the contrary, he seemed exactly like any other traveler walking the ruined old roads between Countries these days. Sasuke was forced to abandon his previous plan of action when he realized that both Naruto and Sakura were armed and had at least some knowledge of combat. The dark-haired man was confident he’d be able to beat them in a fight if it came down to that, especially with the Sharingan, but he needed to be cautious. Out here, alone, with no other people around for miles, it was easy to get into trouble. The risk was too high that the girl would be able to shoot Sasuke while he was dealing with Naruto, or vice versa. It wasn’t like the Sharingan made him bulletproof, after all. Then he would be in the middle of Fire Country with a prisoner, injured, and with limited water supplies. Definitely not a good situation to be in.

Sasuke followed Naruto and Sakura at a safe distance for several days, using the Sharingan to observe them. Among other things, these special contact lenses Orochimaru had developed allowed the user to “sense” where a person was at all times. This allowed Sasuke to keep track of where Naruto and Sakura were and what they were doing. He was always able to keep far enough away that they wouldn’t notice him, and sure enough, neither Naruto nor Sakura suspected a thing.

Unfortunately, Sasuke’s surveillance didn’t provide him with much in the way of answers. Naruto and Sakura seemed to have their bases decently covered for a pair traveling alone through barren and dangerous country. They took turns keeping watch at night, and neither of them were heavy sleepers. Naruto would be awake if Sakura so much as shifted oddly in her sleep. Likewise, Sakura would be up and drawing her pistol when Naruto jolted awake screaming bloody murder-which the blond did twice when Sasuke was watching them, although the dark-haired man was never close enough to find out exactly why this happened. The two of them were also alert and aware during the day as well, leaving the chances of a successful surprise attack fairly low, in Sasuke’s opinion.

Eventually, Sasuke decided to go with an old technique that had served him well on many missions where he’d needed to get into certain restricted areas in order to get information: infiltration. Whether it was bribery, seduction, blackmail, or simply becoming friends with the right groups of people, Sasuke had always been able to get into the right crowds in order to get needed information. This job was no different. Sasuke would simply have to travel along with Naruto and Sakura for awhile until they reached an area where he could take Naruto captive without interference.

Around dawn the next day, Sasuke traveled several miles down the old asphalt road Naruto and Sakura had been following. After Sasuke figured he’d gone enough of a distance so as not to make his target and the girl suspicious, he carefully packed away all of his water and most of his food into the secret pockets of his knapsack. Then, Sasuke lay down on the ground, his body curled protectively around his flamethrower, and activated his Sharingan.

Using the Sharingan to create illusions was something Sasuke hadn’t had much of an opportunity to try out before. By the time he created one he deemed satisfactory, the better part of an hour had passed and Sasuke had a pounding headache. Still, he had accomplished what he needed to. Anyone who walked by this stretch of road would think that Sasuke was unconscious. If they stopped to take a closer look, they would think that he was suffering from dehydration.

This first part of the plan was incredibly risky, Sasuke knew. He was depending on Naruto and Sakura to stop and help an apparently unconscious man on the side of the road. Human kindness was rare these days, and Naruto and Sakura had every possible reason to think that Sasuke was a bandit trying to rob them. The two of them might try to shoot him, or take his supplies. Or, they might very well just walk right past him. However, from Sasuke’s observations of the pair over the last few days, he got the feeling that they were innately kind people. Sasuke trusted his gut, and his gut told him that Naruto and Sakura would stop for him.

A little while later, Sasuke heard footsteps, crunching through the loose asphalt along the road. He cracked open one Sharingan-enhanced eye ever-so-slightly, and was relieved to see the figures of Naruto and Sakura coming in his direction. Sasuke closed his eye, listening with all his might as the pair approached.

The footsteps stopped several yards away, and Sasuke strained to make out the hushed conversation as Naruto and Sakura debated stopping to help him. The dark-haired man didn’t dare to breathe. He lay as still as possible, every single particle of his body hoping, praying…

Finally, after what seemed like an age, Sasuke heard two pairs of footsteps come right up next to him and stop. There was the slight click of a gun being aimed at his head, and then slim, slightly callused hands with thin fingers and short nails were running all over his body. The girl’s, Sasuke guessed. No boy’s hands could be that slender and small.

It took all of Sasuke’s considerable control not to jump to his feet, shove Sakura’s hands away, and then fight the two of them. Sasuke did not like being touched without permission. Much less did he like his body being examined by a girl, while another man pointed a gun at him. It only got more difficult for Sasuke to maintain control after another, larger set of hands delved into his pockets and removed his knife. Sasuke’s hunting knife, a gift from his old caretaker, had been with him ever since he had set out from Fire Country years ago. Besides the flamethrower, it was his dearest weapon, and had seen its fair share of blood. Being disarmed so easily didn’t sit well with Sasuke at all. By this time, the dark-haired man’s body was tense as a bowstring, his even breathing harsh and ragged. He was certain that Naruto and Sakura would have become suspicious by now, had he not set up the illusion before hand.

The breaking point for Sasuke, the point when he finally sat up and broke the Sharingan’s illusion, was when Sakura’s finger brushed his eyelid. Although the Sharingan contacts were invisible to the naked eye, Sasuke didn’t want to risk the girl accidentally dislodging one or removing them in some other way. Those contacts might be his newest weapon, but they had quickly become a great asset for Sasuke. He certainly didn’t intend to give them up anytime soon.

    Sasuke explained the current situation and the implementation of his plan so far to Kabuto in as few words as possible. Surprisingly enough, the other man didn’t interrupt him with sarcastic comments, or question his abilities. He only listened quietly, occasionally making a slight sound of assent to show that he was still listening. Sasuke reasoned that getting Naruto back must be incredibly important to Orochimaru if Kabuto wasn’t taking this opportunity to try and knock Sasuke down a peg.

   “At this point, I think the best bet is to go to Konohagakure,” Sasuke said. “I’ll need to get some more water for the trip back anyway if I’m going to have a captive with me, and I can lose the girl easily enough in the town. There’s always some kind of prostitution or slavery ring going on in the larger settled areas, and she’s not ugly. It’s just a matter of finding the right people-”

   “And how exactly do you plan on getting a young woman to come with you into a life of prostitution or slavery, Sasuke-kun? Besides, you’re only going to be in Konohagakure a few days. Is it even possible for you to find members of the criminal underground so quickly?” Kabuto interrupted. He sounded as if he was indulging the fantasies of much younger boy, one who didn’t quite understand the realities of putting intricate plans together yet.

There it is, Sasuke thought, a bitter taste filling his mouth. I knew the bastard couldn’t resist having a go at me. “I can work quickly,” he said. “Don’t worry about the girl. She’s already shown she’s attracted to me. I’ll just ask her if she’ll meet me for a night on the town, without Naruto. She’s bound to say yes, and when she does I’ll hand her over to the pimps or the slavers. Then it’s only a matter of subduing the target and getting back to the base.”

“Quite the ladies’ man, aren’t you, Sasuke-kun?” Kabuto said, with a hint of laughter in his voice. Sasuke’s free hand clenched so tightly his knuckles were white. “If the target is so much of a challenge that you feel you need to get rid of his traveling companion before taking him on, perhaps I could send Kimimaro-”

“The information you provided me with said that the person the target escaped with was probably dead, remember?” Sasuke growled into the communicator, finally losing what remained of his patience. “If I’d known she was alive beforehand, I could have planned for this.”

Kabuto chuckled softly, as if Sasuke was nothing more than an amusing diversion to him. “Orochimaru-sama expects you to report in again in three days’ time, Sasuke-kun,” he said. This statement was followed by a soft click and a brief burst of static, which meant that Kabuto had ended communications on his end. Sasuke shoved his own communicator back into his knapsack, quietly cursing Kabuto with a slow and painful death as he did so.

Sasuke hated Kabuto, and the other man knew it. Sasuke had hated Kabuto from the moment he’d been introduced to the man by Orochimaru at the young age of thirteen. The young doctor Kabuto was hailed as a prodigy in the fields of biology, chemistry, and medicine. It was rumored that Orochimaru would never have gotten as far as he had in his experiments on human bodies and genetics if it hadn’t been for Kabuto’s assistance. Kabuto enjoyed a rare degree of trust and privilege as Orochimaru’s second-in-command, so much so that he was even the head of a small Research Facility on the western edge of Sound Country.

Sasuke clearly remembered just how clean Kabuto had seemed to him upon their first meeting. In a world where baths were taken once a week at best, everyone wore clothes spun from rough cotton, and hand-me-downs were made to last generations, Kabuto had looked impeccable in a spotless white lab coat. His long silver hair was pulled back in a neat ponytail away from his face. But Kabuto’s eyes were what had really scared Sasuke. They’d flashed, cruel and dark, behind a pair of round glasses at him, completely at odds with the man’s friendly voice and demeanor.

Sasuke remembered all the things he’d heard whispered about Kabuto in the halls of the main Research Facility during his first week there. That whenever he visited Orochimaru at the main Research Facility, the human test subjects locked up there wailed and screamed louder than usual, their anguished shrieks of pain reaching nearly unbearable levels. That any person Orochimaru so much as casually mentioned to Kabuto as becoming an annoyance was quickly disposed of, not even a body remaining for any friends and family to find. That Kabuto was good at seducing innocent, naïve people into being his friends with promises of money and power, then equally good at getting rid of them when they were no longer needed.

   “Kabuto, I’m glad you’re here. There’s someone I want you to meet.” Orochimaru put a hand on Sasuke’s shoulder, gently pushing him forward. Sasuke hated the touch of Orochimaru’s too-cold skin, hated being treated like a pet by the man, but there was little he could do about it. Loath as he was to admit it, Sasuke needed Orochimaru’s help in order to get stronger and find his brother Itachi.

   “That stray you mentioned finding in Konohagakure? I didn’t think you’d actually go back to get him, Orochimaru-sama,” The man Orochimaru had called Kabuto wasn’t even facing them, his back bent over a microscope. The other people who lived and worked in Orochimaru’s main base, and in the Research Facility and lab below, treated the man with the utmost deference and respect. They averted their eyes when Orochimaru walked past, bowed and murmured “Orochimaru-sama.” But Kabuto hadn’t even looked in Orochimaru’s direction, let alone bowed.

   “I thought you said he was twelve?” Kabuto continued. “Forgive me for my impertinence, Orochimaru-sama, but I’m not sure how a boy so young will be of use to us. If it’s pleasure you’re after, there are plenty of children in the town near here that I can-”

   “This one is different,” Orochimaru interrupted. “He may be young, but the fire of vengeance burns strongly in his heart. He has a purpose in life, and I believe that purpose may be of use to us.”

   Sasuke was beyond angry at this point. To think that this Kabuto could dismiss him so easily, without even looking at him! After he’d trekked miles through the rocky deserts of Fire Country, and through the howling thunderstorms of Lightning Country, to get here as well. Only for this man to call him a child. Worse than that, Kabuto had insinuated that Sasuke was a whore as well. Rage simmered through the dark-haired boy’s veins, quick and hot, threatening to boil over. “Actually, I’m thirteen,” he bit out.

   At that, Kabuto straightened up from the microscope and turned around, apparently surprised that Sasuke had actually spoken. Orochimaru chuckled. “See, Kabuto? I told you he was special.”

   “You are right, as always, Orochimaru-sama,” Kabuto murmured, now regarding Sasuke with a degree of interest. “A pleasure to meet you, Sasuke-kun. I am Yakushi Kabuto, Orochimaru-sama’s main assistant at the Sound Country Research Facilities. I’m sure the two of us will be great friends.”

   Sasuke met Kabuto’s eyes, like two lumps of coal in his face, and a shiver that had nothing to do with being underground ran down the dark-haired boy’s spine. Sasuke had always hated the feeling of being scared. People who elicited a feeling of fear in him were doubly wretched. In that instant, he hated Kabuto.

   The next morning dawned bright and hot. Sasuke could tell that it was going to be another miserable day of traveling in the scorching heat. Naruto was already talking a mile a minute before they’d even gone very far down the road.

   “Hey Sasuke, what’s that symbol on your back mean?” Naruto asked, gesturing at the small emblem of a red and white fan sewn clumsily onto the back of Sasuke’s shirt collar.

   Sasuke pinched the bridge of his nose hard, trying to stave off the headache he could feel building at his temples. Trust Naruto to ask the most personal, soul-searching questions of guy he’d just fucking met. As Sasuke had outgrown his old clothes, he’d carefully, painstakingly cut the symbol of his clan out of the backs of his shirts and sewn them onto his new ones. That red and white fan, once a proud symbol of Fire Country’s best and brightest citizens, still haunted Sasuke in his sleep sometimes. It drifted in and out of his dreams, spattered with blood and reverberating with the screams of his dying mother and father as Itachi plunged the knife into their backs again and again and again, right in front of him-

   “It looks kind of familiar is all…I could have sworn I’ve seen that symbol somewhere before, but I can’t remember where…” Naruto was staring hard at Sasuke’s back now, his brows creased together into a “v” shape as he thought.

   Oh shit, Sasuke thought nervously, abruptly coming out of his morbid reverie. He’d almost forgotten that the dobe used to live in Konohagakure, and was likely to have seen the Uchiha clan’s symbol somewhere around the town before. If Naruto figured out that Sasuke was an Uchiha, awkward questions might ensue. “I got these clothes off of an old hag in Earth Country. Her son died, and she was selling some of his stuff to make a bit of money. Maybe this symbol meant something to their family, I don’t know.”

   “Tch. Whatever, teme,” Naruto muttered. Still, the blond’s eyes moved from Sasuke’s back and went back to staring at the few fluffy white clouds on the horizon. The dark-haired man breathed a quiet sigh of relief. Thank the gods for idiots and their short attention spans.

   “It’s time for another water break,” Sakura said, taking one of their canteens from its place at her side. Naruto’s mouth positively ached at hearing the water sloshing around inside of it. “I drank last time, so it’s Sasuke-kun’s turn this time around.”

Because of their low water rations, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura had been taking it in turns to drink. Every twenty minutes or so, judging by the position of the sun in the sky, one of the three would have a brief drink of water from one of the two half-full canteens Sakura was carrying. All three of them would have a longer drink when they stopped to rest for lunch. Which was something Naruto desperately wanted to happen now, even though it was only mid-morning.

“Hang on a sec,” the blond said, becoming suspicious as a thought occurred to him. “You let Sasuke have a drink before you had yours, Sakura-chan. Shouldn’t it be my turn now?”

“Naruto, he was dehydrated only yesterday,” Sakura replied. There was a hint of annoyance in her tone, as if she had to explain something obvious to a young child. “Sasuke-kun needs to keep his fluid levels up. Or do you want to deal with him passing out at the side of the road again?”

Naruto wasn’t having it. He was hot, hotter than he’d ever been in his entire life, and he wanted nothing more than to shout “Balls to it!” at the top of his lungs while dumping both canteens of water over his head. He was sweaty and itchy in all sorts of uncomfortable places, and his mouth was so dry it hurt. On top of all that, Naruto had to deal with Sasuke. Fucking Sasuke, who refused to answer questions any normal person would ask of anyone traveling with them. Sasuke, who was quiet and brooding, whose dark eyes were filled with an anger Naruto couldn’t even begin to understand, who had the even, graceful gait of a fighter as he walked and a nice, toned, muscular rump to boot. Not that Naruto had been looking, goddammit.

It was at that point that whatever thin, fraying threads had been holding the blond’s temper together up until now snapped. Naruto let out an angry growl and lunged for the canteen Sakura was holding. The pink-haired girl had been half-expecting this, since Naruto had only been getting more and more frustrated throughout the day. She widened her stance, preparing to whack Naruto about the head and yell at him until he calmed down. But as it turned out, Sakura didn’t have to do anything. Before she could so much as blink, Sasuke was standing in front of her, planting his hand firmly on Naruto’s chest. The dark-haired man gave a hard push and Naruto went stumbling backwards several feet, only barely managing to stay upright.

“So that’s how it’s gonna be, eh teme?” Naruto was breathing hard, his heart racing. He hadn’t really been attacked like that since escaping the Research Facility. A part of the blond, a feral, demonic part that he tried his damnedest to keep hidden and suppressed deep inside, was howling in excitement at the prospect of a real fight, at getting to face a decent opponent, and at the smell of blood that would soon be spilt. He grinned, a bestial expression that was all sharp, gleaming teeth and seemed more animal than human. It had Sakura gasping in fear and Sasuke’s hand going for the knife at his hip.

“How ‘bout we fight for it, huh, Sasuke?” Naruto growled out. “Whoever wins gets to drink, and whoever doesn’t…” The blond trailed off, leaving the darker implications of his challenge to the imagination.

Sasuke’s grip tightened around his knife. “You’re an idiot, dobe,” he said, in a voice that was quiet, but still full of warning at what would happen should Naruto continue with this foolishness. “The heat’s getting to you. You need to stop, and think about what you’re doing…” Despite what he was saying, Sasuke found himself desperately wanting to fight with Naruto. The blond’s bestial expression and hunched stance were now those of the feral animal Sasuke had first expected. The dark-haired man could tell that this was an unusual occurrence, based on Sakura’s reactions. All of the blood had drained from the girl’s face and her green eyes were riveted on Naruto, unblinking. Sakura’s face at the moment was the very picture of shock and fear in a person.

Rather than make Sasuke nervous, however, Sakura’s reaction only served to further excite him. It had been so long since he’d had had a good fight. All of Orochimaru’s lackeys had long since been beaten soundly by the dark-haired man and were too afraid to spar with him now. Even those targeted for assassination went down with such a degree of ease it was pitiful. Most of them disgraced themselves further by begging for their lives at the end, like small, weak children. Sasuke had a feeling that Naruto was going to be different. A small part of the dark-haired man didn’t really want to cut up the lovely body in front of him, but a larger and more dominant part was eager to test his own power against the blond’s.

   All of a sudden, Sakura cried out. “Look! A trader’s wagon!” She pointed off in the distance.

   “Stay out of this, Sakura-chan,” Naruto growled.

   “This is between me and Naruto,” Sasuke agreed.

   “No, really! Stop being stubborn for five seconds, both of you, and just look!” Sakura gestured frantically at a point some distance away from the road…and that was when Naruto heard it. The clatter of wooden wheels against hard packed earth, which meant that a wagon was nearby. And where there was a wagon, there were always…

   ‘I don’t believe it,” Sasuke murmured, letting go of his knife out of sheer surprise. “Traders, all the way out here. I didn’t think there would actually be any…”

   Naruto could only stare at the wagon as it approached, pulled along by two large, shaggy donkeys. There were two people sitting up front, although the wagon was far enough away that it was impossible to make out identifying features. The taller one of the pair held the donkeys’ reins in his fist, guiding them and the wagon along the rocky terrain.

   As he stared, Naruto felt relief flow through his body like a rush of cool water, washing away the fierce anger and battle lust and leaving the blond feeling weak-kneed in its wake. If they were lucky, they might be able to get enough water from the traders, and could avoid going back to Konohagakure completely. Naruto had done his best to hide it, especially since his embarrassing outburst in front of Sasuke the night before, but the truth of it was, he was afraid of going back to his hometown. The blond was no longer the cheerful, happy-go-lucky ten-year-old who rode around the marketplace on his dad’s shoulders. Would anyone even still remember Uzumaki Naruto in Konohagakure? Would he be better off if they didn’t?

   A light touch on his shoulder brought the blond out of his musings. He turned to see Sakura gently tugging at his sleeve. “Naruto, come on,” she said quietly. “We’ll miss the traders if we don’t get a move on.” Although the pink-haired girl was smiling at Naruto, her pale green eyes were still alight with fear and uncertainty, as if she were dealing with a potentially dangerous animal that could kill her at any moment. Sakura hadn’t acted that way around him since they’d first met at the Research Facility, and the blond felt a deep sense of guilt and remorse for having scared his friend so badly. Naruto almost wished that she’d hit him and shout for him to get going, like usual.

   Naruto smiled back in order to reassure the pink-haired girl. I’ll have to make it up to her somehow later. “Yeah, let’s go, Sakura-chan!” He said, pasting a brilliant smile on his face that he didn’t really feel.

   Naruto made sure to glare at Sasuke as the three of them ran towards the wagon, Sakura calling out for the traders to stop. Things were far from finished between the two of them. Sasuke’s outward expression remained one of cool indifference, as if the blond was worth less than the dust on his shoes. Inwardly, however, the dark-haired man did a double-take. For just a brief moment, Naruto’s pupils had appeared to be slit, like a cat’s. When Sasuke sneaked a peak a few seconds later, as the three of them ran up to the wagon, however, the blond’s eyes looked as normal as anyone else’s. Perhaps it had been a trick of the light.

   “Whoa there, girls!” The tall person at the front of the wagon called, pulling hard on the reins. The two donkeys stopped, snorting and kicking up small clouds of red dust with their hooves. Upon closer inspection, Naruto saw that it was a man driving the wagon. He was broad and muscular of build, with short, spiky black hair and dark eyes. Most of his lower face was wrapped in a cloth that the blond saw, with not a little envy, was soaked in water.

   “Well, it’s a nice surprise to see people willing to trade all the way out here!” The man said cheerfully. “I honestly didn’t think we’d find anyone until we crossed the border into Tea Country.” The man clapped the person sitting next to him on the shoulder, who looked to be a girl of around fourteen or fifteen. She wore a simple gray yukata, and regarded Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura mildly with large, brown eyes. Long black hair flowed loosely over her shoulders and back. Naruto looked at this girl in the wagon curiously. It was unusual to find young girls among traders. They had a rough life, often having to traverse difficult terrain and go weeks without seeing so much as a semi-permanent camp of people. The blond wondered how Haku ended up following such a difficult path.

   “Anyway, what can I do for you three? The name’s Zabuza, and this here’s my partner Haku. We’ll trade for just about anything you got. Haku, would you run around back and get some of the things we picked up in Sunagakure to show these three?” The girl nodded, and hopped lightly down from her seat to wriggle underneath the large canvas tarp covering the back of the wagon. Naruto soon heard the sound of items being shifted around in the back.

   “Actually, we were just hoping to trade for water,” Sakura said. She’d already taken off her knapsack and was rummaging through it. Naruto had faith that Sakura could get them a good deal. The pink-haired girl could have haggled a cactus out of the last of its water. “I have some medical supplies here you might be interested in…some cans of food…a book of matches…” Sakura took these items out as she listed them off, laying them on the ground for perusal.

   Zabuza rubbed the back of his head. “Water, eh? I dunno, ma’am, that stuff’s worth its weight in gold out here. I’d need a full kit of those medical supplies of yours, plus four more of those cans, before we can start talking business.”

   Sakura put her hands on her hips. She usually didn’t start seriously haggling so quickly, but their water situation really wasn’t looking so good at the moment. “Oh come on, these are family-size cans of beans! They could last you for weeks…”

   Naruto heard Sasuke shift slightly behind him. The dark-haired man’s hand moved to rest at his side, where his knife was. A casual observer might not think anything of it, but Naruto knew better. People did not simply rest their hands on their weapons unless they meant business. What was Sasuke up to? If he thought he was going to threaten the traders in order to get more water, then he was an idiot. Traders were always heavily armed. These people would blast the dark-haired man across half of Fire Country before he even got the chance to draw that fancy knife of his.

   But Sasuke didn’t strike Naruto as an idiot. A person didn’t travel alone across the wastes of Fire Country after losing their party and survive by being stupid. Was there something about to go wrong with this trade? Now that the blond thought about it, that Haku girl had been rummaging around in the back of the wagon for an awfully long time. How could it be taking her so long to get a few trade goods out from the back of a wagon?

   Naruto was starting to get suspicious about the trade himself. He didn’t know much about bargaining, it was true, but it seemed to him that Sakura had managed to strike up a reasonable deal for some more water. Yet Zabuza was still haggling over it with her, as if he was trying to buy Haku time. The blond opened his mouth, prepared to tell Sakura that they’d better just get the hell out of there, when Zabuza stuck out his hand and shook Sakura’s.

   “Well, ma’am, that was a tough bargain you struck, but I think we have a deal. Now…” Zabuza leaned down slightly and picked up a rifle from the bottom of the wagon, which he aimed at Sakura’s shocked face. “I think you’d better hand over your knapsack if you wanna live.”

   Both Naruto and Sasuke started forward at this, drawing their own weapons, but were stopped by Haku coming around from the back of the wagon at last. The girl was wielding two handguns of her own, both aimed point-blank at Naruto and Sasuke. Judging by the serious expression on Haku’s face, the blond did not want to test how willing she was to fire them.

   The smirk in Zabuza’s eyes was clearly evident. “Well, well, looks like you three are caught, nice as you please. I think you’d better drop those weapons and help your friend here hand over your supplies, or things might start to get…messy.”

Author’s Note: I know, I’m horrible, leaving it off there. But fear not, dear readers, as Chapter 4 will be up in about a week!
If you're reading this story right now, remember to leave a review! Reviews make me a super-happy author, and also motivate me to update faster, IF YA KNOW WHAT I MEAN. (wink wink nudge nudge)
REVIEWER RESPONSES:
Mija: Thanks for reviewing again! :D In the world I've set up, there really isn't enough manpower for there to be armed guards and patrols roaming around searching for two people who escaped from another country's Research Facility. Most countries have one main town and a few smaller settlements scattered about here and there. Guards are focused mostly on protecting their country's town and settlements. Orochimaru's research projects are really secret, so he wouldn't want to advertise them by sending out huge numbers of people to look for Naruto and Sakura. It'd be much easier for him to send a lone operative like Sasuke to get Naruto back secretly. Don't worry, Sakura will get the hint soon. She won't be fawning over Sasuke for long. You'll find out why Sasuke doesn't want to go back to Konohagakure and what the deal is with his family and Itachi later on (though I think you may have gotten some idea in this chapter, lol ^^) Anyway, I'm glad you're enjoying this story so far!
Kiki22: Thanks for reading! Here's some more :3
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Flamethrower