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
- 3
- 4
- 5
Author’s Note: This chapter makes up for the dullness of the last one, I believe. I hope no one died of anticipation over the cliffhanger in the meantime. xD This wasn’t an easy chapter for me to write either, though for completely different reasons from Chapter 3. You’ll find out why as you read, I expect.

DISCLAIMER: Naruto is not mine, and I make no money off of the writing of this fanfiction.

This story is being cross-posted to my FF account, Light Within Darkness. The link can be found in my profile.

WARNINGS: Violence, Blood, Minor Character Death, Use of guns and other weapons to hurt and/or kill people, Language

And now, without any further ado…

    Naruto cursed inwardly. How could he not have seen this coming? He and Sakura were usually so careful during all their interactions with people. By staying on their guard and being observant, Naruto and Sakura had managed to thwart a few attempts at robbery already. But now…one careless moment, made desperate by their low water supply and high tensions, and they were easily caught by a pair of bandits masquerading as traders. The blond raised his arms in the air and started walking slowly towards Haku. The dark-haired girl’s hands tightened ever-so-slightly around her handguns in response, but she made no move to shoot him.

   Sakura watched Naruto as he walked forward with his knapsack. A mix of helplessness, fear, and anger roiled in her gut, making the pink-haired girl feel slightly nauseous on top of everything else. There was nothing she could do to help her friend, however, since Zabuza had his rifle aimed only two inches away from her skull. All Sakura could do was watch, and curse herself for not being able to do anything.

   Sasuke started to move forward as well, but Haku whirled to face the dark-haired man before he’d taken even two steps. “Drop the weapon and come forward with your hands up, like Blondie over there! Or I’ll shoot you so full of holes there won’t be enough of you left for the buzzards to pick at.”

   Sasuke’s eyes narrowed, and for a moment Naruto was afraid he would rush Haku anyway, never mind the fact that he only had a knife to go up against Haku’s guns with. But then the dark-haired man moved his hand to his side – slowly, so as not to startle Haku into shooting – and removed his knife. He tossed it to the ground at his feet, then put his arms up in the air and resumed slowly walking towards Haku with his knapsack, in a mimic of Naruto’s current position.

   “Bring that hunk of metal as well,” Zabuza added, his head jerking towards the flamethrower at Sasuke’s feet. “Unless you want me to shoot the young lady over here.” He laughed, a harsh, grating sound, and prodded Sakura’s head with the end of his rifle. “You ever seen that much useless metal, Haku? We’re gonna be eating good for a long time after we sell off that thing!”

   Sasuke gave Zabuza a look ten times worse than any he had given Naruto. However, he realized that he had no choice but to comply at the moment. The dark-haired man lifted his flamethrower up and slung it over his shoulder, then resumed slowly moving towards Haku.

   Naruto felt a cold pit of dread start to form in his stomach at the thought of the predicament the three of them had gotten into. Only a little while ago, Naruto had been ready to fight Sasuke himself, unleashing a load of primal rage and anger in the process. Now, he, Sasuke, and Sakura were going to have their bullet-ridden corpses left out here in the arid wasteland for animals to pick clean, while bandits rode off with their supplies. Even if Zabuza and Haku didn’t shoot them outright, Naruto didn’t think the three of them would be able to make it to Konohagakure before collapsing of thirst anyway. Not in this extreme heat.

   Although Sasuke’s outward appearance was a mask of glacial calm, he was starting to get quite nervous about the situation. If he were alone, Sasuke would have activated his Sharingan and killed these two bastards by now. The world would be better off with two less bandits anyway, and the dark-haired man was quite sure that no one would miss them. But in the current situation, Sasuke didn’t want to let on about his enhanced eyesight until he’d at least managed to ditch Sakura in Konohagakure. In the meantime, Sasuke told himself that he’d been in worse situations than this one, and would definitely be able to find a way out of it. Not much worse, though.

   Naruto’s cold feeling of despair was slowly being over-ridden by the primal fury that had emerged from him not too long ago, when the blond had been preparing to fight Sasuke. The thought that he might die before he’d even reached Wave Country filled the blond with anger, at how unfair life was to give him these cryptic nighttime visions only to snatch away his hopes of ever finding the answers. Buried in that anger, however, was a rather strange thought, one Naruto didn’t even consciously recognize: Sasuke is mine to fight! Mine! These fuckers can’t have his blood!

   With that unconscious thought, Naruto looked up and met Sasuke’s eyes. The blond could see the same quiet fury he felt reflected in the other man’s own onyx irises, in his tightly clenched jaw. Although they only looked at each other for a second, a silent communication passed through Naruto and Sasuke at that moment. When we reach Haku, we fight. Together.

   Naruto was standing in front of Haku now. The blond’s entire body was pumped with adrenaline, and the sound of his blood racing through his body filled Naruto’s ears. He was pumped and ready for a fight.

   “Good. Now hand over your supplies and maybe I won’t kill you,” Haku said softly. His large, doe-like brown eyes were focused on Naruto’s knapsack, eager to find out what treasures it held once he and Zabuza-san were back in the wagon and had left these idiots far behind. His mouth curved upwards into a slight smirk just thinking about it.

   Naruto answered with a fierce grin of his own, which in his current state made him look almost like a wild animal. “I don’t think so,” he growled. Then, to Haku’s surprise, the blond dropped down into a crouch and swung out with his leg, aiming to sweep Haku’s legs out from under him.

   “Wha-?” To say that Haku was shocked at this point would be an understatement. Once he and Zabuza-san showed their true colors and brought out the guns, most travelers simply gave up their supplies and begged to have their lives spared. This blond boy was the first one who actually attempted to fight back. Haku’s quick reflexes and flexibility were what saved him. The boy leapt into the air, over Naruto’s leg, and backflipped over the blond, landing lightly on his feet behind him.

   Haku cursed at realizing he’d dropped one of his guns mid-flip. The weapon had now skidded underneath the wagon, where it couldn’t easily be retrieved. Meanwhile, Naruto wasn’t making a move. The blond’s body was still in an awkward crouch. He stared at Haku with his mouth slightly open. Unbeknownst to Haku, Naruto had gotten an accidental look up the other boy’s yukata when he’d leapt up. The slight bulge he’d seen there most definitely did not belong on a girl’s body.

   “Holy shit! You…you’re a guy?!” Naruto finally managed to yell.

   Haku’s smirk returned, wider than the first time. “Surprised? You’re the only person besides Zabuza-san who’s guessed my true gender.” Haku aimed his remaining handgun at the blond’s shocked visage and prepared to squeeze the trigger. “I don’t know if that’ll be any consolation to you, seeing as you’re about to die, but…uuugggghhh!” The slight boy cried out as Sasuke rammed into him, throwing him off balance. The dark-haired man followed this up with a hard punch that sent Haku landing a few feet away on his rump. Haku’s second handgun went skittering off across the reddish dirt, coming to a rest next to a boulder many yards away.

   “Usuratonkachi,” Sasuke muttered. “Figures I’d have to save your ass.”

   Meanwhile, Zabuza had been watching his partner when Naruto and Haku had begun to fight. The moment he’d taken his eyes off of her, Sakura had seen her chance. The pink-haired girl quickly ducked to the side, away from the barrel of Zabuza’s rifle. Sakura then clambered up onto the wagon by using the donkeys’ reins as handholds, inadvertently loosening them as she did so. The poor animals had already been pawing the ground, snorting and baying in fright the moment fighting had broken out. They took off into the arid desert the moment they were able to pull free from the wagon. Before long, the donkeys were only tiny, dark specks against the horizon.

   Zabuza, who’d been staring intently at Haku for the last minute, looked up at the sound of clattering hooves. He was met with the sight of his donkeys running off and one of his captives now crouched in front of him. Sakura smiled triumphantly as she punched Zabuza squarely in the middle of the face. And as anyone who knew Haruno Sakura could tell you, the pink-haired girl had a mean right hook. Zabuza fell off the wagon and landed in a puff of red dust on the ground beside it. The bandit howled in pain as he clutched at his nose, which was now spurting dark streams of blood, staining the cloth that the lower half of his face was wrapped in. Sakura picked up the man’s now-abandoned rifle, and turned her attention once again to Naruto and Sasuke.

   “Teme!” Naruto was shouting, face flushed red in embarrassment at having needed to be rescued by Sasuke. “I was going to take her…I mean, him…down by surprise and finish this up quickly, but you just had to be the hero and jump in at exactly the wrong moment!”

   “If I hadn’t ‘jumped in,’ when I did, your idiotic, slack-jawed face would have been blown across the dirt-!” Sasuke scoffed, but the dark-haired man was cut off by Haku. The boy had gotten to his feet and landed a solid roundhouse kick to Sasuke’s head. Although Haku may have been small and slight for his age, the boy fought with all the ferocity and strength of a wildcat. Sasuke stumbled, falling to his hands and knees as bright stars flashed before his eyes.

   The hot, primal fury Naruto had felt inside of him before the start of the fight, at thinking that someone might hurt or even kill Sasuke, burst into a renewed fervor. Before he even knew what he was doing, Naruto was on his feet and running towards Haku, ready to turn the smaller boy into a bloody pulp. A quiet snarl erupted from the blond’s throat as he spotted Sasuke from the corner of his eye, shaking his head as he tried to clear his vision.

   Haku’s eyes widened in sudden fear at the sight of the blond man barreling towards him, teeth bared in a snarl and hands curled at his sides like claws. It was not unlike having attracted the sudden ire of a vicious, bloodthirsty wild animal. Even more terrifying were the man’s eyes. The irises, formerly a bright, vivid blue, were shot through with streaks of blood red. Just who is this guy?! Haku thought.

   Although his guns were nowhere close enough to help him, Haku was far from having been completely disarmed. With a quick flick of his wrist, Haku slid a set of needles out from the sleeve of his yukata and into his hand. The needles, called senbon, were quite long, and incredibly thin and sharp. Combined with Haku’s accuracy and precision, they’d gotten him and Zabuza-san out of many a tight spot before. The boy threw them at Naruto now, all five of the needles embedding themselves into Naruto’s abdomen.

   Naruto halted suddenly in his tracks as a dark stain began to spread across his T-shirt. The sudden pain of having been hit with the senbon seemed to have shocked Naruto out of his bloodlust. His eyes reverted back to their normal color, all traces of crimson gone. The blond grunted in pain and fell to his knees, briefly pressing his fingers against his stomach as he did so. They came away sticky and red. How could being hit with such small weapons hurt so damn much?

   Haku picked Sasuke’s hunting knife up off the ground and ran forward, prepared to finish the job once and for all…only to be knocked flat once again by Sasuke. “Get your fucking hands off of my things,” Sasuke hissed into Haku’s ear. A wrestling match then ensued between Sasuke and Haku over possession of the knife. Haku was small and flexible, and several times he managed to almost wriggle free of the tight grip Sasuke had him in. Finally, the dark-haired man managed to catch the smaller boy in a bear hug, and squeezed until Haku heard the ominous sound of his ribs creaking. Pain seared across the slight boy’s midsection, and he went limp in Sasuke’s arms. Meanwhile, Sasuke forced his knife from Haku’s grip.

   Haku’s eyes flashed in panic as he saw the knife coming towards him. “Please-!” He cried out. At one time, this might have caused Sasuke to hesitate, but not now. Not after eight years under Orochimaru. With one swift movement, Sasuke’s blade was embedded in Haku’s jugular vein. Blood came from the slight boy’s neck in thick spurts, staining the bright silver of Sasuke’s knife. Haku’s body sagged even further against Sasuke, and the dark-haired man dropped him in an unceremonious heap on the ground.

   Haku’s formerly bright brown eyes started to dull. “Zabuza-san…” he choked out around the knife lodged in his throat. Despite being several feet away, and despite the fact that Haku’s voice was raspy and barely above a whisper, Zabuza’s head whipped towards the boy. His eyes went wide in horror and disbelief at the sight of his young partner bleeding out in the dirt.

   “HAKU! HAKU, HANG IN THERE!” Zabuza shouted, ignoring the pain from his broken nose. The bandit tried to get to his feet, but was deterred by the sudden presence of his rifle pressed into the back of his skull. Sakura was plenty shocked and horrified herself by what was going on right before her eyes, but she still wasn’t about to let a dangerous bandit get away right in front of her.

   “Zabuza-san…I’m sorry…I…” Haku’s voice was starting to fail him now, coming out in little more than choked gasps. His breathing was shallow and uneven, each breath coming harder than the last. Blood pooled underneath the boy’s head, staining the dirt beneath him.

   “It’s OK, Haku! It’ll all be OK, I promise! Please, don’t die!” Zabuza’s voice was growing increasingly desperate now.

   “…failed you…” Haku finally gasped out. The boy’s head lolled to the side, his dark eyes falling closed for the last time as his long, black hair fell across his cheek. Haku gave one last, shuddering breath…then no more.

   “NO! Nononononononononono…Haku!” Zabuza cried out. His breath came in and out in strange, hitching gasps, and the bandit didn’t realize he was crying until he felt the hot tears sliding down his cheeks, further wetting the cloth around his face. When was the last time Momochi Zabuza cried about anything? He found himself wondering.

   Zabuza’s head lifted up towards the sky. His dark eyes held a crazed gleam as he shouted his rage, pain, and sadness for everyone in the vicinity to hear. “You BASTARDS! I’ll kill you myself! I’ll kill every last one of you!” The bandit whipped around towards Sakura, who was closest to him. His arms were outstretched, fingers twisted into claws, fully prepared to rip the pink-haired girl before him into shreds.

   Sakura let out a dry sob as she brought the rifle up, and closed her eyes against the tears threatening to spill from her eyes. The sound of the rifle going off as Sakura pulled the trigger sounded unusually loud. Zabuza’s body slumped down to the ground once more, his dark eyes staring blankly up at the sky. Blood pooled out from the bullet hole in his skull, covering the earth around him in much the same way it had for Haku.

   For the first time since he was thirteen years old, Sasuke found himself unable to look at someone who had died. The dark-haired man looked up at Naruto instead. The blond was now on his feet and standing beside him. He winced in pain, clutching his abdomen, but the flow of blood seemed to have slowed for the time being.

   Naruto’s eyes were not focused on Sasuke, however, but on Haku’s dead body. They looked so intense that Sasuke felt, for a fleeting moment, that the fierce blue would have burned him alive should those eyes be looking at him.

   “Sasuke,” Naruto said, so softly Sasuke almost didn’t hear it, “why?”

   For the first time in years, Sasuke was at a loss for words.

    “Owwww,” Naruto wailed. “Sakura-chan, that hurts!”

   “Stop whining already, it’s just disinfectant.”

   “Is it supposed to sting like that?”

   “It should let up after a few minutes. Remember Naruto, I’m a nurse, and I do know what I’m doing, so just shut up already and let me get these bandages on!”

   Naruto and Sakura were taking cover behind a group of boulders a short distance away from the wagon, so that Sakura could treat Naruto’s wounds without the two of them having to stare at dead bodies. Sasuke had elected to search the wagon for any supplies that might be useful to them. Sakura had already removed the senbon, a process that caused Naruto to holler as if being chased through the hills at night by a pack of bloodthirsty wild dogs. Though she wanted nothing more than to fling the loathed needles as far away from her as possible, Sakura had quickly wiped them off and tucked them into her knapsack instead. One learned quickly in this world not to waste anything, even something that had been used to hurt a friend.

Now, the pink-haired girl was carefully cleaning the wounds with a cloth covered in disinfectant from one of her med-kits, before wrapping them tightly in bandages. “There, that’s the last of them,” she muttered, using a piece of medical tape to secure the last linen bandage across Naruto’s torso. “You can sit up now, but slowly, OK?”

Naruto did as his friend asked, getting carefully into a sitting position from where he’d been propped up against the boulders. The blond slowly flexed his arm and leg muscles as well. Sakura kept her hand against the blond’s back as he assessed his body, careful to make sure he didn’t suddenly fall back against the rocks. When Naruto was confident that everything was in working order, he turned to Sakura and smiled. “Thanks Sakura-chan! I’m lucky you were there or I’d have really been in trouble.”

Sakura couldn’t feel less like smiling at the moment. During the course of the day, she’d been held at gunpoint, had watched her best friend undergo some sort of a violent fit and then almost get killed, watched Sasuke kill someone, and finally, she had killed someone herself. Sakura was bone-tired and wanted nothing more than to curl up and sleep for days. But the pink-haired girl forced herself to smile anyway, for Naruto. For a second the two of them sat there, smiling at each other like idiots. Then Sakura found herself sobbing into Naruto’s chest, the blond’s arms wrapped tightly around her in a firm hug.

“Sakura-chan, what is it? What did I do wrong?” Naruto was slightly alarmed by the way his pink-haired friend had suddenly fallen to pieces. He rubbed soothing circles on her back, at a complete loss for what to do in this situation.

I’m so stupid, Sakura couldn’t help thinking to herself as she wept. I’ve seen people die before. I’ve watched plenty of people die, back in the Research Facility! Dying is a fact of life, there’s no getting around that. But…Sakura made a choked noise, and curled herself up into a little ball against Naruto’s solid body. I kill one person, and I just fall apart. I’m such a stupid little girl!

“Sakura-chan, please, tell me what’s the matter? I’m here for you,” Naruto said. “I’m sorry I yelled so much while you were fixing me up. If it makes you feel any better, you probably won’t even have to change the bandages or anything. I heal fast, remember?”

Sakura remembered Naruto’s abnormally fast healing capabilities quite well, but she didn’t have time to dwell on it, as the sound of footsteps close by heralded Sasuke’s return. Sakura quickly pulled herself away from Naruto, sitting up and wiping away tears and snot from her face. There were few things more embarrassing than having someone you didn’t know well see you crying, in Sakura’s opinion. Especially if it was a boy who you thought was attractive…though Sakura had to admit, watching Sasuke kill a person had hindered her romantic feelings for him somewhat.

“I found some stuff in the wagon I think would be useful,” Sasuke said as he rounded the boulders and came into view, carrying a rough fabric sack in front of him. “There was some water too…” The dark-haired man stopped upon seeing Sakura’s red face and puffy eyes, which she was wiping at with the back of her hand. Naruto was staring at her looking confused, which wasn’t a surprise. “Is this a bad time?”

“N-No, Sasuke-kun, it’s fine,” Sakura said. She swiped at her face one last time and stood up to face him. “Show us what you found.”

Sasuke decided not to ask any further. He’d never been good at dealing with crying, especially if the person who was crying was female. Better not to cry at all, in Sasuke’s opinion. What good did tears ever do?

Sasuke looked over at Naruto, who had also gotten to his feet, and frowned slightly at the blond’s bandaged torso. It took Sasuke a moment to realize that he was feeling guilty. After all, Naruto had gotten himself injured by trying to prevent Sasuke from getting killed by Haku. Guilt was an emotion the dark-haired man wasn’t used to feeling, and especially not towards targets. In an effort to quell the uneasy feelings currently churning around inside of his gut, Sasuke reached inside the sack and pulled out a canteen of water he’d retrieved from the bandits’ wagon. “Here,” he said. “You’d better have a drink, dobe, before you fall over. I’d rather not be carrying around your unconscious body.”

For several long seconds, Naruto didn’t say anything. The blond just stared at the canteen in Sasuke’s outstretched hand, his eyes practically bugging out of his head in disbelief. Then he looked up at Sasuke, and his face split into the biggest smile Sasuke had seen in a long time. The dark-haired man felt light inside, lighter than he had in a long while, at the sight of a smile like that. And directed towards him, no less! In that moment, a silent truce was forged between the two men, and the first shaky, tenuous bonds of friendship were created.

“I think you’d better drink that water instead, teme,” Naruto said jokingly. “You’re looking awfully pale. Don’t want to get dehydrated again, after all.”

“I think we’ve all earned a drink,” Sakura cut in. She was smiling too. It was a small smile, but a genuine one, at the sight of Naruto and Sasuke finally getting along. “Let’s all drink up; we’ve still got to make camp, after all.”

All three of them privately agreed that it was the best water they’d ever had.

   Unfortunately, the bandits’ wagon only had one full canteen of water. The only other canteen proved to be full of some kind of alcohol, though not any kind the group was familiar with. The stuff smelled as if it had been brewed in a latrine, however, so they ended up pouring it out onto the ground. Upon realizing that they would have to stop at Konohagakure for more water after all, both Naruto and Sasuke had sinking feelings in their guts.

   The rest of the wagon, according to Sasuke, had mostly contained bags of seed and grain meant to be used for animal feed. He’d taken all of the food, as well as the two rolls of bandages he’d come across for Sakura’s med-kits, and a few smaller bags of seed to use in trading. They split the goods up between their three packs. Sasuke could tell by Sakura’s frown and Naruto’s contracted eyebrows that the two felt bad about taking the supplies, though for the life of him he couldn’t imagine why. Travelers scavenged from the dead all the time. If someone was dead, then they didn’t need their stuff anymore. There was no sense in feeling bad about taking it.

   As they prepared to leave the area, Sakura actually proposed burying Zabuza and Haku’s bodies. Sasuke privately thought that the girl was insane to even suggest such a thing, but he didn’t say so. Instead, Sasuke calmly pointed out that they didn’t have shovels with them, or any other tools for digging graves, and that even if they did, it would take time and energy that they didn’t have to spare. Sakura just nodded in agreement. Naruto looked like he wanted to argue, but seemed to sense the futility of it and kept his mouth shut. However, just before they left, Sasuke saw Sakura laying a small pile of rocks over by the bandits’ wagon, as a kind of marker. The dark-haired man told himself that the girl was being overly emotional towards people who had tried to kill her. Acts of human kindness had no place in this kind of world.

   “Hey teme,” Naruto said as they headed out, “there’s one thing I don’t understand.”

   I’m sure that’s one of many things, Naruto, Sasuke thought. Out loud, he said, “What?”

   “That ‘flamethrower’ of yours.” The blond nodded towards the metal container currently slung over Sasuke’s back. “You said that it shoots flames, and you can burn enemies with it.”

   The last thing Sasuke wanted to talk about was his flamethrower. He especially didn’t want to talk about it with Naruto when it was close to sunset and they were trying to find a good place to make camp. “Hn.” Please, if there are any gods out there listening right now, let him just shut up right now.

   “So how come you didn’t use it against those bandits?”

   “It’s broken, alright? Drop it already!” Sasuke hadn’t meant to say that, but he’d wanted Naruto to just stop talking about it already. Inwardly, he cursed himself for revealing even that much to people he wasn’t planning on getting attached to. Unconsciously, Sasuke’s fingers reached around to trace the edges of the perfectly round hole near the top of the flamethrower as a memory rose, unbidden, to his mind.

    Sasuke was lying in his bed back at Orochimaru’s main base, trying and failing to fall asleep. He knew it was important that he get some rest, since he was setting out on his new mission to bring back the escapee from Kabuto’s Research Facility tomorrow. But no matter how much he tossed and turned, Sasuke couldn’t seem to relax.

   Most of it was his own paranoia, the dark-haired man knew. Ever since he’d first come to Sound Country, Sasuke had been whispered about and stared at. Rumors were passed around about every aspect of Sasuke’s existence, from his parentage to his eating habits. It was only to be expected, from a boy whom Orochimaru himself had taken enough interest in to personally escort back from Fire Country. The unwanted attention only increased when Sasuke became a good enough agent to rival Kabuto for their leader’s favor. Guards-thuggish, brutal men who carried guns the size of Sasuke’s leg-were posted in the corridor outside his room, but Sasuke had no doubt that they would be easily dispatched by someone who really wanted to kill him.

   Sasuke had been one of the few people in Orochimaru’s base who was given his own sleeping quarters. The room was small, there only being enough room for a bed, a chair, and a table, but clean, and the bed was comfortable. Still, Sasuke was awoken his first morning in his new bedroom by the sight of Kidoumaru, one of Orochimaru’s five elite bodyguards, standing over him. The man’s face had been about an inch away from Sasuke, his dark eyes staring intently into Sasuke’s own. Kidoumaru’s Curse Mark had been partially activated as well, spreading inky streaks of black across his face like horrible tattoos. Sasuke had only barely stopped himself from screaming bloody murder, instead releasing a high-pitched yelp reminiscent of a puppy being strangled. Kidoumaru looked disappointed, but left the room without saying a word, closing the door quietly behind him. To this day, Sasuke had no idea why Kidoumaru had been in there. Had he wanted to kill Sasuke, or had he only been curious about the newest member of the base? Sasuke had never asked.

   Ever since that morning, Sasuke had been too afraid to sleep in his own room for years. He’d slept in different, secluded corners of the base every night, places where he was sure people would have difficulty finding him. Orochimaru knew about this, and somehow also knew exactly where Sasuke slept every night. The snaky bastard occasionally taunted him for it as well. “Was the storage room comfortable enough for you last night, Sasuke-kun?” He would say, his slit-pupiled eyes alight with sick glee at Sasuke’s anger.

   Eventually, when Sasuke turned eighteen years old and had soundly beaten Kidoumaru and three of Orochimaru’s other bodyguards during combat practice, he’d gone back to sleeping in his room. But the dark-haired man still had difficulty actually falling asleep at night. He couldn’t quite shake the fear that someone would come along and put a knife in him while he was asleep.

   Tonight, Sasuke’s fears were about to become reality.

   He didn’t know how long he’d been lying awake in his bed-there were no windows in his room to measure daylight by-but Sasuke would have guessed it had been a good few hours. Then, his door came swinging open with such a crash that the wooden frame splintered and nearly came off. Sasuke was up in an instant, his hand reaching for his knife, but in the next second he found himself pinned back against the bed by his hands and knees.

   Sasuke had never seen Yakushi Kabuto looking so furious. The man’s normally composed face was twisted into an angry snarl that was absolutely terrifying. The light from the small lamp on Sasuke’s bedside table caught the lenses of Kabuto’s glasses, obscuring the doctor’s eyes into a pair of flashing discs. His normally neat silver ponytail was disheveled for the first time in Sasuke’s knowledge, several pieces falling in frizzy tangles around his face and back. Even Kabuto’s normally spotless lab coat was wrinkled, and stained with strange, foul-smelling chemicals.

   Sasuke’s heart leapt into his throat and stayed there, pounding out a drumbeat against his Adam’s apple. He’d never sparred with Kabuto, and the doctor’s strength and dexterity was astounding. How had he gotten so strong when he was always at his Research Facility, or with Orochimaru? No matter how the dark-haired man struggled, he couldn’t get free of Kabuto’s hold. Sasuke was helpless as the doctor tossed his knife to the other side of the room in one swift move, leaving him disarmed. He struggled to swallow against his suddenly parched throat, the first stirrings of panic rising inside him. Was this it? Was Kabuto finally going to kill him?

   “You little shit,” Kabuto snarled, his voice lower and angrier than Sasuke had ever heard it before. “How dare he assign you to get that brat back!”

   Sasuke wondered if Kabuto even knew what he was saying. He wasn’t making a lot of sense right now. “I…I don’t…”

   “Shut up!” Kabuto pressed against Sasuke even harder, to the point where he was starting to cut off the circulation in Sasuke’s wrists. “He only told you to retrieve the little asshole who ran off in order to punish me, for letting him escape in the first place. I asked him to send Kimimaro, I practically begged him…”

   Sasuke said nothing. He only stared at Kabuto, who was breathing as hard as if he’d just run a mile on a hot day.

   “But no. He’s going to have you bring the boy back here, so that you’ll look like the capable one and I’ll be a disgraced fool. That must not be allowed to happen!”

   Kabuto looked then as if an idea had just come to him. Slowly, his face morphed into a horrible smile that made Sasuke’s blood run cold. The doctor got up, releasing Sasuke, but Sasuke didn’t dare to get up off of the bed. His knife was lying uselessly on the floor at the other side of the room, and he knew he didn’t stand a chance against Kabuto’s strength in unarmed combat. All Sasuke could do was lie there and hope he survived.

   Sasuke didn’t dare breathe as Kabuto reached into his lab coat and pulled out a small pistol. This was it. Kabuto was going to plant one right in his heart, and that would be it for him. Sasuke would die here, alone, in Orochimaru’s main base in Sound Country, having never found his brother or avenged his clan-

   “I’d love nothing more than to kill you, right here and now,” Kabuto said, breaking into Sasuke’s panicked train of thought. “But I’m afraid that the consequences for me would be far too severe if I attempted such a thing. However…” Kabuto reached under the bed and pulled out Sasuke’s flamethrower.

   Sasuke saw what he was going to do before he even did it. His already pale face grew even paler. “No,” he croaked out, “no, please-”

   Kabuto looked up at the dark-haired man, and fixed him with that horrible smile as he aimed the pistol at Sasuke’s flamethrower, his most prized weapon. The shot sounded especially loud to Sasuke’s ears, leaving a dull ringing as Kabuto left a bullet-sized hole in the metal container, rendering the flamethrower useless.

   “Trust me, Sasuke-kun, it’ll be a lot harder to bring that boy down without your precious flamethrower,” Kabuto said quietly, in a voice more resembling his normal, falsely pleasant one. “Good-night, and I wish you good luck on your mission.”

   With that, the doctor exited the room, leaving Sasuke staring, wide-eyed with shock, at his broken flamethrower on the floor.

Author’s Note: Believe me, I felt awful about killing off Zabuza and Haku. However, I felt that the scene just wouldn’t pack the right punch if I used OCs as bandits. This is a post-apocalyptic scenario our characters are in, after all, and it isn’t pretty. Death happens, in some cases quite frequently.

At least now we know a bit more about Sasuke’s flamethrower. I really love writing these mini Sasuke flashbacks, I feel like it adds more depth to his character without giving everything away about him just yet. More about what happened to Naruto and Sakura in the Research Facility will be coming up fairly soon as well.

The next chapter may not be out so quickly, unfortunately. I’m going on vacation with my family next week, and then I start university again shortly after that. I have no plans to abandon this story, but time to work on it may soon become scarce for me. Just giving everyone a heads-up about that.

If you read this far, remember to review! I’ve been getting lots of hits from people on this story, but not so many reviews. Don’t lurk, tell me what you think! Shower me with undying praise, or tell me I’m the worst writer you’ve ever come across, whatever! I crave feedback. :3
Until next time! :)
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Flamethrower