literature

Team Tragedy - Chapter 3

Deviation Actions

ElderxChildx6's avatar
Published:
240 Views

Literature Text

Team Tragedy
A Naruto Fanfiction
By: Jessica Foltz
Edited and occasionally co-authored by: Erik Stephens (e_delta88)

Chapter 3
Len's Disappearance




It was night as Sasuke walked through the streets of Konoha. The sky rather cloudy. Barely able to see even the moon through the dense clouds that loomed overhead. Sasuke had his hands in his pockets. His gaze to the ground as he walked. He had not seen or heard from Len since lunch in the training area with Kakashi. She had said she’d meet up with both him and Naruto later to train. She always kept her word. Especially if it involved training.

But it was already dark, and there was still no sign of her.

Something’s wrong, Sasuke thought as he walked. Hatake wouldn’t normally do something like this.

“UCHIHA!!” Naruto’s voice echoed down the empty street to Sasuke’s ears and his eyes instantly widened. He turned to look behind him to see Naruto rushing towards him. The expression on the obnoxious boy’s face looked worried.

“What is it Uzumaki?” Sasuke called as he watched Naruto come closer.

“I can’t find Len anywhere!” Naruto told the raven haired boy once he reached him. His eyes filled with panic. “I’ve looked everywhere for her! I went to hers and Kakashi sensei’s house, I went to Axl’s. I looked throughout the village! But she’s gone!”

“Uzumaki, you need to calm down,” Sasuke instructed. “Where exactly have you looked?”

“I’ve looked all over the village!” Naruto almost shouted. “I haven’t been able to find her anywhere!”

Sasuke then started racking his brain. Thinking of any place Len could possibly be at. Naruto said he had looked everywhere in the village, Sasuke thought as his eyes narrowed into calculative slits. ...But what if she wasn’t in the village?


- - - - - - - -
Flashback
- - - - - - - -
* * * * * * * * *
Two Years Ago
* * * * * * * * *


Sasuke was heading back home from the academy. Still fuming over the fact that he had been paired with Len in the spar and had once again tied with her by them both rendering each other unconscious. It was frustrating him more and more that they have never been able to beat each other in the spar for the entire four years that they had known each other.

As he walked, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye and turned his head to look. Off in the distance he saw Len go through the village gate.

Sasuke cocked an eyebrow at the sight. There was no reason for Len to go outside the walls of the village. So why was she?

Now a quiver with curiosity, Sasuke decided to follow after the platinum blonde girl to see where she was off to. Being careful not to get too close to blow his cover, but remaining close enough to keep her in his sights.

Once Len was a certain distance away from the village, she turned and entered the forest. Sasuke following after her quietly to see what it was she was doing. The last of the sunlight bleeding through the leaves of the trees and making the forest almost sparkle. After a while, Sasuke came to a small clearing in the woods. A few tree stumps were scattered about here and there that had looked like the very tree had snapped and fallen over. Possibly from a very strong gust of wind if the tree wasn’t very healthy. A few dead trees laying on the ground not too far from the stumps in question as evidence that something had clearly happened to them.

Sasuke remained concealed in the trees as he watched the young kunoichi rival of his punch and kick at a tree. The bark appearing worn from constant beating over time. As he continued to watch from a safe distance, he could hear sniffling. As though someone was crying.

“Stupid Ami!” Len retorted in a trembling voice. “She doesn’t know anything! Anything at all!”

Len continued to punch and kick the tree in front of her. Crying the entire time. After a few minutes of watching, Sasuke finally decided that his curiosity was sated. She had simply come out here to train. And with that conclusion in mind, he turned and began to head back to the village.



- - - - - - - - - - - - -
End of Flashback
- - - - - - - - - - - - -


Could that be where she went? Sasuke thought as he recalled the memory.

What if she went there only when she was upset? If that was the case, what had Axl done? She had gone off to see him before she was supposed to train with him and Naruto. Could Axl have done something to upset her?

There was only one way to find out. Sasuke had to find her, and he had to find her now.

“Why don’t you give the north end of the village another look through,” Sasuke suggested. “I’ll cover the south end. When one of us finds her, head off to find the other so we stop searching.”

Naruto nodded. “Alright,” he agreed. “Sounds good.”

Naruto then used a hand sign as he focused his chakra. “Shadow Clone Jutsu!” Suddenly, there were seven Narutos standing there in front of Sasuke. Sasuke blinked a few times as he looked at them all with an accusing glare.

“Wait a minute…” Sasuke trailed off. Putting two and two together in his head. “That’s how you got away with defacing the Hokage monument!”

“Are you going to stand there arguing with me about the prank I did days ago or are we going to focus on finding Len?” All the Naruto’s demanded.

“Right, right,” Sasuke agreed as he closed his eyes. “Good luck,” he added before he turned and rushed off.

“Same to you!” the Narutos called after Sasuke before they all went off in different directions throughout the north end of the village.


- - -


Sasuke rushed through the forest just outside the village gate. Trying to remember the exact route he had followed Len on to reach her secret training area. Hoping that he was going the right way and that Len was actually there. It was already difficult navigating through the forest in the dark and trying to remember the route from two years ago, but on the way it had started to downpour. the raindrops cascading through the forest and hitting his eyes to make it that much more difficult.

After what felt like a few hours, Sasuke managed to find the clearing he was looking for. The clearing seeming to be bigger since the last time he had seen it. More trees had appeared to have been snapped from their trunks and lying there on the forest floor. Sasuke looked around frantically in the dark. Trying to see if Len was even there. The clouds seemed to shift just enough to allow the moonlight of the full moon to illuminate the clearing. Sasuke’s eyes widening slightly at the sight. His expression filled with concern.

Len was sitting there on the ground. Her back resting against the tree that was directly behind her. Soaked entirely from head to toes as she cried hysterically. Facing up towards the sky as she did so. She had taken off her chainmail sleeves. The sleeves resting on one of the many fallen trees not too far away from her. Her knuckles, forearms, and shins badly gouged and bloody. The blood mixing with the rain water and dribbling down her fingers, arms, and legs. Her legs and arms trembling from the abuse they had taken. Sasuke had never seen Len in such a state before. At least not where she self-inflicted the damage done to her.

“Hatake!” Sasuke called before he quickly rushed to her side. Making Len open her eyes ever so slightly and turn her half-lidded gaze to the raven haired boy running towards her.

“Uchiha?” Len asked in a strained, quivering voice. “W-what are you doing here?”

“Never mind that right now,” Sasuke ordered. “Why did you do this, Hatake?” He took her right arm tenderly in his hands and held it up. Examining the extent of the injuries.

“A-Axl...he…” Len trailed off. Her voice catching in her throat as she recalled the memory.

“What did he do, Hatake?” Sasuke demanded as he let go of Len’s arm and looked back up at her. Cupping her face in his hands. Len closed her eyes as she started to cry even more. “Len, come on, you need to talk to me. Naruto and I can’t help if you don’t talk to me.” He gently stroked his thumb against her cheek. “Come on. Let me see those deep blues.” Len slowly opened her eyes once more to look up at Sasuke. “There we go. Now what did Axl do that has made my rival crumble?” he asked softly.

“He...he cheated on me,” Len finally answered. “I don’t k-know for how long...b-but I found him k-kissing Ami…” A few whimpers escaped from her throat before she closed her eyes again and buried her face into his chest. Crying even more. “Why?” Her demand was muffled into his shirt. “What d-did I d-do? He’s only a y-year older than m-me! It can’t b-be because of a-age! And I haven’t d-done anything wrong or d-differently! So w-why?!”

Sasuke just sat there. Holding Len in his arms as she cried. To say he wasn’t uncomfortable would have been a lie, but at the same time, he didn’t want to move her. Not because he enjoyed it or anything. It was simply because of Len’s current mental state that he didn’t want to push her away. There was a time and a place for such things, and now certainly wasn’t the time.

“Is that why you have self-inflicted injuries?” Sasuke inquired. Wanting to keep her talking in an attempt to help her calm down.

“I...I wanted to h-hurt him,” Len responded. Her voice still muffled from her talking into his shirt. “B-but I couldn’t bring myself t-to hurt him. I-I came out here to b-beat my aggression out on s-something else. The a-adrenaline pumped through me so much, I-I didn’t even notice the e-extent of my injuries u-until you held up my a-arm.”

Sasuke closed his eyes as he listened to Len’s reason. It was now clear to him that she only did it because shestill cared enough to not want to hurt him. So, matters had to be put in someone else’s hands.

Sasuke didn’t like the fact that Axl had made his rival cry. And Sasuke knew that Naruto wasn’t going to stand for it, either. So, they had to do what Len couldn’t. At least for the time being.

There was another problem, however. Len’s injuries needed to be treated. They weren’t too severe, but if they got infected, it would cause a problem. But, Len didn’t particularly like doctors. It wasn’t that she was afraid of them or anything. She just apparently didn’t like them for some reason or another that she would not seem to share.

There was only one solution to the problem, at that point. Sasuke had to go to Kakashi to have Len’s wounds treated. Because the Hatake clan was known for their expertise in assassinations, they had to know a thing or two about anatomy and muscle structure. So, hoping he was making the right decision, Sasuke carefully shifted his hands to create a hand sign. Focusing his chakra.

Len turned her head to the side so her face wasn’t buried in Sasuke’s chest, anymore. As she looked at the scenery around her, she suddenly began to see feathers drifting and dancing in her vision. A type of genjutsu to make her fall asleep. And because she was already exhausted from her crying and her training, she couldn’t fight against it. She eventually closed her eyes as the feathers continued to drift around in her vision before she slipped into unconsciousness. Once she was out, Sasuke released one arm from around her and tucked his free arm under her knees. Picking her up with her head resting against his shoulder.

Sasuke then sprinted off towards Kakashi’s house. Zipping through the trees once more back towards the village. Once he was back through the gates, he made his way towards his destination. Having trained with Len for the years he had known her, he had come to learn just where she lived. So finding her house wasn’t too hard.

Once Sasuke reached the small two-story house, he walked up to the door. Carefully knocking without dropping Len. He stood there on the porch. Waiting patiently for Len’s uncle to open the door.

As he waited, Sasuke looked back down at the platinum blonde Hatake asleep in his arms. Despite the day she had, she seemed rather peaceful. It was a side Sasuke hadn’t seen of her. He had to admit it was nice to see. Knowing that what Axl had done wasn’t haunting her dreams. Maybe she was already starting to get over it. Even if it was just a little.

Sasuke finally heard the door open and he turned his attention to the tall well-built male wearing his half mask that covered only his nose and mouth, his black long sleeve shirt that only came to his elbows, and his black pants. He wasn’t wearing his headband, enabling Sasuke to see the scar over his left eye which remained shut as his single onyx eye looked down at the raven haired genin holding his niece.

Kakashi looked at Sasuke for a few minutes. Shocked that he was carrying Len home for a split second before he noticed the extent of her injuries on her arms, legs, and knuckles. The moment he saw the gouges, Kakashi looked at Sasuke with a glint of anger.

“What happened?” Kakashi demanded.

“You take care of her,” Sasuke told him. “Naruto and I will take care of this.”

Kakashi stared at Sasuke for a long moment. After a while, Sasuke rolled his eyes.

“It would be better if you heard what happened from her rather than me,” Sasuke added.

After a few more seconds, Kakashi nodded and then took Len from Sasuke. Once Len was in the care of her uncle, Sasuke turned and headed off to find Naruto...or at least one of his clones.


* * *


It took Sasuke a little while to track down Naruto, but when he found him, he informed Naruto of what Len had told him. And of course, Naruto wasn’t too happy about what Axl had done to his best friend.

“Can I kill him?” Naruto asked through gritted teeth.

“No, Naruto,” Sasuke answered. “You can’t kill him.”

Naruto cocked an eyebrow as he looked at Sasuke with puzzlement. “...That’s the first time you’ve called me by my first name,” he noted.

“Yeah, I know,” Sasuke told him. “We’re on the same squad, now. It’s time I started treating you as a member of the team.” Sasuke paused for a second before he added, “You’re still a loser, though.”

“Len’s going to kill you when she finds out you said that last part,” Naruto said with a smirk.

“Are we going to focus on Axl and what he’s done to our partner?” Sasuke demanded. Glaring down at Naruto.

“Okay, okay. What’s the plan?” Naruto inquired.

Sasuke stepped closer to Naruto and whispered his plan into the obnoxious shinobi’s ear. Naruto listened eagerly. After a minute, however, he couldn’t help but look at Sasuke with confusion.

“Wait…” Naruto trailed off. “You want me to…”

Sasuke nodded. “Yup.”

“But...why?” Naruto demanded curiously.

“Naruto, you know exactly why,” Sasuke told him.

“But...doesn’t that seem a bit...I don’t know...unjust?” Naruto wondered.

“Len wouldn’t like it if we seriously injured him, yet,” Sasuke informed him. “So, for now, we’re doing this plan so he still learns his lesson, and we get the satisfaction of teaching it to him.”

Naruto looked at Sasuke for a moment before he shrugged. “Whatever you say, Uchiha.”

“Hey, we’re teammates, remember?” Sasuke asked. “You can call me by my first name if you want.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Naruto told him. “Is that why you’re calling Len by her first name, too? Because she is our teammate?”

Sasuke nodded. “It is. What other reason would I have for calling her by her first name?”

“I don’t know,” Naruto replied. “It’s just...something about you seems different.”

Sasuke rolled his eyes. “Come on. We need to get going.”


- - -


“So, why exactly did you want to talk to me in the middle of the night?” Axl inquired as Sasuke and him walked down the street. Appearing very tired.

“Because,” Naruto began, “It’s something important. It couldn’t wait until morning.”

“Then what is it, already?” Axl demanded with an irritated grown.

“Well, first off, let me give you the good news,” Sasuke insisted. “Uzumaki, Hatake, and I all passed our survival exercise and have advanced to genin.”

Axl slightly stiffened at Len’s last name, but he kept his composure as he looked at Sasuke. “That’s great to hear. Now, can I go back to bed?”

“I’m afraid not,” Sasuke answered. “I have more to tell you.”

Axl’s through suddenly became very dry. He tried to swallow his own saliva to ease the dryness. “What else is there to tell?”

“Well, you see, after we passed, Len ran off to find you to tell you the good news,” Sasuke continued. “Judging by your unease, I’d say something happened. Because, you see, Len had told Naruto and I that she would be training with the two of us, later. After she told you the good news of us passing and making it on the same squad as me and the knuckle-head. But, we haven’t seen her since.”

Sasuke could practically see the sweat beading off Axl’s brow as he took another gulp. “A-are you saying she’s missing?” he stammered.

“Well, I guess you can say that,” Sasuke replied. “I mean, that would justify why Naruto and I haven’t been able to find her.”

“Why are you suddenly calling them by their first names?” Axl demanded.

Sasuke turned his head to look at Axl. “Because they are both members of my squad,” Sasuke informed him. “Naruto may still be a loser and I still see Len as my rival, but they’re still apart of my team. I am giving them a level of respect they both deserve in being apart of my squad. Now,  back to the matter at hand…”

“What do you want me to do?” Axl asked. “I don’t know where she is or where she even could be.”

“I don’t expect you to know,” Sasuke replied. “However, wouldn’t a boyfriend that cares be more interested in wanting to find out, rather than asking me why I’m using my partners’ first names?” Sasuke’s eyes narrowed as he looked at Axl.

“...O-of course I care,” Axl stammered.

“Really?” Sasuke demanded. Appearing sarcastically astonished. “If that’s the case, why didn’t you come out to look when Naruto informed you that she was missing?”

“Naruto never said she was missing,” Axl told him.

“He came to ask if she was there when he came to your house,” Sasuke countered.

“No he didn’t,” Axl denied. “I didn’t see Naruto at all, today.”

“Hey, Naruto,” Sasuke called as he turned away from Axl. “Did you or did you not talk to Axl about Len when you went to his house?”

Naruto slowly crept out of the shadows as he folded his arms over his chest. “I did,” He answered. “And he told me that he hadn’t seen her. Didn’t sound too worried that I couldn’t find her, either. Didn’t even bother to help.”

Axl really started to feel uncomfortable. He swallowed hard once more as he looked back and forth between the two of them. “What are you--”

“We found Len, Axl,” Sasuke informed him. Not allowing him to know the full truth that he was the one that actually found Len. “She told us that she found you with your tongue down Ami’s throat. And yet, you’re Len’s boyfriend. Why would you be kissing another girl when you’re with her?”

“I’ll tell you why,” Naruto interjected. Still glaring at Axl. “Because he found out he wouldn’t have an easy life with her. Not at first, anyway. He found out he’d have to work to get money to live comfortably, rather than marry into it like he wants. He wants an easy life, and Len can’t give him that, right out the gate.”

“Why would you say a thing like that?” Axl demanded.

Naruto smirked devilishly. “Because I heard you talk to your other squad members about it when you ‘bumped into her’.”

“How could you have possibly overheard that?” Axl inquired. Looking at Naruto in shock.

“Do you really need to ask that question?” Naruto shot back, only the one standing in front of Axl wasn’t the one who said it. Axl turned his head towards where the voice had come from to see another Naruto emerge from the shadows. That Naruto pointed to himself and said, “Ninja~”

Axl stared at the Naruto clone with astonishment. “H-how did--”

“A lot of practice,” another Naruto clone interrupted. Making Axl whirl around at the other clone. “And Kakashi sensei’s help.”

Sasuke gave Naruto a quizzical look. “Kakashi sensei taught you the Shadow Clone Jutsu?”

Naruto nodded. “Yeah,” he answered.

“Hmm,” Sasuke hummed. “Interesting.” He returned his attention back to Axl. “Now, are you done pretending that you love our squad member? Especially to the one who wants to kill you, right now?”

Axl slowly crumbled to his knees as he gave up. He had been caught. There was no way around it. Tifa had been right. Which shocked him a great deal, but he was now going to pay the price. He should have heeded his squad member’s words, instead of sneering in her face.

Sasuke smirked as he watched the blond pretty boy slouch in defeat. They didn’t need to even lay a hand on him to win, but that wasn’t going to stop them. Oh, no. This guy deserved every bit of what would come next. And Sasuke wasn’t going to stop it from happening simply because Axl was starting to realize his mistake. He would learn the hard way never to mess with anyone like this ever again. Whoever he would come across in the future to come.

“Have fun getting back home, cheater,” Sasuke said with a triumphant smirk.

Axl slowly lifted his head to look up at Sasuke with confusion. “Huh?” he asked.

All of a sudden, Sasuke, all the Narutos, and even his surroundings rippled out of his vision. Axl now sitting in the middle of the forest, rather than in the streets of Konoha. A genjutsu. How had Axl not seen it, before? Was it because it was Sasuke who used the genjutsu? Being from the Uchiha clan, it would be understandable, but he was still a fresh genin. How could he have done one so well that not even he noticed?

“By the way,” Sasuke’s voice echoed from every direction, “if you attempt to come anywhere near Len again, I won’t stop Naruto from killing you, next time.”

The short hairs on the back of Axl’s neck stood up. Hearing the truth in Sasuke’s words and becoming that much more terrified of the two genin he had dealt with for the past few months. Swallowing what little saliva he could create down his extremely dry throat, he slowly rose to his feet.

He turned and took a step forward, but the moment his foot touched the ground, it gave in under his weight as he fell into one of Naruto’s pit traps. It was certainly going to be a long walk back to Konoha. With all of Naruto’s traps hiding at every turn. In a forest, in the middle of the night.


* * *


“Len, are you almost ready?” Kakashi shouted up the stairs. Waiting for his niece at the bottom of the stairwell.

“Not yet!” Len called down.

Kakashi looked back to Sasuke and Naruto. “...I guess we wait, then.”

“It’s no big deal,” Naruto replied as he brought his hands behind his head. “I can wait.”

“As can I,” Sasuke agreed.

Kakashi closed his eye as he appeared to be smiling. “Good to hear.”

Up in Len’s room, she sat in front of her vanity, staring at the reflection of her in the oval-shaped mirror. Specifically staring at the reflection of her hair. Memories of Axl constantly complimenting and touching her long hair poured into her thoughts. Faintly feeling every touch he had ever given while admiring her hair. The feeling alone made her serious expression slowly change to a mask of sadness as her eyes began to water. She gritted her teeth as she tightly closed her eyes before she grabbed the scissors. No longer wanting to feel his fingers run through her hair. No longer wanting the memories to haunt her. She looked back at her reflection as she brought the open scissors to her hair and began cutting. Cutting each strand of her platinum blonde hair until it was just above her shoulders.

She examined herself in the mirror once more as she sniffled. Making sure it didn’t look like crap when she finished. Occasionally fixing a few places so it looked straight and even. When she was done, she gave herself a faint smile before she put the scissors away and cleaned up her mess of hair on the floor. When she finished that to the best of her ability, she turned and left her room. Heading downstairs to meet up with the others.

The moment they heard footsteps coming down the stairs, they all turned their heads to see her. The moment Len was within their line of sight, Naruto and Kakashi stared at her with astonishment. Sasuke cocked an eyebrow, but otherwise his expression remained serious.

“Len, why did you cut your hair?” Kakashi demanded.

“Because I wanted to,” Len answered as she looked at her uncle. “I didn’t want to be constantly reminded of him.”

Kakashi’s and Naruto’s expressions both changed to understanding as they looked at Len.

“I see,” Kakashi replied.

Sasuke stared at Len for a moment before he walked over to her. Len blinked a few times as she watched him come closer. Once Sasuke was next to her, he grabbed a few strands of her hair and looked at it. As if examining it. After a few minutes, he let go of her hair. Putting his hands back in his pockets.

“It looks nice on you,” Sasuke told her before he turned away and headed towards the door.

Len blinked again as she watched him walk away. “Um...thanks?” Her voice sounded just as confused as she looked.

“At any rate, lets go work on our missions for the day,” Kakashi announced.

Len nodded before she followed the others out of the house. Kakashi and the others following behind her. Making their way towards the mission hall. Ready to begin their lives as official shinobi.
WOO~! CHAPTER 3~~~:iconcheerplz:

Okay. Sorry for the long wait on this, but my computer had been infested with a BUNCH of trojens and I had to get them cleaned out, pronto. On top of that, I've been playing Dragon Age Inquisition (DAI) ever since I got it. What can I say, I'm a gamer.>.> So that's why it took me so long to write the chapter. But, now it's finished.^^ It's not nearly as long as the others. Only 4537 words. But at least it's still long. (13 pages, while the others were around 15-17 pages...>.> I know!:iconcrycryplz: I feel horrible!) Anyway, I hope you like it.^^


Naruto does not belong to me. All rights reserved.
Team Tragedy (c) Me
All OCs (c) Me


My Wattpad Account
My FanFiction.Net Account


Like the story? Become my patron:
My Patreon Account


Navigation Section:
Team Tragedy - Chapter 2
Chapter 3 - HERE
Team Tragedy - Chapter 4
© 2014 - 2024 ElderxChildx6
Comments0
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In