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Very visible were bruises that darkened her creamy complexion to an ugly purple one. The skin was tender to the touch, and she briefly recalled the days of her childhood where these sort of injuries were a normal occurrence.

When her arms were clear of remaining residue, she splashed water over her legs, careful not to touch the juncture of her hip. It was a ghastly sight, but it could have been worse. The skin was a cloudy black that blurred into brown and then yellow. 

Between her legs she scrubbed viciously, as blood had caked onto the little hair that resided in that region. Blood and something else— if she could remember correctly.

Her lips, haggardly chapped tilted downwards into a grimace. The reflection in the water, silhouetted by moonlight, was undeniably broken. And how couldn’t it have been?

          Of course, he would never fully understand her situation. Not until she put enough trust in him that she felt obligated to say, which the likelihood of that ever happening was close to zero. And because of Sasuke’s inability to properly sympathize, it was only natural he act insensitive to the whole ordeal. He stood.

When the two made it to the edge of the river, she eyed Sasuke for a minute. Though she was not the bashful sort, the fact that he was watching her bathe was somewhat unnerving. It was as if she was a child, a single burden on the man.

Still, she slid off her yukata and knelt in the grassy terrain to fold it neatly. Once again, she stood. This time the action was with more ease, and the sigh that fell from her lips was one of relief.

Steadily, she approached the edge of the water, dipping her strong leg in first. She followed with her injured foot, and within a minute she had submerged her entire body. The numbing chill of the water sent a rapturous shiver across her body.

The time on his back she had spent resting, and now she stirred relentlessly, her fingers fidgeting with whatever they could grasp. Her hair and yukata were blood soaked, and stuck persistently to her damp skin. 

The girl let out a breathless sigh, opting to stand. While her leg was still injured, the lack of walking had lessened the pain. This quickly changed when she got on her feet, but it was bearable at the moment; she had a task to accomplish.

Her palms ran over the bark of the trees and pressed to them when necessary, but for the most part, her stumble had turned into an uncomfortable limp. 

          If she protested at all, he didn’t notice. To pursue her had been his mission and it would be until they stepped foot in the Hokage Manor. Sasuke kept a close proximity to the girl, weaving between pokey limbs and some other forest-dwelling… Things. He was only thankful to not walk through a spider web.

Still, she didn’t protest. Almost immediately she was in her previous position; yet the entire pose had become more rigid. Sasuke was a multitude of angles and hardness— the jut of his hips and shoulders, even the bony quality of his frame. He was the exact opposite of the female, whose soft body allowed her more vulnerability.

Her leg, its damage furthered from her walking, hung limply in his grasp. A strand of her sea foam hair fell into her face, and she took the opportunity to chew on it. 

In order to obliterate the pain that surged through her nerves every few minutes, she took great care to let her mind wander. The silence that surrounded the couple only furthered her neuroses, so she figured she’d speak; if only for a minute.

          Above all the trees a starry sky caught his eye, and this made the end of their forward march. Making sure the loot was safe against a nearby barky column, he then proceeded to gather their bearings in order to create something like a camp. There was a fire, of course, and not much else. Just a sleeping bag for Takumi, who would definitely get cold in this night air. Sasuke would be fine.

The second reason behind her will to stay on her feet was so that she could watch Sasuke’s confrontation with her grandfather. The man, who at some point had seemed so terrifyingly intimidating, cowered at the sight of the ANBU. Withing moments his ominous presence was replaced with a much weaker one; Takumi couldn’t fathom how she had ever been so scared of the feeble antagonist.

When Sasuke quickly turned on his feet to approach her, the young woman’s eyes widened. Her grandfather was somehow incapacitated. Was it because of fear— or perhaps the Sharingan? The injured female had no idea. She could only visualize the complete example of weakness before her.

          “Stop. He’s already dead.” His body became a barrier between the two. “If you advance any father, you’ll only be wasting my time. Let’s go.”

Though she’d mentioned his possible appearance only minutes before, the chance of him following the pair was slim to none— at least that’s what she’d thought.

When she had first been kidnapped, her abuser had failed to make an actual appearance. She had supposed in the back of her mind that he was afraid; cowardly waiting until the beatings had rendered her immobile. 

However, she could never place the reason he’d be intimidated by the likes of herself. He must have not known the effect he had, the way that his voice petrified her.

Only with obligation to her savior could she break her mute state to respond, and when she did it was a trembling whisper. 

Carefully, Takumi was allowed to slide off of his back until her feet hit the floor and she stood stable. Despite him lending her a good amount of his chakra, her ability to withstand was still questionable. It was something he’d have to look out for while taking care of this pest – and yes, this old man was but a pest.

"Sorry…" She mewled under her breath, apologizing for the staining as well as the weight of her body. 

Her arms snaked around his neck; she was careful not to noose him with her grip. Soon she was secure, and this was enforced with a wistful sigh. Unfortunately the breath she let go must have been in a proximity too close to his ear, as the Uchiha seemed to visibly flinch.

After adjusting her head’s position in relative to his, she quieted her breathing. They moved quickly, at a faster pace than before— however, she was surely bogging him down.

A dull thud resounded from behind the couple, and light poured into the passageway. A voice’s plead echoed.

A groggy sort of voice echoed throughout the tunnel, eventually reaching Sasuke’s ears – a threat. This was a threat to the mission’s performance which he so dear cared about. Turning on his heels, he assessed their position and appearance. They were a far ways away, but didn’t look to be very dangerous at all. Someone he could take out with a finger, a look.

The light from the hallway met complete darkness, and each ray of illumination was lost in the chasm-like beyond. Takumi hesitantly moved her injured leg, allowing her foot to tap the ground past the doorway— if only to assure her that there was something past the shadow.

With all of the strength she could muster, the girl dove into the abysmal passage, blind as a bat. She looked back over her shoulder to see a pair of glowing rubies, and remembered then that they had Sharingan on their side.

"This runs for about a mile if I remember correctly…" She whispered to the man, her voice breathy. “My grandfather isn’t the one I’m concerned about trailing us… He was going blind the last I saw him…” She took a moment to grope for a wall to lean on. 

"My father on the other hand… He can see very well."

          Their pace was once again severely limited. In spite of Takumi’s newly adrenalized presence, her wounds were still too deeply-rooted to offer her free movement. Sasuke was able to note this fairly quickly in their journey out. She was moving at a snail’s pace. If he so pleased, he could run her over; but that wouldn’t benefit the either of them.

          Taking matters into his own hands – that’s what he needed to do. With a certain sort of glint in his eyes (excitement, maybe?) he moved in front of her, back faced her way. It was obvious what he intended for them to do.

"Continue down this hallway…" She coughed. "Then make a right into the next. About halfway through there should be a picture frame on the wall. Push it aside. There should be a symbol. I’ll have to apply chakra to it for us to get through…"

The girl wondered internally if she’d be able to accomplish such a task. The wires they had bound her with had drained much of her supply. She didn’t want to ponder the consequences of her using the last bit she had. However, she supposed she’d be dead either way.

"Sas— Uchiha, can you lend me some chakra… This whole mission will be in vain if you bring back my sad corpse."

          Takumi and all her limpness was toted towards said picture frame. On the canvas, a man Sasuke had never seen before was painted, but that was the least of his worries; though he still found himself wondering if that could be her tyrant of a grandfather.

          The prize was to be treated with care. Care that would only be given to the finest of china. For once, Sasuke managed to be gentle with her – let her slip from his arms only when she was at a reasonable height from the floor. And then he watched her for a moment. Pale as porcelain. Undoubtedly just as fragile.

          Now that either of his hands were free, Sasuke was able to tear down the portrait and lend her a bit of his chakra. It was odd for him to be helping someone so defenseless, hands placed uniform over someone so frail, offering all he had to save them. A fleeting thought crossed his mind at that moment – had it not been a mission assigned from the Hokage, would this be him? Would he be playing the part as ‘hero?’

Takumi swayed, all of her balance now relying on her less injured foot. The Uchiha didn’t offer her a single hand of assistance. She prayed that this was because he didn’t see the extent of her injury, and not because his morality was in check with that of the corpses on the ground.

In her state, it was only logical to assume that she would slow them both down— something that might prompt the other to leave her to die. Her heart thundered in her chest as she struggled through the doors after him.

"Uchiha—" Her voice came out as a labored hiss. "T-there’s a tunnel, it runs all the way to the forest behind the compound. It might give us some time before my grandfather catches on…" The words fought their way out of her despite the fact that she had the urge to moan in pain.

          A hard glare was tossed Takumi’s way as he came into the hallway. She was limping, breathing at an unsteady pace, struggling to operate properly. These were obviously repercussions of her beating – repercussions that he could not afford at this point. He could not allow her to slow him down. They needed to get out.

          Swiftly, Sasuke scooped her up in his arms, fingers pressed tightly against her skin as if he were holding onto her for dear life. No explanation was given for his actions as she was far too out of it to comprehend the situation (or that’s what he thought, anyway); just a stern gaze, and a phrase dire to the circumstance –

Though agony had reached every corner of her body, the sense of pain was strongest in her left leg, and the mere touch her savior had given it while untying her bindings was excruciating. As a kunoichi, her pain tolerance was high— however, between the whipping and the bludgeoning she couldn’t bear much more.

At this point, the inside of her mouth was blood soaked, courtesy of her teeth in contact with her cheek. With each low moan she released, sanguine liquid fell from her mouth as well.

"Uchiha…" It was a desperate sound, one absent of gratitude.

          But that as none of his immediate concern. He had caused a ruckus coming in and backup was surely being called for right now. With little regard for his long forgotten teammates, he began to put effort into his own endeavors – getting out of here.

          First things first, though, was to find clothing for his naked damsel. Sasuke was swift as he searched for something to sufficiently cover her with, eventually settling on a yukata he’d scavenged from one of the men he’d slain earlier.

Western AU: Hidan

i tried to do a normal cowboy, i really did. But this guy is such an asshole, and he likes to take his clothes off, so im pretty sure this is accurate.

Western AU: Kisame

Am i the only one who would like to see more characters in Western clothes? Plus he makes a hot cowboy.