N.A.N.O.

(Arc II)

-:-:-:-:-

"I'm filthy, Hinata. And, to tell the truth, in a place like this, we all have to be. We've all killed in the past, in more ways than one. We've all been killed, and what's worse is that we've been revived— again and again and again, filthier each time."

-:-:-:-:-

Western District of Kouyan,

City of Baele, Seienia,

55 D.M.S (Descent of the Monarchial System,)

Hi, Kakashi-sensei, it's me again. I haven't contacted you for a few months, so I thought I'd write you a couple of lines, just to, you know, let you know I'm still alive and kicking. I was wondering if you'd gotten hold of any recent news about my parents; I'm hoping they're still fine. Anyway, just to let you know, I'm doing a lot better now than the last time you heard from me— I'd even go as far as to say that things are finally moving uphill. I know I've said it enough times, but thanks for everything, sensei. If you get wind of any news about Mom and Dad, be sure to tell me, okay?

Sincerely,

Your former student.

-:-:-:-:-

"Posted?" Hinata Hyuuga asked, holding a steaming cup of tea in her slender hands. She smiled at Sakura in silent encouragement, as the latter pushed aside the tattered faux-curtain of their shared dwelling.

"Posted," Sakura confirmed, aiming a thumbs-up and a smile laced with ever-present exhaustion at Hinata. "It's going all the way to Kouyan, though, so it'll probably take a couple of days before it reaches him."

"Well, it's snail-mail, after all— slow, but safe," Hinata replied quietly, an inviting, comforting softness ringing within the confines of her voice. "Sit down, won't you? Do you want me to brew some tea for you too? You look like you need it."

"No, no. Nothing. Just... I'll just lay down for a while," was the strained response. As the pink-haired woman stretched her arms with a tired groan and collapsed on the impromptu bed of piled sheets, Hinata frowned disapprovingly. Patiently, she placed the half-full cup on the floor and, with concern etched on her features, turned to her companion.

"Sakura-san, don't you think you're searching a bit too hard for those boys?" she inquired softly. "I have no doubt that you'll find them eventually, but Seienia isn't a small country. Looking left and right and simply overworking yourself isn't going to help."

"Then what do you suggest I do?" Sakura groaned, and Hinata was relieved to note that her voice was free of any malice or sarcasm. "I have no idea where I'm supposed to look, Hinata. I mean, honestly, where am I supposed to find two guys who blow up NGI-facilities?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

"Uh, no. Not really—"

"We'll just have to wait for the next explosion, won't we?" Hinata answered, plopping her chin on her palm. "Because, to be truthful, I don't think we'll ever be able to find them otherwise."

Sakura hummed briefly in contemplation, tapping her fingers against the floor as emerald eyes steadily lost their previous look of resignation. She nibbled on her lower lip, and eventually sighed, "I guess that's it, then. That's all we can do."

"Don't worry yourself over it. We're bound to find them eventually," Hinata reassured in her usual tone of voice, placating Sakura's unspoken doubts and fears. She ignored the guilty pinpricks of her conscience and, with much effort, stopped her smile from faltering. Admittedly, failing to inform Sakura about the enigmatic stranger (or something of an acquaintance, as she'd taken to calling him) in Sarutobi Cafe wasn't the most honest move on her part, especially since he was most likely an undiscovered NANO-in-hiding.

On the other hand, it would mean adding something else to unnecessarily ponder upon to Sakura's already-jumbled thoughts. The woman was caught in a web of mysteries and incomprehensible happenings as it was; no need to heap any more onto the growing pile.

Hinata confessed that a part of her did, in fact, wish to see the man again, if only to tie the loose ends he'd left in wake of his departure. And yet, a larger part of her— the part ruled by logic and sensibility, honed to perfection during the past few years— insisted that his absence was for the best, lest his untimely return cause any discord.

"Hey," Sakura's voice startled Hinata out of her musings. "You haven't been to Sarutobi Cafe for a while, have you? I remember you used to go there everyday. What's up?"

"Ah, that," Hinata responded, averting her eyes and resisting the urge to wring her hands together. "Well, I just... don't feel like it lately. Maybe I'm more tensed about this than I should be, but," she shrugged lightly, wearing a smile that spoke of resignation, "you know how it goes, Sakura-san."

"Don't be like that," Sakura said softly, sitting up and patting Hinata's shoulder. "You know what? I kind of feel like going there. How about it? Let's go tomorrow, okay? My treat."

"I don't— Sakura-san, I couldn't—"

Sakura slapped her back with more force than intended, and Hinata held back the urge to wince. With a playful grin, she persuaded, "C'mon now, we all need a break every now and then, right? Where's the harm in that?"

"I... I suppose it wouldn't hurt," Hinata reluctantly agreed. "For old times' sake, if nothing else."

Sakura nodded decisively, shooting one last, thankful smile at the Hyuuga before pulling the covers over her head, eyes fluttering shut. She slipped into deep, much-needed slumber, bracing herself for the manifestation of her worries in unyielding dreams, with the knowledge that her companion would calm her nerves with a soothing voice, if needed.

-:-:-:-:-

"Ah," Sakura sighed in bliss, shoulders relaxing. "I haven't tasted this in ages; I'd completely forgotten how heavenly it was."

Hinata nodded in concurrence, quietly sipping her missed black coffee and savouring each taste like a man offered water in the middle of a desert. The cafe was, as per the usual routine, full and utterly congested, but Hinata was half-relieved and half-disappointed to note that there was no sign of the one she'd been avoiding. Things seemed so stubbornly unchanging— the same appealing scents, the same smiles from the same employees, the same conversational murmurs, the same atmosphere— that it was all too easy for Hinata to dismiss those short, fourteen days as something her lonely subconscious might have conjured up (although, of course, she knew it hadn't done anything of the sort— but what was a little indulgence in delusion every now and then?)

"Unbelievable, how it's become so popular lately," Sakura murmured, eyes wide with wonder at the occupied tables. "I could swear it was practically deserted when I came here last."

"I was surprised too," Hinata agreed, smiling nostalgically. "It felt so unreal; still does, actually."

"I hear you."

"I wonder if—"

The sound of a sharp, alerting whistle abruptly interrupted their hushed chatter. Alarmed, the two turned their heads towards the source of the noise with tense shoulders and guarded eyes, feet already prepared to flee at the slightest sign of trouble. Their eyes were greeted by the sight of who Hinata presumed was the shop owner, garbed in a chef's signature apron, his lips tightened in both evident worry and alarm.

From behind the counter, he bellowed, "Ladies and gentleman, I'll have to ask you to evacuate the shop immediately! There's been another explosion about a kilometre from here, and if you want to escape unharmed, I suggest you empty the shop right now. We are oficially closed for today."

Shouts and curses erupted in the background, employees scrambling about and customers scurrying away in a panic. And when Sakura turned to her with imploring eyes, Hinata answered the unasked question with ease, "We can make it in ten minutes if we run."

A determined nod, a deep inhale, and they were off.

-:-:-:-:-

The scene was more than they'd been prepared for, Hinata figured with an involuntary wince.

Scattered debris, obscuring smoke, the remains of high-rise buildings, chipped away brick by brick; it would have been tolerable, had it not been accompanied by bloodied bodies, littered carcasses, and ear-piercing shrieks and wails — it made for a grosteque picture, the two of them registered with morbid fascination. The most recent explosion was decidedly worse than usual, it seemed.

A fierce tug on the sleeve of her overcoat jolted Hinata out of her thoughts. Sakura addressed her with pursed lips and alarmed eyes, "We have to hurry. We have to find them before—"

A sharp intake of breath — Sakura's urgent, unfinished words had served to remind Hinata why they were where they were. There weren't, after all, many reasons for which she would allow herself to step foot within the suffocating boundaries of an NGI-facility. Its walls had always evoked a strange feeling of finality in her (as they did in all NANOs, Hinata suspected,) and sometimes, she still wondered from where she had mustered up the strength to release herself from that self-inflicted blackhole.

"Let's go, let's go," Sakura urged, repeatedly shooting fearful, wary looks over her shoulder, and Hinata felt a pang of sympathy for the woman (she was still a girl, perhaps, if her justifiable paranoia was anything to judge by.)

"You're absolutely sure that," Hinata whispered breathlessly, squinting her eyes to see through the cloud of dust, "that there were just two of them?"

Sakura grunted, nodding and shielding her narrowed eyes. Hinata gripped her companion's upper-arm, grabbing her attention in the process, and murmured doubtfully, "We... how do we get in? W-we can't..." Hinata trailed off with a cough, certain of their unavoidable capture, should they waltz in through the front door of a painfully familiar NGI-facility.

When Sakura turned to face her, Hinata was dreafully certain that her narrowed eyes were not simply the product of smoke and dust. Her lips parted once, before clamping shut again. The rosette snatched her wrist and tugged her forward, palpable fear rolling off her in waves — but not for the same reasons as before. When she spoke, Hinata could barely catch the mumbled answer that escaped her lips, "The back; we can break in through the back of the building."

"The — is there... a back door or...?"

"No, no. The wall, Hinata, we break in through the wall."

"Wh-what?" Hinata exclaimed. If her wrist hadn't been tugged forward insistently, she knew she would have halted in her tracks. "Sakura-san, that's — that's insane! We can't—!"

"I can," Sakura reassured, turning the corner with quick, agile footsteps. Over her left shoulder, she shot Hinata a mockery of a smile, and with her eyes growing cold (beneath the cold lay irony, beneath the irony, self-loathing, and beneath that, misery), she said, "I'm a NANO, Hinata."

Hinata sealed her lips shut and quietly let her partner lead.

-:-:-:-:-

"Oh, God," Sakura wheezed, shuddering as she stepped through the (forced) entrance of the laboratory. "The smell — oh, God, the smell —"

Hinata tightly pressed a hand against her nose to shield her sensitive senses from the pungent smell assaulting them. It was rather familiar, actually; the odour of a well-maintained and well-used laboratory would never be unidentifiable to them, and it was precisely because it was familiar that it was so unbearable.

"Do you think," Hinata choked out, "do you think they're gone?"

"No," Sakura answered after an affordable moment of contemplation. "They're still here. They've got to be — you hear the whirring noises? Some of the NANOs are still here, still alive; they can't just leave the live ones here, can they? They won't."

It was a guess, more or less, and although Hinata wanted nothing more than to be able to believe in Sakura's conviction, years of uncertainty naturally led her to be doubtful. Constant insecurity had eventually taught her to believe in herself, but never, she was afraid to admit, in others.

"Wait, Sakura-san," she began hesitantly, bracing herself for Sakura's assured disappointment. "Listen, maybe we shouldn't —"

"Not there, not there, dammit! Hey! Wait, you — dude, I'm talking to you!"

Startled, the two gasped and exchanged desperate, alarmed glances. They instinctively huddled together, readying themselves to fight or flee. The echo of the masculine voice had reached them from a nearby corner of the laboratory, but two people would be relatively difficult to spot in such a chaotic, frantic atmosphere. The man — whoever it was — wasn't addressing them, they thankfully realized with guarded relief.

The first thought at the fore-front of Hinata's mind was the possibility of him being a scientologist. Subsequently, though, she had to wonder what a surviving scientologist would be doing at the back of the building, instead of at the actual exit on the opposite side. It was only when she spied the ecstatic glint of realization dawning in Sakura's apple-green irises, that she opened her mind (albeit reluctantly) to the possibilty of Sakura's previous guess turning out to be accurate.

"He... he couldn't..."

"He is," Sakura interrupted her speculation. "He is."

She was getting ready to work up another cautious protest or two, when a silhouette of a man emerged from the obscured corner. Hinata could just barely make out blonde hair and a flash of orange, but she could, at the very least, discern how frantic his movements — his erratic breathing and wildly gesturing hands — were.

"That's him. That's definitely one of them."

"Then," she questioned slowly, "where's the—"

But Sakura was already stepping forward, planning to make her presence known, before Hinata could clutch onto her arm to stop her, to warn her.

"Excuse me!" Sakura called out to him, quickening her footsteps when she sighted his shoulders tensing.

"Who the hell—" Hinata heard him mutter to himself (a more subdued tone than before, she noticed, but not by much.) "Heh, they don't usually talk when we free them, do they...?"

Obvious suspicion was seeping into his voice, but before it could take effect, Sakura interrupted his musings with a shockingly honest introduction, "Excuse me, are you —" she paused, shook her head, and began again, "I — you see, I'm one of the NANOs you —"

"NANO? You're one of the NANOs?" he jolted upright immediately, suspicion and mistrust instantly fading from his clear, blue eyes. The man (or boy, really) took a hold of Sakura's arm and ushered her towards what Hinata presumed was another forcefully-made exit, not unlike their own. In a whine she would have perhaps found endearing (had she the time), he complained, "Jesus, you guys just never listen, huh? I've been screaming for you guys to get the hell out already, but no, nobody fucking listens —"

"Naruto!" another voice, deeper and silkier than the blonde man's (and Hinata coudn't help the nagging feeling that she'd —) barked from afar, "What's taking you so fucking long?"

"Well, excuse me, your fucking Highness!" 'Naruto' shouted over his shoulder, frustration evident on his sharp features — which were a a bit odd, if Hinata paid some attention to them. "It's not my fault these guys just — just zoom to the lab entrance instead of going where I tell them to! Hell, maybe they'll learn if they get a couple of eggs thrown at 'em—"

"Can't you do anything right, dobe?"

"Well, maybe if you'd, I don't know, help me, than maybe we'd actually get some fucking work done—!"

"If I help you," was the sardonic response, "who do you think's going to disable the circuitry, idiot—"

In their peripheral vision, Hinata and Sakura caught sight of another shadow briskly walking towards the three of them. If the well-meaning (Hinata supposed they were, at least) insults being passed back and forth between the two men were anything to judge by, she assumed that this man would be the 'partner' Sakura had been talking of, and if that were true, then they didn't have anything to be wary of. Still, in spite of the trusting smile that spread over Sakura's lips, Hinata refused to let her shoulders relax just yet.

The closer he came, Hinata knew, the clearer the silhouettes of two unfamiliar strangers would become. It was really no wonder that the man's unfaltering footsteps finally wavered when he was mere feet away from them, but the distance wasn't enough to prevent her eyes from catching a flash of ebony that intensified the itch at the back of her mind. Her eyebrows furrowed, and finally, when the nagging feeling erupted into realization and trepidation and intense curiosity all at once, it was she who stepped forward first, not Sakura.

Her feet moved forward of their own accord, but it was Sakura's voice that rose above the sudden tension encompassing the room, "E-excuse me, I—"

"You," he interrupted, eyes incredulously trained on Hinata — if there lingered any doubts in her mind about their familiarity, they were promptly erased by the penetrative sting ever-present in his eyes. "Why are you here?"

"I—"

"We — we're NANOs!" Sakura exclaimed. "We — I'm one of the NANOs you freed at the Scrimdar facility, s-so—"

"Why are you here, then?" the second of the two men demanded. "You're only causing trouble for rest of us by coming back to a place like this."

"B-but," Sakura faltered. "I only wanted... I mean, I just wanted to be able to—"

"Don't be so hard on her, Sasuke," Naruto reprimanded, flashing them a grin that looked somewhat fatigued; Sasuke's words were bound to be true, it seemed. "She just wanted to thank us! Right?"

Sakura nodded, although Sasuke's inconsiderate words seemed to have successfully planted a seed of guilt in the corner of her mind, and Hinata could see the doubt laid bare in her eyes.

"Yeah, well, uh," Naruto hastily conversed, shooting glances over his shoulder much like Sakura had been doing mere minutes ago. "I would, you know, say something — introductions and all that — but we have a little problem here, see, so—"

"Maybe we can help?" Hinata found herself offering timidly. "We're NANOs, too, after all."

"No," Sasuke firmly refused, his tone leaving no room for protest. "You two are going to get out of here, now. Understand?" He aimed a quick, piercing glare at Hinata, which she decided meant either, 'I don't trust you,' or, 'We'll settle this later.'

"But we—"

"Listen, guys," Naruto interrupted. "We should really get going, before the—"

"The Crime-Preventative organizations won't be getting here for a while, Naruto."

"You never know!" Naruto hissed, looking increasingly worried as the seconds ticked by. "I'm telling you, those guys are everywhere, and besides just them—"

"Even if the organizations get here before expected," Sasuke explained, struggling to maintain his composure in face of his friend's understandable paranoia, "there are heaps of wounded people outside; they're going to tend to them first. We'll be safe as long as—"

The click of a gun — and they froze.

They can't be — are they already here?

Hinata's breath hitched, and her panic-stricken eyes darted to find Sakura's. Unsurprisingly, she found them wide-open with helplessness, uncontrollable fright, inexpugnable anxiety, and the Hyuuga was struck with the horrifying reality of the situation, along with which came the urge to seek and provide the little comfort she could to her friend. However, a step out of line, she knew, wouldn't be in their best interests. Powerlessness overwhelmed her, and in a haze of desperation, she chanced a glance at Naruto and Sasuke.

"Well, shit," Naruto whispered fiercely, features contorting into a wince. "I told you, I told you—"

"Shut up," Sasuke berated in a venomous hiss of his own.

"No, no, you shut up. Now the bastards are going to haul us off to who-knows-where, and it'll all be your fault—"

"Sorry to disappoint you," a drawl sounded — distinctly feminine, Hinata was surprised to note, "but the bastards won't be getting here for a while."

Hinata didn't allow herself to slacken, and neither, she noticed warily, did Sasuke and Naruto. If anything, Naruto's flinch worsened all the more, and Sasuke himself seemed unable to suppress a slight twitch of his own. The anonymous woman sounded mature, somewhere around thirty, perhaps, and Hinata couldn't help but wonder if Naruto and Sasuke were somehow acquainted (if that was even the right word to use) with her — should their reactions to her arrival be any indication.

"Damn it all," Naruto mumbled under his breath. "I would've liked the Crime-Preventative organizations better."

"You're still the same as ever, brat," the woman taunted, her eyes trained on Sasuke with something akin to animosity and remembrance burning within them. "Using wounded people as an advantage — you've got a screwed up sense of morality, and I can't say it doesn't piss me off."

Sasuke wisely remained silent, but Naruto responded in his place with a tone full of indignance, "Like you've got the right to talk! Why are you even here?"

"That's none of your business," she scoffed, clicking her gun in wordless warning. "And if I were you, I'd watch my words. I've got a couple of harmless questions, and since we have lots of time, let's get along, why don't we?"

"Like hell I'm answering anything, you crazy—"

"Uh, wrong." Another click, and the nozzle of the gun was pushed against the back of Naruto's skull. The blonde cringed. "Who's the one calling the shots here, kid?"

Once the shroud of blinding fright over Hinata's mind cleared, observation came almost naturally. The woman looked to be in her late twenties, appoximately. An odd, dull hue of teal, her eyes were, and her sand-coloured hair was tied into an even odder hairstyle; two pairs of spiky ponytails Hinata wasn't sure she had ever seen on anyone before. Her features were nearly as sharp as Naruto's, all except the fact that they lacked that subtly artificial air. With a smirk that seemed ever-present, and eyes that seemed all-seeing, she was not, by any means, a female of delicacy — and the gun loosely held in her right hand did all it could to reinforce that opinion.

"Dude, seriously, why the hell are you here? This is—"

"I'm asking the questions, alright?" she firmly said. "First things first, what do you know about Gaara's—"

"Do you think," Sasuke said quietly, gazing straight ahead, "that we'll tell you everything once you have the threat of death looming over our heads?"

The woman paused contemplatively, easing her hold on the trigger. She pursed her lips, narrowed her eyes at the raven-haired man (who did nothing to return the intense scrutiny), and just when Hinata began to feel the tension weighing her down, she huffed and lowered the gun to her side.

"I probably wouldn't kill you, anyway," she murmured.

Naruto sighed, visibly relaxing, but Sasuke revealed not the slightest hint of triumph or relief in his aloof expression.

"We'll ask again," he interrupted the brief moment of silent reassurance. "Why are you here?"

"And I'll answer again: that's none of your fucking business," the sandy-blonde snarled. The lack of her previous composure caused Hinata to wonder whether the newfound irritability pertained to the ones bracing the topic, or to the topic itself.

"Sensitive subject, I see," Naruto broke in smugly, sounding self-satisfied enough for Hinata to suspect that he already had an inkling as to what the woman's reason was. He ignored the annoyance that flashed in the eyes of both his supposed adversary, as well his companion.

"You know what? On second thought—"

The sound of sirens prevented the woman from retrieving her gun from the holster again. The five could hear vans pouring into the outside grounds — doors sliding open, slamming shut, the rustle of sheets as the injured were loaded onto stretchers, and they all, for the first few moments, could manage to do nothing but look back and forth at one another, before Sasuke breathed in and announced, "Ten minutes. At most, that's all they'll take."

"Shit," the blonde woman cursed, shuffling her feet. "Those fuckers just don't know how to give up."

Hinata gripped Sakura's elbow and promptly steered her toward the exit.

"Wait, we can't—Hinata—!"

"We have to go, Sakura-san," she pleaded, glancing at Sakura, at the retreating backs of the two men, and back at Sakura again. Her friend offered only feeble resistance, and it wasn't long before Hinata had pulled her out of the building. Once the two had collapsed against the wall, surrounded by threatening noises growing increasingly louder, the dull murmurs of conversation closer than they would have preferred, Sakura was forced to abandon any prospects of stopping and talking to the two boys any further.

"We'll... we'll meet them again," Hinata reassured, more uncertain and shaken than she could disclose herself being. "We'll meet them again."

-:-:-:-:-