[Sasuke's Mission] Visiting the Bar

[sarthak uchiha]

The sound of feet tapping on the floor could be heard. The sound came from inside a small room inside which Sasuke was pacing around, probably thinking hard. His hands swung to and fro as his pace quickened and numerous thoughts ran through his mind. It had been quite some time and they still were not able to find anything. There wasn’t even a clue regarding the case. Papers lay littered all over the room. Stacks of paper were on the couch, looking shabby and sloppy. Papers covered his desk. It had been quite some time since he had been neglecting his work, all because he was deep thinking about that specific incident. Since that incident, he had not seen Arashi. Not only he but the entire Soul Society did not know where he was or what happened to him. Sasuke sighed and took the stack of papers which lay on his couch and kept it on the ground; flopping down on the couch with a small object in his hands.

The ring made of gold glistened in his hands. The only source of light in his room was moonlight which entered his office from the window. Sasuke was too occupied in thoughts to switch on the lights. As he looked at the ring, he decided that he would himself look into the incident and investigate it. No matter what happened, he decided that he would somehow find out what happened to Arashi. Determined, the boy clenched his fist with the ring inside it and looked out at the shining moon. He then sighed once and kept the ring on his table before walking out of his office.

His footsteps echoed all around the 1st division’s headquarters as everyone else seemed to have left and had gone to his/her respective homes. Soon, Sasuke reached the door and before opening it, took his cloak from the rack and wore it. The cloak was black in colour and was quite long. The cloak hid his katanas which were strapped at his back. Sasuke then wore his wrist bands in both his hands and opened the door, walking out of the headquarters into the streets under the starry lit sky. The boy already had an idea where he should start his investigation and thought that it would be best if he hurried over there now. Every minute was precious.

Sasuke walked on the isolated street where no life could be found. Everyone had gone to their respective houses and would be fast asleep, shedding off the tiredness of the day and regaining strength for the oncoming day. However, the 15th seat of the first division walked briskly down the street towards the gate of Seretei. There were two guards at the gate, slacking off and trying their best in keeping their eyes open. Sasuke’s footsteps startled them and made them alert. They quickly looked here and there before noticing that a young shinigami was walking towards them. Seeing Sasuke coming, they breathed a sigh of relief. Sasuke did not look to see whether they saluted or not for he was far more engrossed in the thoughts that ran through his mind.

Every minute, his mind was debating whether Arashi was alive or dead. The curiosity was killing him. Finally, he could not control it and broke into a series of shunpo, hurrying towards his destination as fast as he could. He used the shortcut, running through the forest to reach his destination. Trees loomed in front of him as he dodged them all by nimbly getting out of their way. For some time, he ran through the dark forest where only a fraction of moonlight entered after seeping through the canopy of leaves.

Light shimmered in front as the trees began thinning. The light brightened and after a fast shunpo, Sasuke found himself in the open while the forest lay behind him. The light was coming from the building in front of him, a building which he immediately recognized. It had improved the lightings and the bar had expanded quite a lot. It seemed that it was flourishing well in the neighbourhood. Sasuke slowly walked to the front. The sign of the bar shined brightly. Sasuke walked inside the bar and immediately recognized the manager.

The young shinigami strode towards the manager and asked for a bottle of sake. The manager obliged and brought him a bottle of sake. After giving the money for it, Sasuke started his enquiry while opening the bottle of sake.

“Do you remember the time I last came here, with my friend? “

The manager nodded quickly. Just like Sasuke had guessed, one would not have forgotten that day so easily.

“Yes sir, I remember it very well. “

“You remember the direction in which my friend went when escorting the woman to her home? “

The manager thought for some time. He closed his eyes for a moment as if trying to imagine the situation which must be residing in some neglected corner of his mind. After the pause of a moment, the manager opened his eyes and pointed towards the street in front.

“He took that street and went further down. “

“Okay thanks. “

Sasuke nodded politely and then turned around, walking towards the exit. However, as he was going to exit the building, he suddenly heard a bloodcurdling scream of a man. He looked to the left and saw that about twenty people with weapons in their hands had centered around something, or rather someone. Sasuke quickly looked towards the manager and gestured him to stop where he was. He himself went towards the circle and on looking down, saw a man shouting and howling with pain. His right hand had been cut neatly. The man had a rather unkempt and dirty appearance. Sasuke looked up and saw the person who had attacked the man. A young girl stood there, surrounded by the twenty people. She had a katana in her hand and wore a red dress.

Her long chestnut hair swayed in the wind that entered the bar through the window. Her soft brown eyes shone with anger as she looked at the people who surrounded her. She clutched the katana tightly with both her hands, waiting to see if someone would attack her or not.

“She injured our friend; we will kill you girl! “

“I have given him too much honour by injuring that dog with my katana. “

“Heh, you invite your death, you bitch! “

The girl took a couple of steps back. She looked at each one of them.

“I don’t want to kill so many people. “

The twenty people charged towards the girl who took a stance, ready to block any incoming attack. As the twenty people running towards the girl, Sasuke suddenly appeared beside her, his cloak flying in the air about five inches above him while he held two katanas, one in each hand. The katanas had a white hilt with red diamond markings on it and a metre long white coloured broken chain ran from the end of the hilts of the katanas. He stood just beside the girl, grinning at her.

“What did they do? “

On hearing his voice, the girl shot a glance sideways to see that Sasuke had appeared just beside her. She breathed a sigh of relief.

“They came like hooligans and were disturbing me in you know what way. They disgust me! “

Sasuke chuckled.

“Then lets show them what they get for such behaviour. “

The girl nodded and they both dashed towards the horde of twenty men. As soon as Sasuke entered the crowd, he started slashing slowly at the men who attacked him, taking care that he did not kill them but at least immobilised them. After having rendered twelve men unable to move, he glanced once at the girl. She had taken care of five men. A man was running towards her when she had her back turned to him. Sasuke vanished in a shunpo and appeared just in front of that man, slashing at his chest.

“Nobody taught you that you should not attack a girl behind her back. “

A minute more passed. In that time, all the twenty men were on the ground, panting and holding their wounds tightly. Though down on the ground, some men were still cursing the two shinigami. Sasuke paid no attention to them and turned to the girl.

“You okay, Rose? “

Rose turned around to face Sasuke and gave him a pleasant smile.

“I am fine sensei. Thanks for your help. “

“No problem. I gotta go now, am out for some work. Take care of yourself. “

After having said that, Sasuke went to the manager and asked for another bottle of sake, though the first one had not been opened yet. Taking the second bottle in his hand, he threw it at one of the men down and grinned at them.

“Enjoy the night guys. “

Sasuke said in a mocking manner and then walked out of the bar. As he was walking, he heard someone calling his name along with the word sensei. Sasuke stopped midway and turned around to see that Rose was running towards him with her katana in her right hand, sheathed. Sasuke waited patiently to listen to what she had to say. On reaching him, the young girl bent down and panted for some time and then said.

“Sensei, can I come with you? “

Sasuke looked down the road. It was a quiet night. He thought that there won’t be many dangers in the way and so nodded slightly, still pondering over the thought. Finally, his nod grew more confident and he walked down the road with Rose walking beside him; walking on a desolate road under the starry lit sky.