Adult-FanFiction.org : Naruto

Leader	By : mannahpierce Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male > Naruto/Sasuke Views: 2163 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: This story has some of Masashi Kishimoto's characters from Naruto in a universe of my own devising. I do not own Naruto. I do not make any money from these writings.

Chapter List
- 100
- 101
- 102
Thank you to my beta and muse, Small Fox. This story grew from a plot idea he gave me.
Also thanks to SunaoTsuji, satterb, Aflyingmonkey, dark40, toosweet05, melissen, sadie237 and maliya for reviewing after chapter 100 was posted. Readers’ feedback, support and comments mean a great deal to me. Feedback keeps me writing.
Every review, comment or message is treasured.

To answer melissen’s query, yes, Sasuke loses his temper more often when he is separated from Naruto.

Leader
Part 10: Endgame
101: Interference

As Sasuke had anticipated, Iruka summoned him and Kakashi to his office as soon as the emergency was declared over.
They had decided to leave the younger children podded for now. That way they could concentrate on making the structure safe and completing the investigation. Haru was adding more data to the simulation as it became available. So far everything pointed to three, perhaps four, of the bombs being planted through holes cut in the floor.
Shikamaru was not available to help him because he was being checked out in the infirmary. Apparently his shoulder had been injured when Sasuke pushed him. The mere thought of it made Sasuke feel slightly sick. This was what happened when he lost his temper; people got hurt and some of them would be those he loved.
Partway through Iruka’s lecture Sasuke’s mind had started to wander. As he had predicted, being lectured was rather comforting and the thought did occur to him that he may have masochistic tendencies. Probably not, he decided. It was just that Iruka cared so passionately and was so fearless about showing it. Every word and gesture was a demonstration of his love. It made Sasuke feel warm.
Then Shikamaru and Neji called in on their way back from the infirmary and Sasuke’s gut twisted as he saw the regenerator that encased Shikamaru’s shoulder.
“I fell badly,” Shikamaru insisted.
“It was a spectacularly bad fall,” Neji confirmed. “Even in retrospect it is hard to see how he managed to hit his collarbone on the corner of the table.”
Sasuke decided not to say that Shikamaru would not have been falling if he had not been pushed. They all knew that.
Naruto would be so disappointed in him. At least he would once he had stopped being cross.
Iruka was doing a fair imitation of Naruto’s cross face now.
“We are going to talk this through,” he ordered.
Shikamaru sat down but Neji headed towards the door.
“You too, Neji-san. I need some support when these two’s hormones take over and Shikamaru starts quoting probabilities.”
Neji looked to Sasuke. He had not been included in any of the core family discussions since Hinata. In all honesty, Sasuke was not sure if Naruto would have tolerated him being included this time but Naruto was not present and Iruka was right, they needed his input.
He gave the slightest nod and Neji took the chair next to Shikamaru.
“Good. First, we will dispense with the ‘having to be respectful’ nonsense. I will say That Man and leave it to each of you to connect the dots. Will that be acceptable, Sasuke-sama?”
Sasuke did not know if he would have had the guts to say so if it had not been. “Yes, Iruka-sensei.”
“Good. That Man must be gone from our lives. We have to do that in a way that is honourable because that is who we are. Plan A is to pay him off in a way that ensures that he goes to the other side of known space. We know that will work. Is there a feasible plan B?”
“Yes,” Neji answered immediately. “The current clan leader resigns his position and the heir takes over. The new leader makes certain evidence public and challenges That Man. That Man goes on the run or gets his throat ripped out in the killing square.”
Although the thought of Kuuya ripping out Izuna’s throat was attractive, Sasuke discovered he was reluctant to yield the leadership. Naruto was right; Kuuya was not ready and Tarrasade needed more time before they would accept him.
“Does anyone think plan B is better than plan A?” Iruka asked.
“It isn’t,” Kakashi replied. “That Man has no honour. He will run and then continue to work against our interests. Also the plan is unpalatable in many other ways, as Neji-san well knows. It is worth paying That Man off to avoid them. It isn’t like Shikamaru can’t acquire more wealth on Uchiha’s behalf.”
“So plan B is discarded,” Iruka concluded. “Is there a plan C?”
“We prove That Man is not who he says he is,” Shikamaru proposed. “We publish the proof along with the evidence of what he has done. We then hunt him down and kill him.”
Neji sighed and Iruka gestured that he should speak. “The problem is that some people will always say that our proof was fabricated. That Man has established the identity he has claimed in so many people’s minds. We are unlikely to come out of plan C in as good a position as plan A, even considering the size of the pay off.”
There was a long silence that Kakashi finally broke.
“He’s going to get away with it,” he complained.
“No he isn’t,” Neji argued. “He wanted most of us dead, Shika either under his thumb or in Centre and me on Hyuga. He wanted to be clan leader. He did not get any of those things. Yes, we have had to pay him off but we have kept our reputation and that of Izuna Uchiha intact.” He took a deep breath. “Plus the fact we know he will do anything to get what he wants. We should be thankful that we have managed to get him to accept the bribe.”
“Bettencourt’s threat swung it,” Shikamaru pointed out.
Sasuke did not feel thankful. Even thinking about what Izuna, or whoever he was, had done made him angry.
He focused on the regen encasing Shikamaru’s shoulder. Doing so helped him see past his rage. Then, once he had it under control, his gaze transferred to Neji.
This was why leaders paid so much for a Hyuga’s service. They told you what you did not want to hear.
He made the decision and, this time, he resolved that it was final.
“We stay with plan A,” he announced. “However, given how untrustworthy he is, we should be prepared for anything. Shika-san, I want you to collect and formalise all the evidence that he has acted again Uchiha’s interests. Even if we never go public with it, it will be entered into the clan records. It may be needed in the future. Likewise, Haru should continue to see if we can confirm or refute his identity. The outcome of his investigation will be included with the other evidence.” He looked at each of the others in turn. “Does anyone have anything else to add?”
“Not about that,” Iruka replied. “However I do think you should speak with Haku-san as soon as possible about the Orochimaru print.”

Shikamaru discovered that he was content with Sasuke’s decision. Neji was right; proving that Izuna was an imposter was not worth one person’s life. They just needed rid of him.
He settled at his desk and began working on the task Sasuke had given him. He wondered where Neji was. Not with Sasuke; Sasuke had gone off to find Haku. Maybe talking to Ino about handling Izuna.
The regenerator restricted his movement and made his skin itch. At least it was his left shoulder and he was right handed. He imagined Su-chan’s reaction; perhaps he could find enough excuses to keep her podded until it was off.
He sighed. It did not seem very likely, just as it did not seem likely that it would be off before Na-chan was out of the tank.
Working with Sai on the task would speed things along. He looked through the open doorway into Haru’s workroom. It was empty; maybe he was catching up on some sleep. Shikamaru decided to call Sai. Even if Haru was working, perhaps in the simulator, Sai could split his attention across both tasks.
He was about to subvocalise Sai’s name when one of the indicators on his desk flashed; it was his hardwired link to the communications console in the control room.
“Shikamaru here.”
“This is Shino. I have Yukie Fujikaze asking to speak to you personally. I could ask her to record a message.”
She was probably fishing for information about the explosions which, although not large, had not been small enough to have escaped attention. Even if they had been, a reporter like Yukie Fujikaze would have a source in Station Control.
He was about to agree to Shino’s suggestion when the itch moved from his shoulder to between his shoulder blades. “No, I’ll take it. Audio only.” He paused until the indicator light flickered. “Yukie-san, what can I do for you?”
“Shikamaru-san, how kind of you to speak with me.”
She sounded very serious. Usually it was all banter and flirting. Shikamaru waited.
“I was wondering if we could have a secure, face-to-face meeting? Today. I have an urgent matter I wish to discuss with you.”
It was probably a ruse. If it wasn’t for the itch he would be refusing to even consider it. Maybe it was just the regenerator. “I need more than that, Yukie-san.”
There was a pause. “Why do you think he is who he says he is?” she asked.
Shikamaru froze. His mind began creating scenarios in which Yukie Fujikaze queried Izuna’s identity in the media. None of them played out well, particularly the one where a reporter managed to ask Sasuke a direct question on camera and Sasuke was stuck between refusing to answer it and lying.
“Shikamaru-san?” she queried.
She sounded smug and Shikamaru realised that he should have replied immediately. This was why he should always leave dealing with reporters to Neji. “I was distracted for a moment, Yukie-san. There is a lot going on here. What did you say?”
“I have enough to convince one of the big channels to run it,” she replied. “In some ways this call is only a courtesy.”
That was bad. He hoped it was just a threat. “I will need Sasuke-sama’s permission, you know that.”
“I will expect to hear from you within fifty minutes, Shikamaru-san. Thank you for accepting my call.”
He could not say she was welcome, because she wasn’t. “I will be in touch,” he replied and broke the link.
Then he was out of his chair and off to find Sasuke.

Sasuke had taken Iruka’s advice and gone to find Haku. He found him in his office surrounded by work schedules and rotas.
“Haku-san, could you spare a moment?”
“Of course, Sasuke-sama.” Haku ordered his papers into a pile and put them to one side. However, he did not suggest that they move to the comfortable chairs at the other side of the room. Instead he gestured towards the chair on the other side of his desk.
Sasuke sat down. “When Kakashi-san checked the pod, he discovered that the Orochimaru print was dead. I deeply regret that you will not be able to kill him.”
Haku sniffed. “The pod had been tampered with?”
“It would appear so,” Sasuke admitted.
“It was probably Kimimaro,” Haku suggested. “We have evidence that the bombs were a cover to allow him to do that?”
Sasuke had no intention of lying to Haku. “Yes.”
There was silence. Sasuke wished he had a better grasp of what Haku was thinking.
“I spoke with Kisame,” Haku said finally. “Sometimes we have to sacrifice what we want, even retribution we deserve as well as desire, for the good of the clan, our family and those we love.”
It was a relief. “Thank you Haku-san. I am grateful for your understanding and insight.”
“You will let him leave?” Haku asked.
“Yes.”
Haku nodded. “Good.”
Sasuke decided that was probably all the time Haku had to spare him. The crew would be stretched over the next few days; they needed to carry out essential repairs whilst fulfilling their commitments to help at the clinic in Sublevel C. Getting the rotas right would help.
He stood, bowed and took his leave. To his concern Shikamaru was waiting for him in the corridor.
“We have a problem,” Shikamaru informed him. “Yukie Fujikaze has her doubts about Izuna-sama’s identity and is talking about going public with them.”
Sasuke sighed. The last thing they needed was an outsider interfering.
Hearing that Yukie Fujikaze was demanding a face-to-face meeting with Shikamaru did not improve Sasuke’s mood. “Maybe I should see her,” he suggested.
Shikamaru’s eyes widened in alarm. “Won’t that just escalate the situation?”
Sasuke considered; his judgment had not been at its best lately. “You go tell her that she has a meeting this afternoon. No cameramen or recording devices. Avoid confirming who it is with. I’ll go find Neji and then we’ll meet in my office to discuss it.”
“That sounds good,” Shikamaru confirmed, obviously relieved.
The three of them settled into the comfortable chairs in Sasuke’s office.
“This does change things,” Neji observed. “There is no way Yukie-san is going to give this story up. It would propel her career to new levels, including establishing her as a serious investigative journalist.”
Sasuke imagined Izuna’s reaction. “Given how dangerous he is, it could get her killed.”
“Journalists are risk-takers,” Neji pointed out.
“Even killing her would not stop the story,” Shikamaru stated. “She’s by no means incompetent. She’ll have everything she has so far on a trigger to be released if anything happens to her.”
“She could still be at the fishing stage,” Sasuke suggested.
The other two just looked at him.
He sighed. “Right. So what do we do?”
Neji looked thoughtful. “Her championing the story is very different to us accusing him of being an imposter. Shika could give her the support she would need through various other identities.” He turned to Sasuke. “You could take a very conservative line, saying that it was unthinkable that Izuna Uchiha would behave dishonourably.”
Sasuke liked that. The wording summed up the situation perfectly. “So Shika sees her alone.”
“And tells her that you will not query Izuna Uchiha’s honour,” Neji added.
“Won’t she realise he is lying? I thought journalists were skilled at detecting lies.”
Neji actually smiled. “No, because even I can’t tell when Shika is lying. I’ve decided it is because his interpretation of truth is different from everyone else’s.”
Shikamaru flushed. “Most so-called facts are both true and false,” he admitted. “It depends on the context and the point of view.”
Sasuke found that worrying but decided to think about it another time. “So that is the plan. Shika sees her alone but with you and I observing.”
“Perhaps you should consider including Kakashi-san,” Neji suggested.

Shikamaru stood when Fu opened the door and gestured Yukie Fujikaze inside the smaller of the secure meeting rooms. She glanced back as the door slid shut behind her.
“No bodyguard, Shikamaru-san? I am honoured.”
Shikamaru decided not to mention the range of precautions that were in place. Instead he shrugged. “Do you want tea, Yukie-san? Fu-san is available to bring us some.”
“The offer is appreciated, but no,” she replied.
Shikamaru waited until she was settled. “You have some information to share with me?”
She frowned slightly and then nodded.
“I have thought about this a great deal. People say you are a typed-genius. How could I be querying Izuna Uchiha’s identity when you aren’t? Anyway, I have decided that you probably are questioning it but for some reason you aren’t doing it publically.”
He just looked at her and allowed her to draw her own conclusions.
“I wish you would say something, Shikamaru-san,” she complained.
“I would like to hear more, Yukie-san,” Shikamaru admitted.
She leaned back in her chair and began. “It started when I interviewed him for the first time. He found me attractive. I know that many men find me attractive but the way he looked at me, it was like he wanted to fuck me then and there.
“It didn’t fit. Everything you can find about Izuna Uchiha indicates that he was male-only and that he was so deeply in love with his partner that he never even looked at anyone else, even standards after his partner’s death. That love story is the engine of the Izuna Uchiha myth. That it is false does not make sense. Without it only Uchiha would care about Izuna Uchiha.”
It was a very good point and one that Shikamaru could have missed. Maybe he should check with Ino and Sakura. “Keep going,” he encouraged.
“So then I thought, how could I check? I was not in a position to do genetic tests. Anyway, you would have done those and, somehow, he had come through them. Then he started giving interviews and writing articles and I wondered whether anything Izuna Uchiha had written had survived. It has. There are a number of books and then there is the poetry.”
Shikamaru realised where she was going. He should have thought of it.
“There is no way that the prose he is writing now and that we think is written by Izuna Uchiha are written by the same person. As for the poetry, have you read or heard any of the poetry he is writing now?”
He hadn’t.
“It’s turgid and full of self-importance. The poetry Izuna Uchiha wrote was wonderful. That’s why so much of it has survived in songs.”
Shikamaru was impressed but he had to remain focused.
“As someone who wishes you well, my response is that you need more than that. As a senior member of Uchiha my response is that questioning Izuna Uchiha’s actions would show a lack of respect.”
“But if he isn’t...” she began and then trailed off. “I see, Shikamaru-san. Anyway, what I did next was clear my mind of preconceptions and try to answer one question. Who could impersonate Izuna Uchiha well enough to convince the Uchiha clan and you, Shikamaru-san?”
It was an excellent question.
“Firstly, it would have to be someone from long ago, probably a contemporary or near contemporary. That would explain being in a pod long enough, having access to the Uchiha tissue bank and knowing enough detail about Izuna Uchiha to be convincing. Second, it would have to be a male full blood Uchiha. Third, it would have to be someone who really, really wanted to lead Uchiha. Possibly someone who had lost out in a fight for the leadership. Finally, it had to be someone whose personality fitted with what we see now: attracted to women but not entirely female-only, self-important, pompous and vain.”
Shikamaru continued the list in his head: ruthless, megalomaniacal and willing to do anything to get what he wanted.
There was one male full blood Uchiha who fitted that description perfectly.
- 100
- 101
- 102
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Leader