Adult-FanFiction.org : Naruto

Deception - COMPLETE	By : kizukatana Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male > Naruto/Sasuke Views: 11937 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 3
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and make no money on anything I write

Chapter List
- 26
- 27
- 28
xXx-
The flight was relatively uneventful. Suigetsu had gotten them business class seats, so they were able to sleep for much of the flight. They arrived in New York to find Kakashi waiting for them after they cleared customs.
"I thought Itachi was sending a car," Sasuke said, checking his phone to see if his brother had left a message.
"He did. I came with it. Given the situation with Tobi, we decided to take you directly into protective custody. Sakura - we've already arranged for things at your work. They are aware of the situation and are fully supportive of anything that reduces the risk of a serial killer showing up at the hospital," he said drily.
Sakura stiffened, annoyed that this had been done without discussing it with her, but Kakashi's last comment brought her up short. Of course. If she were a target, anyone she spent time with now would also be in danger. Which meant not going back to the hospital.
"Fine," she said on a sigh, her eyes flicking to where Gaara and Naruto stood. "But you two better live up to your reputations and kick some ass."
Naruto grinned and Gaara's lips twitched in response.
"When have we ever not lived up to our rep?" Naruto asked cockily, clearly trying to put her at ease.
Sakura just rolled her eyes, but some of the worry had faded a bit from her expression.
"I know it's not ideal. But with any luck it won't be long before things get back to normal again," Kakashi offered. "Sakura, this is officer Yamato. He will take you to a safe house outside of the city. You will not be able to use your cell phone, but we will have ways for you to contact people if needed."
The officer with unusually large eyes stepped forward, picking up Sakura's suitcase. "Please come with me, Dr. Haruno."
Sakura smiled slightly at Naruto and Gaara as she turned and walked off with the officer.
Gaara and Naruto watched her go out the double glass doors and into an unmarked police car. When the car had pulled away safely, they turned their attention back to Kakashi.
Kakashi nodded. "She is safer than the two of you will be."
Naruto nodded. "It was the right call. I don't know what you've 'decided' for the rest of us, but I'm not going into hiding. I've been running from this guy since I was a kid, and I'm done. I'm not going to be stupid about it, but I know he's here. I'm not going to hide until he gives up and disappears somewhere else and I have to spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder, waiting for him to come back."
"This isn't the place to discuss this," Sasuke said, noticing both Shisui and Gaara scanning the passersby to be sure no one was paying too much attention to them.
"Agreed," Kakashi said.
"Let's go to my place and discuss this," Sasuke said, picking up his suitcase and heading for the door.
Naruto turned to follow him when a flash of blue hair caught his attention. He turned, his gaze briefly locking on familiar grey eyes. "Konan," Naruto whispered, taking a step towards her, not noticing how Sasuke's gaze locked on his before quickly trying to follow Naruto's line of sight. Naruto hadn't seen her since he'd been shot in the Akatsuki raid and passed out in the holding cell. There had been rumors of her whereabouts, but no matter where he looked he hadn't been able to find her. And with the situation with Orochimaru then Tobi coming up so quickly, he'd had to stop looking for her.
He had seen a flower left on Nagato's grave, and known it had been from her, but other than that he hadn't seen a trace of her. Until now. A family pushing a large cart piled high with suitcases crossed in front of him, briefly obscuring his line of sight to her. Naruto dropped his bag and quickly dodged around them, but the place where Konan had stood before was empty.
"Naruto?" Gaara asked, picking up Naruto's bag and looking at him with some concern.
"Konan," Naruto said, his eyes frantically searching for her. He leapt up onto one of the heat registers near one of the windows, trying to see her through the crowd. There was something about her expression that worried him. She had seemed… upset. Hurt? Angry?
"Fuck!" Naruto said in frustration. She was gone.
"How did she know that you were here?" Sasuke asked, his eyes also scanning the crowd. "This can't be a coincidence."
Naruto shrugged. "Nagato and Konan knew all my aliases. If she were trying to find me, she'd have seen my name pop up on the flight lists. But…" he trailed off.
"If she took the trouble to find you, why didn't she come and talk to you?" Gaara said.
Naruto shook his head. "Because I'm here with a cop?" he said distractedly, still looking around. He couldn't get her expression out of his mind. What had happened?
"I need to talk to Hidan and Dei. Maybe they know something," Naruto said, turning to Sasuke. "Do you... think Itachi can arrange it?" Naruto's voice was hesitant, clearly nervous about asking for a personal favor.
Sasuke took out his phone, already dialing Itachi to set it up.
"The car's waiting," Kakashi reminded them. "We don't want to spend too much time in the open. If Konan knows you're here, other people might, too. We have to leave."
Naruto looked around in frustration, clearly wanting to keep searching, but a sharp look from Sasuke had him turning to follow as they headed to the black car that was waiting to take them to Sasuke's apartment.
-xXx-
There were two uniformed police officers behind Juugo's security desk when they arrived. The two officers nodded to Kakashi, taking close note of the four men accompanying him.
"We will have two men stationed here at all times. Given that we know Tobi is targeting you, we aren't going to take chances," Kakashi said. "Not to mention that this is the best shot anyone's had at catching this lunatic in over a decade. Interpol has been brought in. They are running surveillance on the outside and will be providing additional resources to run down leads."
Sasuke noted how Naruto's shoulders tensed at the mention of catching Tobi. He had a pretty good idea about how Naruto envisioned this ending, and none of them included Tobi being alive for capture or Interpol playing a role.
"Those morons better not scare him off," Naruto grumbled.
"Jiraiya is waiting in your apartment. Itachi should be there by now as well," Kakashi said as they entered the private elevator. Sasuke raised an eyebrow that the man had gained entrance without his permission, but Kakashi just smirked. Jiraiya was the Police Commissioner of New York. He could go pretty much where he wanted.
When they entered Sasuke's apartment, Jiraiya was pouring himself a drink at Sasuke's bar.
"I see you've made yourself at home," Sasuke said drily.
Itachi walked out of Sasuke's office at the sound of voices. He was relieved to see both Sasuke and Shisui back and unharmed, though his expression gave nothing away. His gaze lingered on Shisui before turning to the group.
"Well," Jiraiya said, taking a drink from his glass. "I figured I might as well be ready for when you get here. Knowing my two boys here," he gestured with his glass toward Naruto and Gaara, "they are going to go on a balls-to-the-wall manhunt for Tobi as soon as possible. Before that happens, there are some things that we need to discuss."
Sasuke could practically see Naruto bristling.
"No," Naruto said flatly.
Jiraiya raised an eyebrow in amusement, clearly not surprised by the response. "No? But you haven't even heard my offer yet."
"We talked about this before I signed on. I agreed to play by your rules with everyone except Nagato and Tobi. Nagato was off limits, and Tobi is mine."
Jiraiya and Kakashi exchanged glances. "Naruto, this isn't just about trying to make the police department look good," Kakashi said, warily watching the anger level in Naruto build. "You have the chance at a different life from the one you've led up until now," he said, looking towards Sasuke. "This will be an extremely high profile case. Interpol is already involved and will be tracking your every move. If you hunt Tobi down and kill him, there won't be a way to cover it up."
Naruto's fists clenched. Sasuke had walked over to the bar to pour himself a drink, but crossed back to stand by Naruto seeing the rising anger in his lover's face. Sasuke could tell that Naruto was on the edge. If Jiraiya pushed him too hard, Naruto would bolt. "I don't care. I'll only get caught if they can actually keep up with me and find the body. You and I both know how unlikely that would be to happen. Tobi will simply disappear, and everyone will think that he's gone underground because the cops finally found out what he looks like and called down every fed and his brother to hunt for him. The killings will stop. And I'll know for a fact that the fucker is done."
"And what about the families of the other victims" Jiraiya said, unflinching under Naruto's furious glare. "Are you the only one who deserves to get closure? They always wonder if he'll reappear. They'll never get justice. Or is it only about you?"
Naruto's glare wavered. He hadn't really thought about it that way. As long as he killed Tobi, in his mind, everyone got justice and security. "You really expect me to just let him go to jail? He doesn't deserve jail. He-"
"Naruto," Itachi said, interrupting him with a calm voice. "If Tobi is tried in New York, I will have influence on which facility he is incarcerated in."
Naruto looked at Itachi, not following what he was saying. Sasuke was quicker on the uptake.
"I bet Hidan and Dei would have some great ways of welcoming him to Sing Sing," Sasuke said thoughtfully, carefully placing his hand on the small of Naruto's back, trying to calm Naruto. If Naruto left now, they might never find him again. "I think maybe you should go and have a little chat with them."
Jiraiya and Kakashi blinked, but didn't object. They seemed to sense that they would need to give a little ground if they expected Naruto to cooperate.
Naruto looked at his hands. "Look. I don't know what is going to happen. If he comes out of nowhere, I might not have a choice. If it comes down to him or me, I'm not going to hold back. And even if I see him coming, I don't always have control. But… I'll think about it."
Jiraiya nodded, clapping a hand on Naruto's back like it was already a done deal. "That's all I ask. Things happen in the field. Just work with Kakashi and the feds. We'll try to bring him in alive if possible. And you'll have extra back-up."
Naruto and Gaara exchanged a look that clearly said that they considered the cops as dead weight rather than an asset.
Sasuke watched Naruto intently as a series of emotions that flashed across the blond's expressive face. "Then I take it that Kakashi already has a plan?" Sasuke asked, looking over at the policeman.
Kakashi shrugged, pulling out a cigarette. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at him, and Kakashi reluctantly put it away. "Plan is pretty simple. We know that Tobi wants Naruto. If we draw attention to Naruto being back and allow him to be 'vulnerable' in very controlled settings, we can try to draw Tobi out at a time and a place where we will be expecting him, rather than just trying to hide and wait for him to find you."
Naruto nodded slowly. "Ok, so I agree with the 'not hiding and waiting' part. I just… Tobi has been watching all of us for a while. It will be hard to pull this off without him figuring out what we're doing. But… it's worth a shot."
Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "That's not really much of a plan."
Kakashi smirked and raised an eyebrow. "Nope. It's not," he said, seemingly unconcerned about that fact. "We have to use Naruto to draw him out. Tobi is experienced and unpredictable. We have no idea where he is currently. He has allies that we have not been able to identify working towards an objective that we know nothing about. So an elaborate plan wouldn't be worth much. Too many unknown variables. We just need to try to control as many of those variables as we can, and then wing it."
It annoyed Sasuke that Naruto seemed completely fine putting himself at risk with this half-assed 'plan'.
"But you're putting Naruto at risk using him as bait, but you're tying his hands and telling him that he has to try to take this guy alive in front of bunch of cops that will be watching his every move," Sasuke said, anger edging his voice.
"Naruto is at risk no matter what we do. He's Tobi's main target," Itachi said. "All we can do is try to focus our efforts on minimizing the number of chances that Tobi will have to come after Naruto. He's relatively safe here. There is no access from the roof or windows, so they only way up is from the elevator that is guarded by the building security and two officers handpicked by Kakashi. We will know their faces, so there is no chance of anyone standing in. No maintenance, food delivery, cleaning or any other types of visitors will be allowed to enter that elevator. That means that if Tobi wants Naruto, he will only be able to go after him in the narrow windows that we create."
"He'll realize that," Naruto said. "Tobi is crazy, but he isn't stupid."
"Yes, he'll realize it," Kakashi said. "But he will think he's smart enough to be able to get you anyway."
"And he might be," Gaara said flatly. He exchanged a look with Sasuke, in unspoken agreement that they were the ones who needed to advocate for Naruto's safety, since the blond clearly was not going to do it on his own.
Kakashi shrugged. "We won't know unless we try. And it's better than doing nothing and letting Tobi run the game. He's very good at winning if it is by his rules. Sitting back and waiting just plays into his hands."
"I'm in," Naruto said, cutting short the discussion.
Gaara glared at him. "Don't you want to at least think about this a little more? We just got back. We might be able to dig something up where the police couldn't."
Naruto met his gaze without hesitation. "And there is a good chance that Tobi already knows we're back. Konan was able to find us. She knew all of my aliases, so it was easier for her, but Tobi could be watching her as well. The longer we drag this out, the longer he has time to make plans as well. Our location is easier to find than his. He has the advantage right now. This is the best we can do. Tobi knows how to hide. He's spent decades doing it. We won't find him unless he wants us to. This is the only choice."
"Naruto…" Sasuke began.
"I know this seems like I'm just agreeing without thinking it through. But I've been thinking about how to get this guy for years. There isn't going to be a better, cleaner way," Naruto said, pulling away from Sasuke's hand and sitting down on the leather sofa.
"Fine," Sasuke said after a moment. "Then we need to make sure Tobi knows Naruto is back in town. I have a meeting with the mayor in two days. Let's have Naruto accompany me there. We don't leave this apartment until then. If Tobi knows we are already in town, then he will be waiting for a chance. If he doesn't then this will ensure he is watching our next move. Besides, it is bound to get out sooner or later that Naruto is living with me. Karin can help us spin it the right way."
Sasuke noticed the slight tensing of Naruto's body at the mention of his PR rep's name. It amused him slightly that Naruto could be jealous at a time like this. He'd have to make sure Naruto understood that there was only one person Sasuke was interested in, and it certainly wasn't Karin.
Jiraiya finished off his drink. "Then I will leave you boys to it. Just make sure that Naruto's back-story is cleared before you unleash the press on him."
Sasuke smirked. "My contact has already created the shadow files in the Department of Homeland Security's archives."
Jiraiya frowned slightly. Sasuke still had not released his 'contact's' identity to the man, and Jiraiya was annoyed by it. Sasuke said that - as long as the files were created as required - the man had no need to learn the identity of the person who did it.
"All we need to do is fill out the details" Sasuke continued. "We'll start with Naruto and Gaara. He'll need to interview you both to get the information he needs."
Gaara and Naruto exchanged nervous glances. "Interview?" Naruto asked.
"We need to know what you've done so that we can create fake 'missions' to cover your past activities," Sasuke said calmly, as though he wasn't asking two paranoid criminals to reveal over a decade's worth of illegal acts.
"Umm…," Naruto hedged. "Can't we just… tell you the ones where we might get caught?"
Jiraiya laughed, then grabbed his coat. "Just make sure no one is recording the sessions. I don't even want to know."
Kakashi followed the police commissioner to the elevator. "I'll contact you tomorrow for the details of the meeting with the mayor. If you need to leave for any reason, call me and I will send a police escort. We don't want to give Tobi any free bites at the apple."
. . . . . . . . . . . .
When the two men had left, Shisui finally spoke. "How much do you trust Kakashi?" he asked Naruto directly.
Gaara raised a hairless brow in amusement, but Naruto answered equally directly. "Kakashi is a cop. He could have screwed Gaara and me over a bunch of times, but he's always had our back. He has to play by the rules more than we do, but he isn't afraid to break them if he has to. If it goes down wrong, Kakashi will be the first one to put a bullet in Tobi if it means saving one of us. But… he's still a cop, and we've seen things and done things that he hasn't. If major lines need to be crossed, we should plan on it being one of the three of us."
Sasuke looked annoyed at not being included in Naruto's count, but Shisui only nodded.
"The other issue that we need to deal with is Kabuto," Itachi said, glad that he wasn't the one that had to tell Sasuke to sit the main fight out.
"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.
"Fuck," Sasuke said, already seeing where this was going.
"Once Sasuke shows up with you in something other than a bodyguard capacity, Kabuto is going to try to use that as leverage to get all of Naruto's statements revisited," Itachi stated.
"Leverage?" Gaara asked, frowning slightly.
Itachi glanced at Sasuke, who nodded. "The only reason that Naruto's version of Orochimaru's death wasn't questioned very hard, aside from Naruto's gunshot wound, was the fact that there didn't appear to be any motive for anyone other than Naruto to have killed him. But if a relationship became known between Naruto and Sasuke so soon after his death…"
Gaara's frown didn't lessen. "That shouldn't be enough to reopen a case."
"It wouldn't be for anyone other than Kabuto," Sasuke bit out.
Gaara looked to Naruto for an explanation. "Orochimaru wanted to get in Sasuke's pants. He used Kabuto as a stand-in, and Kabuto didn't like it. Plus Itachi kicks his ass as an attorney, and Kabuto had a chip on his shoulder about that, too. He's looking for any way to drag them down," Naruto said baldly.
Shisui snickered slightly at the characterization, but no one refuted it.
"So can we reopen the discussion about killing Kabuto now?" Naruto said hopefully, looking at Shisui.
Itachi choked on the drink he had just taken before glaring at Shisui. "Care to enlighten me on the details of this 'discussion'?"
Shisui looked Itachi dead in the eye. "Actually, no."
Sasuke smirked. "As fun as this is, it's late. Suigetsu will be coming by early tomorrow to start creating the back-story for Naruto and Gaara. We should all get some sleep."
Sasuke showed Gaara to one of the guest rooms down the hall from where Shisui and Itachi were staying. Naruto dragged Gaara over to the sparring room, and told him they would blow off some steam in the morning. Gaara knew that this was Naruto's way of trying to deal with the stress of what was happening, and what was being asked of him.
Sasuke slid a hand along Naruto's shoulder. "You can play with your friend tomorrow. Let's go to bed now."
Gaara watched his best friend nod distractedly and follow Sasuke to the bedroom they shared. He had a feeling that Sasuke had a different idea of how to help Naruto deal with the stress. His lips twitched before he, too, turned and headed for bed.
-xXx-
They closed the door to Sasuke's bedroom. Naruto was strangely silent as he walked into the large en-suite bathroom.
"Are you ok?" Sasuke asked. They hadn't showered since before the flight, and he scrubbed his fingers through his hair, feeling dirty from the plane and recycled air of the long flight.
He heard the shower being turned on, and wondered if Naruto was going to answer him. He walked casually to the bathroom door, unbuttoning his shirt as he walked. He wasn't a saint. He wouldn't push Naruto if the blond wasn't in the mood, but they both needed a shower. There was no sense wasting water by taking two.
Naruto was watching the steam start to rise from the shower with a pensive expression on his face. Sasuke simply walked up behind him and wrapped his arms around Naruto's waist, leaning in to breathe in the scent at Naruto's neck that he still somehow couldn't get enough of.
Naruto leaned his head back slightly to rest against Sasuke's. "Mmmmm… this is nice," Naruto said, his voice low and slightly rough.
"Are you worried about being back?" Sasuke asked, turning face toward the crook of Naruto's neck, brushing his lips over the sensitive flesh there, but stopping himself from going further.
For several moments, Naruto didn't answer. "I guess in a way. I just… I don't know how it's all going to go down with Tobi. My whole life has been about either hiding from him or hunting him," Naruto blew out a breath, stepping away from Sasuke slightly as he began pulling off his pants. "And then after it's done…" Naruto trailed off as he haphazardly folded his pants and set them on the counter.
"After it's done?" Sasuke prompted, silently removing his own clothing and setting it in a neatly folded pile next to Naruto's.
"I never really gave it much thought. I mean… there's a chance I won't come out the winner, in which case it won't matter anyway," Naruto said, not noticing the way Sasuke's hand clenched around the handle to the shower door at the words. The blond stepped under the hot spray, flinching slightly at the heat of the water but not bothering to adjust the temperature. "But I never really thought about it. I always assumed I'd either be dead or working for Nagato. It wasn't like there were a lot of alternate career paths open for someone like me, given my history."
Sasuke stepped in behind Naruto, turning the temperature of the spray down a little before gently pulling Naruto to him, lightly holding his body against his own. "Tobi is not going to get to kill you. Shisui, Gaara and I will be with you. And when this is over, you will have options other than finding a new crime boss to work for. Your life… can be different now." You can have a life with me, Sasuke stopped himself from actually saying the words, the fear of voicing them out loud freezing his tongue.
Naruto was still, letting the combined warmth of the body of his lover and the shower relax him. "It's just… hard to imagine a normal life after everything that's happened. But I guess there's no point worrying about it now. First we have to get Tobi."
"Hn," Sasuke said noncommittally. He knew that Kakashi and Jiraiya were pushing hard for Naruto to play along with the way they wanted this to go, but Sasuke wasn't going to try to influence Naruto either way. He understood that arresting a criminal of that caliber would bring recognition to the police department of New York, and therefore assure Jiraiya's continued place as police commissioner and Naruto's position as 'hero' rather than 'criminal'. But it also tied Naruto's hands and could make him hesitate.
In the end, he'd let Naruto make the call.
Sasuke took the soap from the shelf and lathered up a washcloth, noticing the tension in Naruto's back. He smoothed the cloth over the tan flesh, and heard Naruto hum slightly at the touch.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Sasuke asked, sliding the cloth over the contours of Naruto's back, slowly washing the smooth skin.
"No," Naruto said, finally turning to face Sasuke. He picked up the soap that Sasuke had abandoned, and began slowly washing his lover as Sasuke washed him. "It's our first night back. I can think of other things we could do instead."
"Hn," Sasuke smirked, letting his head fall back as Naruto closed his soap-slickened hand around Sasuke's rapidly hardening erection. He had definitely been looking forward to having Naruto in his bed again. And if Naruto was looking for a distraction for the evening, Sasuke was certainly not about to deny him.
-xXx-
Early the next morning, Naruto found himself standing next to Gaara in Sasuke's office with a room full of people. He flicked a nervous glance to Sasuke, licking his suddenly dry lips. "I have to do this in front of all these people?"
Suigetsu had arrived, as expected, and was seated at Sasuke's desk, a high-end laptop set up in front of him. What Naruto had not expected was to see Shikamaru. Itachi and Shisui were sitting in the two leather chairs to the side of the desk, clearly expecting to be party to the conversation that was about to occur.
Naruto had no issues with Sasuke and Gaara being there, but Itachi worked in the DA's office, and Shikamaru was on the police payroll. It went against ever self-preservation instinct Naruto possessed. He was good at what he did. He didn't leave evidence behind and the only time he'd been caught was the situation with Zetsu. And he hadn't been in his right mind. Naruto wondered how much of all this was really necessary. What were the chances of anything ever coming to light? He looked over at Sasuke, about to object again, when it occurred to him that he wasn't the one that had the most to lose if anything ever came out. Sasuke was.
Naruto swallowed. If it were only his ass on the line, he'd take the gamble and assume that most of it would stay hidden. But for Sasuke...
Sasuke looked at him steadily, but kept his distance, giving Naruto space and standing over next to where Suigetsu was setting up. "We talked about this, Naruto. Suigetsu needs to know what he is trying to cover up. If you don't tell him, this whole thing doesn't work. Shikamaru is here for observation only. You already agreed to talk with him and try to see if he can help you get more control over your reactions if you confront Tobi. There's no point in making you go through everything twice.
Naruto glanced at Gaara, but the redhead's expression gave nothing away. He was pretty sure that if it all blew up in their faces, Kankuro would have them in a private plane headed for Suna in less than three hours.
"What about Itachi and Shisui? They're not hacking into anything or trying to fuck with my head."
Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "I keep forgetting you don't know Itachi all that well. He always tries to fuck with people's heads. Usually they just never realize it's happened."
Itachi answered with a raised eyebrow of his own. "And you would know that best, little brother."
Naruto frowned. "No but seriously. No offense, Itachi, but… I don't think it's a great idea for you to be here for this. I love visiting Hidan and Dei, but I don't want to actually share a cell with them."
Itachi turned a level gaze on Naruto. "You are sleeping with my little brother. Be grateful that all I'm doing is listening in."
Naruto looked into Itachi's dark eyes and suddenly realized that it was probably a very good thing that this man had decided to abide by the law. If he ever switched sides and was no longer bound by society's rules… Naruto shivered.
He looked up to see Shisui smirking at him.
Naruto cleared his throat. "Ok, then. Where do we start?"
Suigetsu began typing at a speed that made Naruto's fingers hurt just to watch. "I need to create a profile for you, so I need you to give me the basic rundown of your past. Schools you attended, aliases you used. When you started being involved in criminal activity. What your first major crimes were. I need to make it appear that all of this was under the auspices of the program. I'll have to position you as an informant if you were young when you started working with major organizations."
Gaara and Naruto exchanged amused glances.
"What constitutes 'young' in your book?" Naruto asked.
Suigetsu shrugged. "Depends a bit. How old were you when you committed your first felony?"
Naruto sighed. "First provable felony, or just first felony?"
Suigetsu frowned. "First felony. We'll delete the full details after we turn it into a good enough cover story. Just give me the straight facts for now."
"Ok… first felony. I guess I was… um… nine? Maybe eight-and-a-half."
Suigetsu paused, looking up and meeting Sasuke's somewhat surprised look. This was going to be harder than they had thought. There was no way in hell even a secret government organization would recruit so young, at least not domestically. The fact that Naruto's only arrest had been when he was in his late teens had made them assume he had not been involved much in criminal activity before joining Nagato's organization.
"Ok, we might need to get a bit creative here if we are going to build a profile that is even partially believable. Given that your citizenship is Japanese, and your family was in politics and law enforcement in Japan before you came here, we might have some leeway. I'm going to need you to start from the time you were eight, and tell me what you did and who saw you do it. We'll try to weave something together from there. We don't have a lot of time if the press is going to find out about you in a day or two."
Naruto drew a breath. His whole life he had lived in hiding. The only person who knew what he really was, what he had really done, was Gaara. He trusted Gaara implicitly, because their pasts had been so similar. Gaara wouldn't judge.
Naruto looked over at Sasuke. How would this change things between them? Sasuke only knew a small part of what Naruto had done. Would he look at Naruto differently after this?
And what about the others? Naruto had survived by never completely trusting anyone other than Gaara. Now he had to decide if he could really put his faith in the men sitting in front of him. He could feel his palms start to sweat and his pulse pick up. He knew that if he gave the signal, he and Gaara could incapacitate everyone in the room and make their escape before anyone could stop them. They could disappear and hunt for Tobi on their own.
But if he did that, there would be no going back. If he wanted a future with Sasuke, then he had to take this risk. Naruto looked back over to Sasuke to find the dark eyes locked on him. The fear he read in the black depths told him that Sasuke was fully aware of what was running through Naruto's mind right now.
Sasuke said nothing, simply looked at Naruto. He would let Naruto make the choice. It wasn't something he could force the blond to do, as much as he wished he could. Naruto had to choose between the life he had lived up to this point, and the life Sasuke was offering him going forward. He wished there had been more time for Naruto to get used to the idea, for their relationship to mature, but Tobi and Kabuto were forcing their hand and the choice had to be made now.
No one in the room moved. Naruto didn't blink as he continued to look directly at Sasuke… reading the willingness to let Naruto make the decision, willingness to accept Naruto's choice. Suddenly, the choice seemed easy. "I'll tell you what you need to know."
Sasuke released a breath that he didn't know he'd been holding. He walked over to where Naruto was standing and drew him down into an open-mouthed kiss, not caring that they had an audience. "Thank you," Sasuke breathed after a moment.
Naruto shrugged, blushing slightly at the public display, but his stomach felt like a belly-dancing gymnast had taken residence in it. Ignoring his nerves, he grabbed Sasuke's hand and he began to speak.
. . . . . .. . . . .
Three hours later, Naruto and Gaara emerged from Sasuke's office. The other four men in the room still too shell-shocked to follow.
"Well, that went well, don't you think?" Naruto joked, grabbing a soda from the refrigerator. He was trying not to think about what Sasuke would make of everything he had just disclosed in the other room. Sasuke hadn't pulled away from him even once during the entire discussion. But during some of the worst of it, Naruto had looked away, keeping his gaze locked on Gaara, too nervous to see what Sasuke's reaction had been.
Gaara mock scowled. "Sasuke had better be fucking amazing in bed considering what you just did. I plan on giving Suigetsu only about a tenth of that amount of information."
"Well actually, you know -" Naruto began jokingly, but Gaara raised a hand to stop him.
"I don't want to know the details. These apartment walls are thick, but they're not soundproof."
Naruto snickered, but then quickly sobered. Would Sasuke still want him to touch him knowing his hands were this bloody? Naruto took a swallow of the soda. He supposed he'd find out soon enough.
"How about that spar?" Naruto asked. He had no idea how long it would take them to hash out some sort of back-story to fit with the facts that he'd just given them, but judging by the blank expressions on his face when he'd left the room, it would be a while.
Gaara nodded. He'd rather fight than wait around any day.
-xXx-
Sasuke looked over at Itachi as the door closed behind Naruto. He had known that Naruto wasn't exactly a choirboy but… damn. He had to admit he was a little turned on listening to Naruto describe what he had done. There was something about the seeming sweetness of the blond's character combined with the fact that he had the capacity to be so lethal that fascinated Sasuke. But it also had made his blood run cold at the risks the idiot had been willing to take. Had had to take.
Itachi seemed much calmer about everything than Sasuke had expected. The two brothers looked at each other for a moment. "Well, I guess I won't have to worry about your safety as long as you're with your new boyfriend. I think even father's enemies would hesitate if they knew they had to go up against someone like him." Itachi looked over to Shisui. "You might find yourself out of a job, Shi."
Shisui raised an eyebrow at the comment, but didn't respond.
"I wonder if his body count is higher than Tobi's?" Suigetsu asked, sounding much more excited about the whole thing than he should as his fingers flew across the keyboard. "Itachi, I'm gonna seriously need your help to try to make heads or tails of this. Some of this I can spin into something that could look like a plausible assignment for a government agent, but a lot of this is just… insane. I can't believe he isn't dead. The odds on some of the jobs he pulled were just -"
"It's good that Gaara's was the only witness for most of his crimes. And given how thorough Naruto is at taking care of the evidence, we might be able to simplify his story a bit," Itachi said, glancing over at Sasuke.
Sasuke stood abruptly, stalking over to the window. Naruto had seemed so nonchalant when he was describing the things he'd done, but when you looked at it in terms of what any normal person would even consider doing…
He turned as he felt a presence walk up behind him. Shikamaru stood next to him, looking out the window with a bored expression on his face. One look in his eyes, however, dispelled any notion of boredom.
"I know that you were hoping I'd be able to work with Naruto and reduce the risk of him having an episode if Tobi comes after him," the psychologist began. Sasuke waited, already having a pretty good idea what the man was about to say. "I'm happy to work with him. In fact, he would be one of the most interesting cases I've ever dealt with. But… this will not be one of those 'have a good cry and a hug and we make it all better' scenarios. It will take years to work through what he has been through and seen. Fundamentally, Naruto is a good person. He's been forced into a violent life after witnessing the brutal murder of his parents. Then he was stalked by something that most parents wouldn't even use a made-up story to get their kids to behave. He has PTSD, as well as anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorders." Shikamaru turned to face Sasuke, looking him square in the eye. "Are you sure you are up for this? Do you understand how troublesome this is going to be?"
Sasuke didn't hesitate before nodding. "Evidently I like 'troublesome'."
-xXx-
They spent the rest of the morning creating a workable draft of a story for Naruto, filling in the required government files and associated forms that would need to exist to make it believable.
Sasuke wondered where Naruto and Gaara had disappeared to. It didn't take him long to find the two, shirtless and sweating as they slowly circled around each other in his sparring room. He watched, fascinated by the speed and skill that they displayed. Many of the fighting techniques that they were using he'd never even seen before. He sensed someone walking up behind him, and turned to see Shisui behind him, observing them.
They watched in silence, aware of the amazing and deadly skill of the two men sparring.
"When this whole thing is over, we should train with them," Shisui said, his eyes never leaving the two combatants. "They are using elements of at least seven different fighting styles."
Sasuke didn't respond. He thought back to the day that Naruto had watched him with Shisui. He suddenly understood exactly how Naruto had felt, and suddenly wished the rest of the people in his apartment had other places to be right then. A voice snapped him out of his thoughts.
"Sasuke, we need you in here to finish out the profile before we start on Gaara's," Itachi called from the office.
-xXx-
Naruto woke as the bedroom door opened. He glanced blearily over at the clock and saw that it was well past midnight. Evidently Suigetsu and Sasuke had finally finished creating the documentation they would need in case anyone started digging into Naruto's or Gaara's past.
Naruto lay still, not sure if Sasuke would want to talk or just go to sleep. He watched as Sasuke unbuttoned his shirt, pulling it off to reveal smooth, white skin that seemed to glow in the darkness of the room. Naruto felt the familiar lust as Sasuke's fingers dropped to the waistband of his pants, undoing the fastenings there. But his lust was tempered with a frisson of doubt as Naruto wondered how Sasuke would feel knowing what he now did about Naruto's past.
Sasuke removed the last of his clothes, tossing them into the hamper before walking fluidly to the bathroom. Naruto heard the sound of the shower turning on and assumed Sasuke was going to take a quick shower before bed. Naruto bit his lip. Normally, he would have joined Sasuke in the shower, but Sasuke hadn't said anything to him as he'd entered the room. He could have simply assumed Naruto was asleep.
Or he could be feeling uncomfortable about the things he had learned.
Naruto closed his eyes and drew a deep breath. Sasuke had seen him after Tobi had attacked him. He had known about the eight hit men Naruto had taken out, and he had known at least the basics about what had gone down in Suna. Even if Sasuke was a little uncomfortable, Naruto was hopeful they could get past it.
Naruto tensed as he heard the shower shut off. The door to the bathroom opened, and Sasuke stepped quietly into the room, not bothering to turn on the lights. Naruto considered feigning sleep for a minute, but as Sasuke pulled back the blanket and slid between the sheets, Naruto decided 'fuck it'. If Sasuke was feeling uncomfortable, he might as well find out now.
"Hey," Naruto said, turning on his pillow to face Sasuke but not reaching out to touch him. "Late night, huh?"
"Mmmm," Sasuke said, laying down and propping his head up on his hand to look at Naruto. "You were certainly… quite a bit busier in your youth than we had anticipated. It took a while to make it all look even remotely legitimate."
Naruto studied Sasuke, wishing he could read his expression in the darkness. "Yeah. I never pretended I didn't come with history," he said neutrally, hoping Sasuke would give some sign of how upset he was. But Sasuke made no move, simply looking at Naruto.
"Are you mad about this afternoon?" Sasuke asked abruptly.
Naruto blinked. "What? No! Of course not. Why?"
Sasuke shifted slightly, and Naruto realized that Sasuke was… nervous?
"You didn't say anything when I came in. And you didn't join me in the shower," he said, his voice smooth and controlled.
Naruto breathed out a small laugh. "Well, I wasn't really sure you'd want me to, after…" he gestured vaguely with his hand in the darkness.
He didn't need to see to be able to detect Sasuke's brow arching. "After…"
Naruto rolled onto his back, needing to break the tension of feeling Sasuke's gaze but not being able to read his expression. "After finding out… everything. I mean… if you think that this isn't going to work out because of it, I wouldn't really blame -"
Before Naruto even sensed him moving, Sasuke had pinned Naruto to the bed and fused their mouths together. "Idiot," he said before dipping his head back down to devour Naruto's mouth.
Naruto felt relief surge through him at the aggressive touch of his lover. There was no hesitancy, no reluctance in the way Sasuke moved over him. As Sasuke let his mouth slide down to ruthlessly mark Naruto's neck, the blond arched back, reveling in the heated, possessive touch.
He could feel Sasuke's cock already hard and wet against his thigh, and he smiled slowly as a realization struck him. "It turns you on, doesn't it?" Naruto said, abruptly flipping them over so he was wedged between Sasuke's thighs.
Sasuke's eyes narrowed, but he could do nothing about the way his cock surged at the dark tone in Naruto's voice. Naruto gripped Sasuke's wrists, pinning them above his head, scraping his teeth along the pale, chiseled jawline until his lips reached Sasuke's ear. "Say it," he whispered, digging his fingers even harder into Sasuke's flesh. There would be fingermark bruises by morning.
"What if it does?" Sasuke panted out, his body shivering with arousal that the admission brought in the dark room.
Naruto reached over to the nightstand where the lube and the condoms were waiting. "Then I have an idea."
Sasuke watched impassively Naruto set a condom and a bottle of lube on the bed near his knee.
Naruto grinned. "You look nervous, Sasuke," he teased huskily, leaning over his lover and slowly licking down the side of his throat, using first the flat then the tip of his tongue. Sasuke's neck arched in response before he could stop his reaction.
"I don't hear you saying no," Naruto continued working his tongue down to Sasuke's collar bone, running his thumb along the prominent ridge while his hand slipped between Sasuke's thighs to wrap around the erection that was still standing at attention. He silently gave thanks that neither of them bothered with pajamas anymore.
"Ngh," Sasuke said, letting his head fall back against the pillows as he tried to decide what he wanted. He had never bottomed before, but there had been a few times when had had been fucking Naruto and the blond had slid a finger inside him. The resulting orgasms had been cataclysmic, and Sasuke would be lying if he said he wasn't just a little bit curious about what it would feel like to have more than Naruto's finger pressing against that spot inside him. And it had always been clear Naruto knew what he was doing in bed. That thought was enough to bring a growl to his throat, even as Naruto's lips closed over one of his nipples. He couldn't do anything about Naruto's past lovers, but he would be the only one in the man's bed from now on.
He told Naruto as much, fisting his hand painfully into Naruto's hair and forcing his head back.
Naruto laughed, grabbing Sasuke's wrist to allow his head back down where his lips continued to trail down along Sasuke's flat stomach along the thin line of black hair that led to his final destination. "I'm not the one who was in the news for fucking his hot PR rep," Naruto said, his tone joking, but his teeth nipped sharply at the tender skin above Sasuke's hip bone.
Sasuke hissed. "I told you that was.. ahn, fuck!"
Naruto swirled his tongue over the head of Sasuke's erection while his fingers pulled then rolled his balls.
"Hm?" Naruto said, increasing the suction and squirting lube on his fingers while he slid his hand further back between Sasuke's legs, rubbing his thumb in a circular motion, externally stimulating Sasuke's prostate.
Sasuke jerked hard on Naruto's hair again, but not enough to lift the talented mouth from his cock. "Don't play dumb," Sasuke growled, his eyes narrowing further when he took in Naruto's smug expression. "And if you go any slower I will flip you over and fuck you into the mattress with no prep."
Naruto slide one lubed finger inside of Sasuke at the taunt. "Hmmm… that's right. If you were easy, this wouldn't be any fun," Naruto said with a smirk as Sasuke glared at him until Naruto's questing finger brushed against the spot inside that made him see stars.
A spurt of precum jetted from Sasuke's cock at the feeling, and Naruto slid his tongue along Sasuke's erection to catch it. He hummed contentedly as he took Sasuke deep in his throat with a hard suck and a swallow, reveling in the way Sasuke's hips flexed and his back arched into Naruto's ministrations.
"God, you are so fucking sexy," Naruto murmured, briefly lifting his head, just enough to allow him to speak, but his lips the head of Sasuke's cock with every word, the warm breath ghosting along Sasuke's length as he inserted another finger.
"You talk too much," Sasuke panted as Naruto put in a third finger, Naruto's middle finger continuing to work Sasuke's prostate as the other two fingers stretched him.
Without warning, Sasuke used one foot to push Naruto's probing hand away while the other locked around Naruto's waist, dragging him close. Sasuke hadn't released his grip on Naruto's hair, and he used it to pull the blond into place between his thighs. "Enough," he said harshly.
Naruto would have laughed at Sasuke's impatience, but decided he would rather crush his mouth to Sasuke's hard lips, forcing both their mouths wide as he shoved his tongue in. Sasuke immediately reciprocated, running his tongue along Naruto's lower teeth before thrusting his tongue in as well.
Naruto's hand felt along the bed until he located the condom, not breaking their kiss while he quickly ripped it open and rolled it on in one hard stroke.
Shifting the angle of the kiss to deepen it further, he positioned himself and slowly began pushing in. He knew that Sasuke had never allowed this with any of his past lovers. They hadn't really discussed it, but Naruto knew that - despite the fact that Sasuke was very physical with him - the man had a reputation for being cold, with only a handful of past relationships, all of them short-lived.
Naruto slowly flexed his hips forward, watching Sasuke's face intently for signs of pleasure or discomfort. The moonlight streamed in the bedroom window, bathing Sasuke's pale, sweat-sheened skin, making it glow.
Naruto's arms were braced on either side of Sasuke's shoulders, and they could both feel his arms tremble with restraint as he continued his slow press inside his lover. Sasuke smirked despite the pressure. "Having trouble?"
Naruto narrowed his eyes, driving his hips forward the rest of the way in a harsh thrust.
"Fuck!" Sasuke said, clenching at the abrupt, unfamiliar entrance.
"Can't handle it?" Naruto taunted back, but he held still, allowing Sasuke a moment to adjust before he carefully rotated his hips and adjusted the angle. The next slow thrust had Sasuke seeing stars and arching back at the intense pleasure as Naruto drove against his prostate.
Naruto's hand returned to wrap around Sasuke's cock and he began slowly pumping in time with his deep, languid thrusts. He watched as Sasuke's eyes closed and the strong, pale fingers twisted in the silk sheets.
"God, Sasuke, you're so…" Naruto's brain couldn't produce words to even begin to describe how good Sasuke looked and felt at that moment.
Black eyes opened, glazed with lust, but the arrogant smirk on Sasuke's lips wasn't diminished in the slightest. Sasuke lifted his hips and clamped his thighs around Naruto's torso, pale hands releasing the sheets to grip the headboard. Flexing his abs and squeezing his thighs, Sasuke took control of the pace, his hips lifting up to rapidly thrust himself up and down on Naruto's cock.
"Fuuucccccckkkk!" Naruto screamed, throwing his head back as he lost control and almost came. He reached down and shoved Sasuke's knees apart, breaking Sasuke's grip. In one smooth motion he hitched Sasuke's legs up over his shoulders, but kept up the fast pace that Sasuke had begun.
"Oh, god, I'm close you asshole!" Naruto gritted out. He had wanted to make this last but Sasuke's move had almost taken him completely by surprise and nearly sent him over the edge. It was taking every fibre of his being to hold on and keep from cumming. Luckily, Sasuke was equally close, judging from his glazed expression and flushed cheeks.
Determined to make Sasuke cum first, Naruto shifted the angle of his thrusts again to put even more force against Sasuke's prostate, rotating his hips slightly each time his head brushed over that spot to provide maximum stimulation while his hand returned to fisting Sasuke's cock. This time it was Sasuke who screamed in pleasure, his body bowing as he tried to stave off his climax.
Realizing there was going to be no stopping it, Sasuke used his legs, crossing his ankles behind Naruto's neck, his calves squeezing the tan throat as he felt his orgasm rapidly approaching.
Sasuke's legs viced harder against the sides of Naruto's throat, restricting the blood circulation. Naruto's hips didn't lose their power or tempo as he continued to slam into Sasuke, despite his vision starting to go black around the edges. It was only like this with Sasuke. This intensity that seemed to burn him alive, stealing his soul piece by piece until he belonged only to this one man.
Something of what Naruto was feeling must have shown in his eyes, because Sasuke's breath seemed to catch. Sasuke arched back as he came, his legs locking as cum jetted out onto his stomach and his knuckles turning white from his death grip on the headboard.
Naruto felt Sasuke tighten around him as he came in shuddering waves, the lack of oxygen bringing an even sharper edge to his body as he came hard, nearly blacking out before Sasuke's legs finally loosened with the final wave of his climax.
Naruto managed to collapse to the side of Sasuke rather than directly on top of him, gasping for breath and dazed with pleasure.
They lay in bed, their bodies touching lightly, their breathing heavy as they waited for the world to resume its existence.
"Holy shit," Naruto said after several minutes, his voice hoarse from the abuse of his throat. "How did you even… holy shit!"
Sasuke lay on the bed still boneless from the searing force of his orgasm, barely able to even turn his head to look over at Naruto. "Hn," he smirked. "I'm a fast learner."
Naruto gave him a lopsided grin as he slipped into sleep. They would clean up later. "God, you are amazing," he mumbled. "I am never letting you go, you know."
Sasuke turned his head to reply, but Naruto was already asleep.
-xXx-
It was mid-morning the following day before they finally were allowed into the prison. Naruto fidgeted as they waited for Hidan and Deidara to be brought into the interviewing room. Itachi had pulled some serious strings to get permission on short notice for the two dangerous prisoners to be allowed in the same room as each other, and for the recording device in the room to be shut off. The attorneys of both men had signed off to allow the meeting to take place without their presence, and Naruto was pretty sure that Deidara had simply terrified them into agreeing.
But that didn't mean that security wasn't going to be tight. Shisui was required to wait outside the security office, since he hadn't been cleared far enough in advance to meet with the prisoners. Sasuke, Itachi and Naruto had been thoroughly searched, and their wallets, phones, and even Itachi's briefcase had been left with security. But eventually they had been allowed into the interview room.
The door opened and Naruto grinned at the sight of the two familiar faces in orange jumpsuits that were led in, wearing shackles on their wrists and ankles. The relieved looks on both their faces that he was still in one piece and standing before them told Naruto that they were probably aware of where he'd been and why.
Deidara flopped down into the uncomfortable metal chair and assumed his usual arrogant sprawl. Hidan leaned against the wall, smirking.
"Who the fuck you tryin' to impress, bitch?" he asked Deidara. "I thought that DA you liked was already fuckin' someone else now."
"Shut the fuck up Hidan. Or did you forget what happened to the last guy who pissed me off?" Deidara said raising a brow.
Naruto snickered, drawing their attention to him. "Damn, I missed you guys," he said sincerely.
Deidara wiped an imaginary tear. Hidan was more direct, spreading his legs slightly as he lounged against the wall. "If you miss me so much then come here and suck my dick, blondie. It's been months since I've had good head."
Sasuke made a low sound in his throat that sounded almost like a growl, and Deidara cackled. "Oooh.. careful, Hidan. Baby Uchiha here as already marked his territory."
Naruto sighed, but was still chuckling. "Shut up, guys."
Itachi shifted, drawing the eyes of the other four men in the room. "Naruto is being told to let the police take Tobi alive," he began without preamble.
Two sets of eyes immediately went cold and hard. "What the fuck?" Hidan growled.
Deidara's hands had clenched into fists, and the guards outside the soundproofed room looked in nervously through the small window, wondering if their assistance was needed. Itachi waved them away.
"I know Kabuto came to see you," Itachi said, causing Naruto's head to jerk up in surprise.
"Yeah," Deidara said, shrugging. "He tried to spew some shit about Naruto working for the cops, and selling Nagato out."
Naruto paled. "I didn't… I…"
"Shut up, kid," Deidara said. "I've seen you work, remember? No cop would do what you did. And I was there when you took a bullet for Nagato. Kabuto's full of shit."
"We're trying to change that," Sasuke said, casting a sidelong glance at Naruto.
"The fuck?" Hidan asked, clearly not following.
Deidara looked thoughtful. "You want him to go legit?"
Sasuke nodded curtly. "I have a… friend… who can make that seem official."
Deidara grinned. "So you're serious about our blondie then."
"Tobi's arrest or death would be very high profile," Itachi said carefully.
"So if blondie cuts him up into tiny pieces and does a dance while throwing him bit by bit into the Hudson, it would fuck up your effort to rewrite his background," Hidan said, finally catching on.
Sasuke and Itachi exchanged a slightly blank look at the graphic imagery. "Yes," Sasuke said finally. "But Naruto is naturally not happy about the idea of letting Tobi simply sit in jail."
"And given his crimes in other countries, the death penalty would not be an available path for the prosecution to take. However…" Itachi paused, looking down at his fingernails as though there was something deeply interesting about them. "I would have some influence in the facility and cell block in which he was incarcerated."
Hidan and Deidara paused, then looked at each other. The smiles that slowly spread across their faces had the security guards frantically throwing open the door and rushing into the room.
"We'll be sure to give him a proper greeting. And send-off," Deidara said, looking Naruto directly in the eye.
The guards looked between Itachi and the two prisoners, trying to understand what had just happened.
"We're fine," Itachi said calmly. The guards refused to leave.
"You have five more minutes," one said nervously, clearly uncomfortable with the situation.
"Oi, blondie. Your mom's been lookin' for you. You should go talk to her before you end up in trouble," Hidan said, ignoring the guard.
Naruto froze. "I saw her in the airport the other day, but she disappeared before I could catch her. Do you know what she wants?"
Hidan looked at the two guards. "No. But is has to do with family business."
"Family business?" Naruto asked, wishing someone would pull the fucking fire alarm so the guards would get out of the room and let them talk.
"Yeah," Deidara said, looking casually at the wall just over Naruto's shoulder. "I guess she misses her kids. So she's checking in on them. Helping them all find jobs, keeping busy… you know. The usual."
Naruto blinked. Konan was trying to rebuild Akatsuki?
"Well…" Naruto glanced over at Itachi, noticing he was observing the conversation very closely. "Most of the kids are… not around anymore." Most of Nagato's crew had been put in jail, thanks in large part to the man standing next to them listening intently.
Deidara looked over at Itachi and blew him a kiss. "Yeah… she's calling on some of the ones living abroad. Also being a bit of a home wrecker. I heard she's busted up a few Russian marriages. Got those old men by the balls, your mama does."
Konan was… taking over Russian Mafia syndicates? Nagato had always steered clear of them. Those guys were seriously hard core. Naruto swallowed.
"Um… ok. Any idea where she's staying?"
"Nope. But I know she's been wanting to visit you. She's been waiting for you to get back in town," Deidara said.
Naruto nodded, wishing he could ask how Konan had made contact with them, and what else they knew, but as it was they'd probably tipped their hand too much. The guards were getting restless, signaling it was time to go.
"Time's up," one of the guards said.
Itachi nodded, thanking Deidara and Hidan for their time. Hidan just stared at him flatly. Deidara slid the palm of his hand down the front of his pants and jerked his chin up at the ADA. "Any time you want another private meeting, Uchiha, you just let my lawyer know."
Itachi's lips twitched. "I'll do that, Deidara."
Sasuke's eyes narrowed at his brother. "Shisui would kick your ass if he was in here."
Itachi smirked. "Shisui knows me well enough not to get worked up," he said as they left the room.
"I'll let you know how it all goes down," Naruto said to Hidan and Deidara. He nodded to them as he followed Itachi and Sasuke out.
"Blondie!" Deidara called out. "Just remember. We've got clean-up on this. You just do what you've gotta do."
Naruto looked back at them and gave another nod, feeling a bit less tense.
It was good to have dangerous friends.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
They were just headed back out through the security gates when Itachi's phone went off. He glanced at the caller ID, then answered. "Sarutobi. Did you get my message that I would be out of the office today?"
"Thank god you're alright. Have you heard the news?"
Itachi frowned. "No. What's happened?"
"They just found Kabuto Yakushi."
"Found?"
"Yes. He's been murdered. Where are you right now?"
"We're down at SingSing… we wanted to see if Hidan and Deidara had heard any news," Itachi hedged. He had… bent more than a couple regulations with this visit. He had hoped it would go under the radar. It wasn't looking like he'd be so lucky.
"Who is with you?"
"Naruto and Sasuke were in the room with me. Shisui wasn't allowed in the room, but he was waiting in the security lobby."
"Kakashi is waiting back at Sasuke's apartment for you. Go directly there and do not leave the apartment until we know what is going on. We don't know if this was random or if someone is targeting Kabuto specifically or anyone from this office."
Itachi paused, a thought occurring to him that he could hardly credit as he heard Sasuke's phone ring. "How was he killed?"
"He was eviscerated. It looks like -"
"Sarutobi, please excuse me but I have to go," Itachi said as he watched his brother slowly hand his cell phone to Naruto.
"It's for you," Sasuke said, his voice tense.
Naruto put the phone to his ear. "Yes?"
"See how helpful I can be?" a voice purred through the earpiece.
Naruto stumbled at the sound of it, his world spinning. He felt Sasuke's hand grip his elbow.
"What the fuck have you done?" Naruto yelled into the phone, panic rising as he realized that Gaara had been left alone in Sasuke's apartment.
"Now, is that any way to talk to a friend? A friend who just helped you out?"
The line went dead, and Naruto stared at the phone, his chest heaving. His hands were shaking as he quickly dialed the number to Sasuke's apartment. He vaguely heard Itachi saying something to Sasuke, but his entire focus was on trying to make sure that Gaara was ok.
The phone rang once…. twice… Naruto began a steady stream of cursing.
"Hello?" a familiar voice picked up at the other end.
"Kakashi! What the fuck are you doing in Sasuke's place? Where's Gaara? Is he -"
"Naruto. Calm down. Gaara is sitting right in front of me, reading porn."
"What?!"
Kakashi laughed, "Ok, so he's not reading porn, but he is sitting in front of me. I take it you heard the news."
"News? What? No, I just -"
"Kabuto was killed an hour ago," Itachi said as Shisui walked up to join them. "The police just found his body. He'd been eviscerated."
Naruto looked blankly at Itachi, then Sasuke. Finally, he spoke briefly into the phone, hearing Gaara's familiar voice in the background but unable to make out what he was saying. "We're on our way back. If Gaara tries to leave for any reason, shoot him in the leg."
"Funny… he said something similar to you. Ah, young love," Kakashi said before hanging up.
"Tobi just killed Kabuto," Naruto said, looking from Sasuke to Itachi as though for confirmation.
"Yes," Itachi said. "And now we need to wait to see what he thinks his reward should be for that."
-xXx-
to be continued…
- 26
- 27
- 28
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Deception - COMPLETE