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
- 29
- 30
- 31
Warning: Intermediate yaoi (is that a term? anyway, 17+) in this chapter.
Author's note: Well. We could play a game. Take bets on how many chapters we really thinking it will be before I finish this fic. I guarantee whatever I say will be wrong. Thanks as always to BriEva for being my beta and advisor! And also Mykko_Chan for pre-reading parts of this and giving her support.
-xXx-
Naruto's forearm met with Gaara's shin just before the redhead's roundhouse would have connected with his head.
"Stop daydreaming, or I really will kick your ass, chopped up hand or not," Gaara growled.
Naruto dropped into a crouch, sweeping his leg and trying to catch Gaara's ankle, but the redhead leapt nimbly out of the way. "You wish. Even if I'm daydreaming, you won't be able to kick my ass."
The two had been sparring for over an hour. Their shirts long-since discarded, their bare chests glistened with sweat and a few newly forming bruises. Gaara made a subtle motion to his left, knowing Naruto would read it and shift to counter.
As soon as that happened, Gaara spun right, his hand catching Naruto in the solar plexus in an open-hand strike. Naruto wasn't able to block it completely due to his left hand still weak from his injury. He stumbled backward, giving Gaara an opening to sweep his leg and bring him to the floor.
Gaara smirked. "Told you. You're not focusing. Stop worrying about Sasuke. He's got a police escort, plus Shisui."
Naruto scowled. He had been more than pissed when Kakashi had basically told him that - until they had better sense of what Tobi's plans were - he was basically under house arrest. There were four police officers stationed at the elevator. His only way out would be to try to sneak through a ventilation shaft, but Gaara was there to make sure that didn't happen. Sasuke had to keep up at least a minimal set of public appearances, given his position. He couldn't appear to be afraid, or avoiding being seen in public.
Naruto had been nearly apoplectic when he found out that Sasuke would be attending a speech by the Mayor on crime today, and Naruto would not be allowed to accompany him. He was not used to trusting others to guard things that mattered to him. He relied on himself and Gaara. And that was it.
"The first time they ran into each other, Tobi put Shisui in the hospital," Naruto muttered.
Gaara sighed. "He was alone when that happened, not with four cops. And he was still alive, despite being in Tobi's home turf. Stop bitching."
"Whatever. Shisui is probably a target, too," Naruto sulked, ignoring the 'bitching' comment. "Tobi hates it when people get away."
"Right now his focus is on you. Shisui isn't on the primary list," Gaara said. Kakashi had returned after taking Naruto's clothes to the department for processing. They had made a list of who Tobi's likely next targets were so they could move them into protective custody as soon as possible. They weren't sure how long the killer would lay low licking his wounds, but they didn't expect it to be long.
Top of the list were Nagato and Gaara, since they had been the most responsible for keeping Naruto sane and protecting him. But since Nagato was already dead, and Gaara was stuck to Naruto's side like glue, they knew Tobi's first target would be someone else.
Sasuke came next on the list as an obvious target, as well as Jiraiya and Kakashi. Naruto wasn't sure how aware Tobi was that Konan had been an equal partner in running Akatsuki with Nagato, so she too was added. Most of the rest of Nagato's crew was in jail or out of the country, so hopefully they were out of Tobi's immediate reach.
The final name on the list had been Sakura. Though Naruto and Gaara had always tried to call on her as little as possible to keep her out of the world they lived in, there was no guarantee she had escaped Tobi's notice. And if he hadn't focused on her before, the medical report that Sakura filled out documenting Kabuto's attack on Naruto would have drawn his attention to her. Tobi would know that Naruto had gone to her when he had fled the station, which would definitely make her a target.
"Sasuke is third on the fucking list, and Kakashi let him out," Naruto growled, accepting the hand that Gaara had offered and pulling himself to his feet.
"Kakashi wasn't happy about it, but Sasuke has to maintain a presence in the public regardless. He had to issue a statement about what was happening, and that he had full confidence in the police and blah, blah. He's a politician. Being in the public is his job. But he's well-guarded enough that he should be fine."
"Unless Tobi uses a sniper rifle. We all agree that he's not playing by his old rules right now. It was stupid for them to assume that he won't shoot any of us now just because he didn't before."
Gaara sighed. They'd been over this before. In the end, Itachi and Sasuke agreed to go out as little as possible, but they still had to do their jobs. They couldn't stay locked away in hiding indefinitely. The police had no plan and so there was no estimation of how long this situation would drag out.
Naruto heard the sigh and looked at his friend. "I know. I just… I'm not used to having things outside of my control. For so long it's just been the two of us. We had each other's back and I knew exactly what you could handle, but now…"
Gaara looked at him sympathetically. "Now there's someone else that you care about, and you can't control what's going to happen to him."
Naruto let out a growl of frustration, slamming a side-kick into the heavy punching bag and sending it crashing into the wall with considerable force.
"Destroying my sparring equipment now?" a deep, smooth voice came from the doorway.
Naruto spun around, a look of relief washing over his features as he quickly scanned his lover for any sign of injury. Shisui stood behind Sasuke, looking impassive as usual, but his eyes held a touch of sympathy for Naruto. He understood the pain that could go along with guarding an Uchiha, and the pride the kept the job from being easy.
"Any word from Kakashi?" Sasuke asked, deciding not to remark on the new bruises that had appeared on Naruto's and Gaara's shirtless torsos. He knew that it was hard for Naruto to accept the current situation, and he hoped it didn't drag on too long.
Naruto shook his head tiredly. Now that Sasuke was back, the anxiety that had been feeding his seemingly endless energy levels started to slump.
"I think I'm done for the day," Naruto said tiredly to Gaara, slowly walking over and picking up a towel, wiping the sweat from his face and neck.
Gaara let out a small sigh of relief. While he had taken a rest earlier in their sparring session, Naruto hadn't. The blond had simply gone and started pounding the heavy punching bag until the redhead was ready to continue. He knew that Naruto had stamina, but even he had to get tired at some point. Gaara had been worried he was going to have to try to actually knock the blond out if Sasuke hadn't gotten back soon.
Luckily, the event hadn't run long and Sasuke hadn't been delayed..
"Go take a shower. You stink," Gaara said, bumping his shoulder against Naruto's. In his tiredness Naruto almost stumbled, but he rallied enough to punch Gaara lightly on the shoulder.
"You're not much of a rose yourself," Naruto said, smiling wearily.
Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Has he been in here the entire time I've been gone?"
Gaara shot Naruto a slightly amused, slightly annoyed look. "He doesn't deal well with worry."
"I'm not used to being told to fucking sit on my hands while everyone else is out there making themselves a target," Naruto bit out, feeling his temper snap at his inability to handle the situation head-on, as he would have preferred. "Tobi is my problem, and unless Kakashi is able to come up with at least a half-assed plan in the next two or three days, I'm done with this shit."
Sasuke walked over and slid his hands over Naruto's slick shoulders, digging his thumbs into the tense muscles he found there. Naruto sighed into the touch.
"You try to leave without telling me and I will tie you up," Sasuke growled into Naruto's ear. His biggest fear during the day was that he would come home and Naruto and Gaara would be gone. He had told Juugo to call him if either man left the building at any point, but it wouldn't have surprised him if Naruto had found a way out that didn't involve the elevator.
Naruto closed his eyes briefly, enjoying the simple touch as Sasuke's thumbs and palms continued to work his shoulders. "If I tried to leave, I wouldn't be here for you to tie up. But I won't leave without telling you."
Sasuke frowned, not sure if Naruto was trying to warn him of something he was planning, or simply stating the facts as he saw them. It bothered Sasuke that it might be the latter. And that Naruto was right.
"Gaara's right. You need a shower," Sasuke said, dropping his hands to his sides and earning a small whine from Naruto at the loss.
"You get to go out without me. Don't get mad just because I want to do the same," Naruto said, sounding slightly sulky.
Sasuke glared at him. "I have to go out because I am a public official. I got elected by taking a strong stance on crime. I am not taking stupid risks, but I still need to do my job."
"Yeah. That's what JFK said, too. See how well that worked out for him?" Naruto said bitterly as he headed for Sasuke's bathroom.
A soft click of the door knob let him know Sasuke followed him in. He turned, not entirely surprised to see Sasuke taking off his clothes as well as he turned on the shower.
"This isn't going to last forever," Sasuke said, seeing Naruto's frustration and worried about what the blond might do. Naruto had grown up on the streets, and he had connections with drug dealers and Mafiosos. If he wanted to disappear or go to war, Sasuke wouldn't be able to stop him. And that scared the shit out of him.
Naruto stood facing the shower as they waited for it to heat up. He pulled off his pants and threw them in the corner of the bathroom, ignoring the slight twitch in Sasuke's eyebrow at the action.
"If he makes even the slightest move on you, any sign at all that he is seriously gunning for you, and I am done playing nice and waiting for the cops to come up with a plan," Naruto said, his voice low and deadly.
The goosebumps that raced up Sasuke's forearms had nothing to do with his nakedness. He walked up behind Naruto and wrapped his arms around his lover's waist. "If it comes down to him or you, I don't care what the cops say. You take him out. Don't hesitate. Suigetsu can make almost anything disappear. We'll clean up whatever we have to. I won't let you go to jail."
Naruto leaned back, relaxing against his lover. He nodded slightly, relieved that Sasuke was leaving it to be his choice.
"Let's take a shower and go to bed," Sasuke said, his thumbs sliding over the bones of Naruto's hips and slowly inching down.
"I'm not that tired," Naruto said, a smirk already forming on his lips.
"Don't be an idiot," Sasuke said, biting the side of his neck as his hand closed around Naruto's already hard shaft. "Who said anything about sleep?"

Sasuke groaned as he heard his cell phone ring. His right arm was still trapped under Naruto's naked body, and his left leg was resting between the blond's thighs on the red silk sheets of his bed. Naruto had fallen asleep almost immediately after they'd cum together, despite his claims of not being tired earlier. Sasuke had been halfway to drifting off as well until his phone had gone off.
"Unh, fuck, can't they call back in the morning?" Naruto asked sleepily.
Sasuke extracted his arm just enough that he could lean over and reach the offending device. He saw the caller ID and his stomach tensed. Kakashi wouldn't be calling at this time of night with good news.
"Shit," Sasuke said, sitting up fully and answering the phone. "What happened?"
At Sasuke's tone of voice, Naruto was instantly awake, sitting up and looking at Sasuke intently.
"Get Naruto and turn on the TV. I'm on my way to your place. I'll be there in fifteen minutes," Kakashi's voice came over the phone.
Sasuke got up, grabbing a robe, not hanging up the phone. He tilted the phone away from his mouth as he spoke to Naruto, "It's Kakashi. He said to turn on the TV."
Naruto rolled out of bed and quickly pulled on a clean pair of sweatpants, following Sasuke out into the living room. "What am I supposed to be looking at?" Sasuke asked as he switched the TV on, putting the phone on speaker so Naruto could hear as well.
"Local news channel 12," Kakashi said tersely.
The door to Gaara's bedroom opened, and the redhead walked out. "I heard voices. What's happened?" he asked tersely. He had changed into sleep pants, but didn't look as if he'd been sleeping, his eyes sharp and alert.
Sasuke turned back to the TV, where the picture of a young woman was displayed. She was pretty, with large brown eyes and long brown hair, and a gentle smile that spoke of kindness and humor. But what drew his attention most was the way that Naruto's face had gone completely white upon seeing her image.
"... body was found brutally murdered earlier this evening. At first police thought this was a gang-related killing, as the woman's brother was killed in a gang war last year. Police now believe that the woman's death was not related to that event, though they are refusing to disclose who the suspect is. The extreme violence of the death leads some to believe that…."
"Naruto?" Sasuke said, concern etching his features. "Who is she?"
Gaara's eyes had widened in recognition of the face as well, but he didn't have the shell-shocked look that Naruto was wearing.
"It's not your fault," Gaara said quietly.
"Bullshit," Naruto gritted out through clenched teeth, his eyes staring fixedly at the TV.
"Who was she?" Kakashi's voice came from Sasuke's phone.
Naruto appeared to not hear the question.
"Naruto…" Sasuke murmured, placing his hand on Naruto's arm.
Naruto stepped back, breaking the light contact. He was shaking with anger and looked like he was about to be sick. "No! She wasn't… she was just… Jesus fucking Christ!"
Sasuke looked over to Gaara, not sure what to make of Naruto's reaction.
Gaara's gaze was fixed on Naruto, but he quietly responded. "Her name was Maria. She was Naruto's lover before you two met."
Naruto's whole body tensed at Gaara's words.
"Was she… involved with the Akatsuki?" Sasuke asked.
"No," Naruto said, his voice low and hoarse. "She was just… a nice girl who lived in our apartment building. She didn't do anything wrong. She..."
Naruto turned and walked into the bedroom. Sasuke made to follow him, but Gaara put a restraining hand on his arm. "Leave him. He is going to have a hard time with this one. She was… completely innocent. They were only together for a short time but..."
Sasuke hesitated. He could see that Naruto was struggling, feeling guilt over the woman's death. They had assumed that Tobi would go after people who had helped Naruto in terms of his jobs and survival.
But instead Tobi had gone after someone that he knew Naruto would feel even guiltier about. Someone whose kindness was probably enough to 'taint' Naruto in Tobi's eyes.
"It wasn't his fault. Tobi is crazy. Naruto didn't cause that," Sasuke stated flatly, despite the fact that Naruto couldn't hear him.
"I know. And Naruto knows that, on a certain level. But he also knows that Tobi wouldn't have picked her without Naruto's involvement. Naruto never let himself have a serious relationship because he was afraid that something like this would happen if Tobi ever found him."
Sasuke considered that for a moment. Given the situation, it made sense. He would likely have done the same.
"There's more. And Naruto's not going to like it," Kakashi's voice came from over the speakerphone.

When Juugo called up that Kakashi was here, Gaara volunteered to go get Naruto. Sasuke reluctantly agreed. As much as he cared about the blond, Gaara had known him longer.
Gaara walked into the bedroom, seeing Naruto stretched out on the floor next to the enormous bed.
"Bed not big enough for you?" Gaara asked, laying down on the floor next to Naruto.
Naruto blew out a half-hearted chuckle. "It just felt… inappropriate."
Gaara rolled his eyes. "Yes, because avoiding the bed you share with your current lover is going to make things better for your former lover who just got killed."
"Fuck you, Gaara." Naruto breathed out. "You don't know what it's like."
"Bad people kill good people, Naruto. That's just the way it is. You and I both know that. You didn't kill her. If Tobi hadn't killed her, he might have killed our landlord, or the old man at the soup kitchen who used to give us free food. Or the priest that let us sleep in the church for a few weeks when we were in hiding. Which one would you pick over Maria? He was looking to take out someone who was innocent, who he could easily handle in his injured condition. He wants to mess with your head so you'll feel guilty enough to charge out after him on your own. He can't get you in here. He needs to force you out."
Naruto put an arm up over his eyes. "Yeah, well. It's fucking working."
Gaara turned and looked at him intently. "Naruto. Maria is dead because Tobi is a serial killer. You saved her when that gang targeted her after her brother died. She chose to be with you. You didn't do anything wrong. You didn't know Tobi was watching you. We both assumed that he'd kill you as soon as he found you, or at least try."
Naruto turned, surprised to hear so many words from his usually short-spoken friend. And when he took in the tension in Gaara's face he knew the red-head wasn't here to just cheer him up. "What is it?"
"Kakashi is here. He said there's more."
"Fuck," Naruto said, laying back flat on the floor and putting his arm back over his face. "I don't know if I can handle more."
They lay there for a minute, Gaara making no move to rush him.
Finally Naruto stood, Gaara following. "Alright, let's get this over with."

Naruto and Gaara walked out to find Kakashi and Sasuke sitting together at the kitchen table, surprised to see Shisui and Itachi also awake and making coffee.
Gaara and Naruto exchanged glances when they took in the grim expressions on everyone's face.
"Tell us," Naruto sighed to Kakashi. "Did Tobi kill someone else besides… Maria?" Naruto's voice tightened slightly on her name, but otherwise held steady.
"Not yet," Kakashi said, pulling out a clear plastic evidence bag from his pack. "But he left us a clue as to who is next."
He lay the bag on the table. Gaara and Naruto looked at it for a moment, before the redhead slowly reached out and picked it up. Inside was a stethoscope, with a piece of masking tape wrapped around one of the metal tubes leading to the earpiece. The name Haruno written in black ink showing clearly against the white of the tape.
"Where is she now?" Gaara's voice was flat. Naruto's eyes had turned to blue ice.
"She's still safe. I called the officer who is monitoring her. There has been no activity near her safehouse, but we are going to move her to a location that isn't in the witness protection program books. Tobi was in the police department for long enough to have figured out how to access the systems. He might not be able to find which house she's in, but he probably has the list of addresses. She's being moved as we speak."
Naruto's eyes widened then he and Gaara exchanged a dark look before turning to the police captain. "She's being moved and you're not there? How do you know that the cop moving her isn't bought by Tobi? What the fuck, Kakashi!" Naruto exploded, and only Sasuke's sudden grip on his shoulder kept him from grabbing the officer.
"The cop moving her is Yamato. He's my best friend on the force. We can trust him completely," Kakashi let out a small chuckle. "He even made sure to pass on her message to me that she was losing her mind from boredom, and that we had better get off our asses and take this guy out unless we want her to do it for us."
Naruto and Gaara smirked slightly at the message before rolling their eyes as they relaxed somewhat. That definitely sounded like Sakura.
"If I went to move her personally, I would be playing right into Tobi's plan. Why do you think he left you this message?" Kakashi said, flicking the evidence bag.
"To fuck with my head?" Naruto said bitterly.
"In part," Kakashi said. "But he clearly wants her. Evidently he has decided to go after your ex-lovers and she is next on his list. But he can't find her easily. What do you think he supposed we would do when we found out she was a target?"
Naruto looked at him, realization dawning.
"Exactly," Kakashi said. "He would assume that I wouldn't trust anyone else, and I would race down and check on her personally to move her. He's probably monitoring my movements. If I go anywhere near her, he has her."
Naruto nodded slowly. He knew that Kakashi would have been smart enough to make sure that any call he made couldn't be tracked. As of right now Sakura was still safe.
"Ok," Naruto said finally. "So… what do we do now?"
Kakashi gave a quick glance over to Sasuke, and cleared his throat. "Well, when we first made our list of likely targets that Tobi would go after, we were focusing on people who had protected you or helped you. It looks like Tobi has decided to focus on people you had… romantic attachments with." The sarcasm he applied to the word 'romantic' wasn't lost on anyone in the room.
"So…" Naruto shifted uncomfortably, his eyes darting to Sasuke's blank face then returning to Kakashi's. "You need a list of…"
Kakashi smirked, not bothering to hide his amusement at the blond's discomfort. "All the people you've had sex with, yes." He passed Naruto a notepad and a pencil. "I'll need their names and addresses, assuming you know them."
"Um… like… everyone ever? Or just in the last three years?" Naruto picked up the pencil, tapping it nervously against the paper.
"We don't know when Tobi started watching you. The complete list would be safest," Kakashi said.
Gaara snickered. "That's a pretty long list. Do you want him to… prioritize it a bit? Or rank it? Alphabetize it?"
Naruto shot him a glare, trying not to look over to where Sasuke was standing, watching him.
"How long of a list is it?" Sasuke bit out.
Itachi smirked. "Obviously a good bit longer than yours, Otouto."
Kakashi raised a silver eyebrow. "Are you talking about the list or something else?"
"Kakashi…" Naruto growled.
Kakashi burst out laughing. "Oh, come on Naruto. Lighten up."
"Lighten up? I have to go and tell a bunch of people I haven't seen in years 'Oh, hey. Remember that really brief thing we had forever ago? Yeah, well there is some psycho serial killer hunting my ass and now he might kill you because you had sex with me.' That's just really great, Kakashi."
Kakashi shrugged. "At least you don't have to tell them you have some STD or something. That conversation is much more awkward, trust me."
"TMI, asshole," Naruto said, grabbing the pad roughly and beginning to write. Gaara looked on over his shoulder, and occasionally chimed in with a name or event. Naruto's slouched down further and further in his chair as all five men in the room watched him list out every sexual partner he ever had since puberty.
Naruto stared down at the list. It wasn't crazy long, but he really wished that he and Sasuke had talked about this privately before he had to write it all down. He glanced up at Sasuke, who was looking at the list, his face expressionless. It included the date and name of the person he'd lost his virginity to at the age of fourteen. Another thing they'd not gotten around to discussing.
At least he hadn't had to sell himself. And given that he had been living on the streets, that was actually quite an accomplishment, but he doubted Sasuke would see it that way.
Kakashi snatched up the list, looking over it with a critical eye. "A little young for some of these, weren't you?"
Naruto narrowed his eyes at him. "Just be glad I wasn't your typical street kid who had to turn tricks to eat." Naruto was looking at Kakashi when he said it, but the words were meant for Sasuke.
"Well, this isn't as long as I was expecting," Kakashi admitted.
"Are you sure it's a good idea to contact them all?" Itachi asked, eying the list thoughtfully. "Some of these are from more than five years ago. It seems unlikely that Tobi has been watching Naruto for that long. This could backfire and play into the same kind of trap that you mentioned about Sakura. You could end up leading Tobi to the people you are trying to protect."
"True. I was only planning on talking to the ones that happened after Naruto killed Zetsu," Kakashi said blithely.
"What the fuck? Then why did you make me write all these out!" Naruto sputtered.
Kakashi's eyes crinkled in amusement. "Well, there is a chance we will need to go back further. Besides," he winked at Naruto. "It was fun to watch you squirm."
"Asshole!" Naruto said, throwing his pencil so the point would have caught Kakashi dead between the eyes if the older man hadn't caught it.
Kakashi stood. "Well, that was fun. I should get going and catch whatever sleep I might be able to get yet tonight. We'll contact the six names on this list that are recent enough to be worried about for now."
With that, Kakashi left. Naruto looked over to where Sasuke was pouring himself a drink from the bar and sighed.
Itachi followed Naruto's gaze, then placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder and spoke quietly in his ear. "His count was three, in case you were wondering. You should probably talk to him."
Naruto grimaced but nodded as Shisui and Itachi went back to their room, likely following Kakashi's lead on trying to get whatever sleep was left for the night.
"You ok?" Gaara asked.
Naruto shrugged. "About as expected, I guess."
Gaara simply nodded and left to go back to his room as well, leaving Naruto and Sasuke finally alone.
Naruto stood and walked over to the bar where Sasuke was swirling his drink in the tumbler.
Sasuke looked up, watching Naruto approach with a carefully blank expression.
"So we… uh, never really talked much about our histories, I guess," Naruto began hesitantly. It wasn't like he'd fucked fifty people. But it also wasn't like he'd fucked five.
Or three. Naruto remembered Itachi's words with a wince. How the hell did someone who looked like Sasuke only have a count of three? He vaguely remembered Kakashi saying that everyone thought Sasuke was asexual. Naruto had laughed it off at the time, because that was so clearly not the case. At least when Sasuke was with him.
Three?
"They were all before I met you," Naruto offered awkwardly.
Sasuke took a drink from his glass, his face still showing no emotion. "I'm not mad," he said carefully.
"But you're not happy, either," Naruto stated. He looked at the bottles of alcohol slotted into the racks under Sasuke's well-stocked bar. There were times like this when Naruto wished he wasn't too paranoid to drink alcohol.
Sasuke drained the rest of his glass, then set it on the counter. Naruto considered it a good sign that he hadn't poured himself another. "It's not like I thought you were pure as the driven snow when we first met or something," Sasuke said sarcastically. "This isn't the seventeenth century. You're allowed to have a history."
"But having it thrown in your face unexpectedly sucks, and I'm sorry," Naruto said, sliding his hand over Sasuke's where it was resting on the black granite of the bar.
"It doesn't matter," Sasuke said, his voice flat, the tightness of his tone belying his words.
Naruto grabbed Sasuke's wrist, giving a small tug to turn Sasuke to fully face him. "You're right. It doesn't matter," Naruto looked at Sasuke intently. "Because you are the only actual relationship I've ever had." Naruto circled his thumb over the bones in Sasuke's wrist, not breaking eye contact. He leaned in brushing his lips across Sasuke's, keeping their bodies a hair's breadth apart. "And more importantly, you're the only one I want."
Sasuke slid his hands into Naruto's hair, pulling their mouths together more fully. Naruto's arms closed around Sasuke's body, pulling him close as they deepened the kiss, their tongues sliding against each other in slow, firm thrusts. The kiss was somehow both deeper yet less forceful than their usual mouth-play, neither seeking to escalate it to full-on sex. They took their time, enjoying the simple intimacy of their joined mouths.
Naruto trailed the tip of his tongue along Sasuke's lower lip before returning to probe more deeply into Sasuke's mouth. Sasuke slid his hands from Naruto's hair to cup along his jaw, tilting his head slightly more to the side as he used his teeth to gently tug on Naruto's lower lip before releasing it.
They were both slightly breathless as Sasuke pulled back just enough to break the contact of their lips, resting his forehead against Naruto's. Their breathing was uneven as they stood there together, Naruto's hands loosely resting on Sasuke's hips, while Sasuke's hands had slid to the back of Naruto's neck.
They stood that way as their bodies slowly re-equilibrated, needing to simply be together.
"I'm sorry about Maria," Sasuke said at last.
Naruto's throat tightened, but he nodded slightly in acknowledgement of the statement, their foreheads still touching lightly.
"We weren't in love, but she was… kind. Gentle. She wouldn't have been able to put up any kind of a fight." The last words were spoken so softly that Sasuke could barely hear them.
He brushed his lips against Naruto's forehead. He could sense the crushing guilt in the younger man's voice, and knew there was nothing he could say.
"I'm tired of this," Naruto said after a moment. "I'm tired of just waiting for him to strike. I can't keep doing this."
"We'll think of something," Sasuke said, his mind already starting to turn options over and toss them aside in his head. "Let's get some sleep. We'll get Gaara and Shisui in the morning and see if we can come up with a plan. It's time to shift the game onto our terms."
Naruto nodded, stepping back but wrapping his fingers loosely around Sasuke's wrist as he led them off to bed.

Tobi watched the news coverage from his small apartment. It annoyed him that the reporters were keeping his name out of it. They weren't even saying it was the work of a serial killer.
Surely they had to know. He hadn't been subtle. He had even used his signature weapon.
It had to be Hatake. That cop was fucking everything up.
First he hadn't let Obito into the examination room. Then he had somehow managed to find Naruto in the alley with the family much earlier than he had expected him to.
Tobi felt his nails dig into the palm of his hand. Now he was withholding Tobi's identity from the press. Preventing that rush of fear and hysteria that always hit a city when they knew a serial killer was on the loose.
It was one of Tobi's favorite parts, and he'd been looking forward to what the citizens of the great 'city of New York' would make of him. He had been careful to not choose his recent victims from New York for the past several years, wanting to stay below the radar here while he observed his protégé. He had been looking forward to the frenzy that would hit the city when he began his killings here.
He loved the thrill of watching the police run around uselessly. The fear in people's faces if they were caught late at work or school and had to walk home late alone. It made the risk of capture worth it, to do multiple killings in one place.
Tobi was in the center of the focus of every inhabitant in the city when he really hit hard.
But Hatake was keeping it all quiet. No word on the six cops he'd killed. Nothing on the girl.
It was beneath Tobi to have to leak something of his identity to the press himself, but he was considering it. He felt cheated by the media silence.
Tobi took a drink from the small sake cup, his one habit from 'home'.
To top it all off, Hatake hadn't led him to the female doctor like he was supposed to. Tobi's lips twisted and he slammed the small glass down, his fingers clenched around it.
He didn't want to let too much time go before his next victim. He needed to stay under the boy's skin… not let him rest. Make him come out after him.
Which meant Tobi would have to choose another victim as his second 'message'. But if he did, then Naruto would know that Tobi had failed. He had sent him the message with the stethoscope. If he didn't kill the pink-haired doctor, Naruto would know that Kakashi had outsmarted him. That was unacceptable.
Tobi briefly toyed with moving the bothersome officer higher on his list of targets. But he knew he was not in good enough physical condition to ensure he would succeed thanks to his broken ribs and damaged eye. Yet another thing that Naruto would have to pay for, but that could wait.
No, Hatake would have to be dealt with later, once Tobi's ribs had healed a bit more.
He drummed his fingers on the scarred, wooden table.
By now, they would have notified Naruto's past liaisons. Tobi could still hunt them all down if he wanted. But the first one was the most important. It would make Naruto worry, and feel guilty. Slowly breaking him down.
He had the list of safe houses. Presumably Sakura had been moved from whichever one she had been staying in, but there were only a limited number of places she could be relocated to. He would have to do it the hard way. It would take longer, but he couldn't give up. A promise was a promise, after all.
But he had no plans to sit idle while he looked for her. Unlike in the past, the police knew what he looked like here. He wouldn't have an unlimited amount of time to toy with his prey, unfortunately. He'd have to go for the kills that would do the most damage.
A thought occurred to him that made him slowly smile. There was one person that Naruto cared deeply about, but that the police could not contact. And neither could Naruto.
She was dangerous, but her death would cut the blond deeply. Probably even deeper than the doctor would. Tobi unclenched his fist from around the small sake glass, relaxing.
It was all under control.
He just needed to plan.

Sasuke ran his fingers Naruto's hair until the blond slowly fell asleep. Sasuke knew he wouldn't be able to sleep himself. Ever since the situation with Orochimaru, he had sat back and deferred to first Naruto then Kakashi on how to play things with Kabuto, then Tobi. But now he was done. Even if Tobi didn't end up killing Naruto physically, he would completely destroy Naruto's psyche if he continued killing people close to him. Sasuke wasn't going to let that happen.
He had different strengths than Naruto, Gaara or even Shisui. He might not have as much experience in dealing out death with his own hands, but he had extensive experience in creating strategies to manipulate opponents into doing what he wanted. Politics is a dangerous game. There was enough money and power on the line to make people go to extreme lengths. There was no such thing as an 'honest politician', a lesson Sasuke had learned hard and early in his career.
On top of that, he was Uchiha. The son of Fugaku, the man who had taken the power of the family name and linked it to ruthless Yakuza factions to make them one of the most feared and respected names in Japan. His father had over-reached, and in the end it had been his downfall.
Sasuke would not repeat the mistakes of his father, but he had learned a lot at his feet as a child. He rolled onto his back, crossing his arms behind his head and closed his eyes. He needed to think through all the variables. They couldn't predict what Tobi would do. But he had worked with unpredictable men before. It didn't mean they couldn't be manipulated. Everyone had pressure points. Things they wanted. Things they were afraid of.
They key with controlling someone was knowing what those were, and not being afraid to push them hard. Sasuke had already killed a man for Naruto. He wasn't afraid to push hard at all.
Sasuke hadn't been idle while Naruto was in Suna. He had also had Suigetsu hack into various police databases around the globe and download every case file and profile available on Tobi. At this point, he likely knew more about the killer than even Naruto did.

It was still an hour before dawn when Gaara quietly opened his bedroom door and walked soundlessly out into the living room. He knew his friend. Naruto was done waiting. If they didn't come up with a plan soon, Naruto would likely go charging off on his own to try to take Tobi down. Gaara was pretty sure at this point the only thing keeping Naruto here was the fact that he knew he had a tracking chip in his scalp, making it hard to disappear.
But eventually even that wouldn't be enough and Naruto would go hunting on his own, screw the police and the potential fallout.
After watching Naruto and Sasuke together since Istanbul, Gaara knew that Naruto would regret it in the long run.
Gaara stood, slowly circling the room, noting exactly where the range of the one camera by the entrance was, and which parts of the room were in view. He had looked over the place before, but now he had a more specific purpose in mind.
He looked at the lighted set of numbers above the elevator, noting that they indicated the elevator car was down on the ground floor. Gaara looked directly at the camera, knowing they probably could see what he was doing. If they were paying attention. Which he doubted, given their focus was on looking for someone trying to get in, not someone already inside. That would be a key thing to test.
He pulled a small Swiss army knife out of his pocket and pried the cover plate off the elevator call button, looking to see if there was any special security features there. He didn't see anything that looked unusual. He pulled a small, round key from his pocket and placed it into the small hole that was on all elevator doors. Most people didn't even notice it as they waited for the elevator to arrive. But it was actually a keyhole, in case anyone needed to open the elevator doors there when the elevator wasn't there, for maintenance.
You had to have a special key, or a tool that could be used to pick that particular mechanism. Like the one Gaara held in his hand. He quickly inserted and the doors slid open.
The redhead knelt down, looking down the forty-plus story drop to where the car of the elevator presumably was, though he couldn't see it in the dark. There was a small set of rungs that ran along the shaft for service purposes. He turned onto his back and looked up, assessing how much clearance there would be on top of the elevator car when it finally reached the top. It looked like several feet. Probably not enough for a person to stand, but laying on top of the car, or even squatting, one wouldn't have any problems.
Gaara pulled a small penlight out of his back pocket, shining it down into the shaft a few stories to see if there was another access point to the elevator shaft. He was relieved to see what appeared to be an opening one floor below. Obviously the elevator didn't service that floor, since it was exclusively reserved for the penthouse, but when the building was initially constructed the planners must have decided to leave open the possibility of two floors of 'penthouse access' from the private elevator. It was easily solved by simply programming the elevator to only stop at the top floor. Tomorrow Gaara would have to go up to the other floor to find out if the elevator opening was walled over, or left accessible.
He was glad he hadn't had to climb all the way down the shaft to look for another possible exit. He wasn't exactly afraid of heights but… a forty-odd-story vertical drop wasn't something to take lightly.
Gaara stood, stepping back from the opening. He turned to set his flashlight down on the armchair that was sitting off to the side, and was surprised to find Shisui standing a few feet away, leaning against the pillar that separated the entryway from the living room.
"Fuck!" Gaara's heart thudded as he stepped further away from the drop behind him, not taking his eyes from Shisui's steady gaze. "You could have let me know you were there."
Gaara was not used to anyone but Naruto being able to take him unawares, and he felt slightly unsettled at having been caught in such a potentially vulnerable position. Even if they were all on the same side. Ostensibly. He stepped to the side of the opening out of habit, his self-preservation instinct telling him that having his back to a danger like that was a foolish risk.
"You seemed preoccupied," Shisui said calmly. "And it seemed a bad idea to startle you when you were in that position."
Gaara narrowed his eyes, but didn't say anything. He turned and inserted the small pick into the round lock, twisting it. The doors slid closed immediately. He ignored Shisui as he continued to re-attach the faceplate around the call button, putting everything back as he had found it.
"So what is your plan?" Shisui asked when he had finished.
"Plan?" Gaara's voice was flat.
"I don't know Naruto as well as you do, but I know what I would do in his shoes. He's done waiting and playing by Tobi's and the cops' rules. Given that anything Naruto does is likely to affect Sasuke, I wanted to find out what your plan was," Shisui said.
"I almost forgot you actually work for Sasuke. You spend more time with the other one," Gaara looked over at the closed door to the bedroom that Shisui shared with Itachi.
"Itachi's asleep. I thought it would be best if we discussed things without him here. No point in adding unnecessary… constraints."
Gaara's lips twitched. He agreed completely, but he also noted the resigned look in the older man's eyes at the fact that Itachi would take him to task for this.
The redhead shrugged. "I don't have it fully thought out yet. I am just trying to get a sense of our options."
Shisui nodded. "I am guessing Sasuke will be working on it. I'm actually surprised he didn't come in and drag me out of bed earlier."
"I was being polite. But I can see the effort was wasted," Sasuke's low voice was laced with dry humor, but his face was dead serious as he finished quietly closing the door to his bedroom so they would not wake his sleeping lover. He walked towards the two men who were still standing suspiciously by the elevator. "Let's go to the kitchen. I believe we have a lot to discuss."
-xXx-
to be continued...
Yes... I admit it. I introduced Maria (very briefly) in chapter because I knew I would kill her off here and I wanted people to think it was Sakura. Is it bad that it's fun for me? Probably.
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Deception - COMPLETE