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

Chapter List
- 68
- 69
- 70
Thank you to my beta and muse, Small Fox. This story grew from a plot idea he gave me.
Also thanks to satterb, melissin, SunaoTsuji, disembodiedvoiceofthedying and sadie 237 for reviewing after chapter 68 was posted.
Readers’ feedback, support, comments and reviews mean a great deal to me. Feedback keeps me writing.

Destiny asked me a question on the forum thread that I missed at the time. Sorry about that. I have answered it now.
The forum thread is at:
http://www2.adult-fanfiction.org/forum/index.php/topic/21106-the-world-of-mannah-pierce/

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Part 7: Vendetta
69: Interrogation Part Two

Shikamaru watched, his gut twisting, as Kabuto sunk to the floor and started to cry. Was this really less reprehensible than torture?
“That was extremely satisfying,” Kotohime stated from beside him.

He closed the video and checked the analysis programme. There were no more events during which Kabuto spoke, which was not surprising as the last scene had been recorded in the middle of ship’s night.
“What do you think Sasori will do next?” Kotohime asked.
He resisted the urge to shrug.
“What’s happened?” Kakashi asked from the doorway.
Neji was with him.”Kotohime-san,” he acknowledged, walked over and kissed Shikamaru on the cheek.
She scowled at him. “Neji-san.”
“Sasori made a move on Kabuto, it was successful and then he told him that Orochimaru had been in the stasis unit with him,” Shikamaru summarised.

Kakashi nodded and sat down.
“Make my day. Tell me Kabuto killed him, or at least cut his balls off.”
“No, Sasori was too quick,” Shikamaru replied.
“Get him on a live link,” Kakashi instructed.
Given that Sasori had been fucking Kabuto for most of the night, Shikamaru guessed he was still asleep.
“Do it, Shikamaru,” Kakashi insisted, which earned him a slight frown from Neji.

Sasori replied immediately over an audio link.
“Shikamaru-san,” he acknowledged.
“We would like a live meeting with visual,” Shikamaru told him.
“It isn’t very convenient at the moment,” Sasori answered.
Kakashi was pointing at a microphone; Shikamaru reluctantly activated it.
“This is Kakashi. Get yourself in front of a camera,” Kakashi ordered. “My patience is wearing thin.” He deactivated the microphone and turned to Kotohime. “I am afraid I must ask you to leave, Kotohime-san. We will be discussing Uchiha business. Iruka-san is in the galley and will be happy to provide you with some breakfast. He was wondering if you would like to spend today in Skyburrow visiting Isaribi-kun.”

Kotohime stood up, topped up Shikamaru’s cup from her flask and smiled at him.
“I understand. Later, Shikamaru-san.”
“Kotohime-san,” he acknowledged. “Thanks for the coffee.”
“You encourage her,” Kakashi complained as soon as the door shut with Kotohime on the other side of it.
“Shika does not encourage Kotohime-san‘s sexual advances,” Neji stated.
The last thing Shikamaru needed was Neji and Kakashi locking horns. Luckily, he was saved by Sasori.
“This is Sasori. I’m in the control room.”

Shikamaru activated the camera at both ends. Sasori was in the captain’s chair. He was shirtless with wet hair and a towel around his neck.
Kakashi did not bother with niceties. “You’ve had your fun. What next?”
“I intend to threaten him. One threat is that I will give Orochimaru to Uchiha. The other is that I will tell Orochimaru that he allowed me to fuck him. I intend to extract as much information as possible. Once we agree we have everything available, we can move onto Orochimaru.
“I propose telling Kabuto that I will sell Orochimaru to Uchiha unless he tells me the identity of the other founding member of the Akatsuki from Orochimaru. I will explain to Kabuto that I can sell this information to Uchiha for even more than the bounty for him and Orochimaru. I believe that he will try to persuade Orochimaru to reveal the information you require.”
To Shikamaru it seemed a sound plan and it made sense of the effort Sasori had invested in seducing Kabuto.
Even Kakashi appeared mollified. “It may work,” he conceded. “How are you going to stop Kabuto from killing you?”
“Mainly by keeping him away from any poisons or weapons. He’s not much of a hand-to-hand fighter.”
“Sasori-san, we wish to be observing live when you tell him of these threats,” Neji stated.
“Any chance of fixing a time?” Shikamaru added, thinking of his numerous commitments.
“For you, Shikamaru-san,” Sasori agreed, bowing. “Ship’s noon.”
That would give Kabuto and Sasori time to rest. Shikamaru glanced at the others; neither of them was objecting. “Ship’s noon it is, Sasori-san.”

He left Neji and Kakashi searching the recordings for what particularly interested them and went to back to the crew room; by now Iruka would know whether there was a shuttle due and who would be piloting it.
Kotohime had concurred with Iruka’s suggestion that she spend some time with Isaribi. Kazuki had agreed to pilot the morning shuttle and he was going to drop off Haru and Ran. Later in the day, Naruto would bringing Kotohime back and take Haru and Ran home.
Shikamaru was glad that Ran was coming; Iruka would appreciate a visit and he could keep Haru company while they were watching Sasori bully Kabuto.

Ran spent the balance of the morning with Iruka while he, Haru and Sai enjoyed each other’s company and discussed their various projects.
Not that Sai was physically there because Sumiko had insisted he stay with her. Having Sai at the other end of a secure two-way link was fine; Sai compensated for the lag by reducing the time he allowed for them to think and speak.

All too soon noon was approaching.
“I’ll have to go,” Shikamaru admitted. “I have a meeting.”
“About the interrogation,” Haru suggested.
“Yes,” Shikamaru confirmed. “I don’t want to talk about it with you, Ha-chan.”
“That bad?” Haru asked.
Shikamaru was about to say no but found he couldn’t. “In a way,” he admitted. “I don’t think there is a good way of getting someone to tell you something they don’t want to.”

When he arrived at the meeting room he found Kakashi and Neji watching Sasori manhandle an unconscious Kabuto from the bed to a chair and restrain him.
“What happened?” Shikamaru asked, partly horrified and partly grateful that Kabuto wasn’t naked and trussed; he wouldn’t be at all surprised to discover that Sasori was an expert in kinbaku.
“Just a precaution,” Kakashi assured him. “Knockout gas.”

Sasori placed a hypospray on a small table and placed a second chair a safe distance from his prisoner.
“You there. Shikamaru-san?” he queried.
“Yes, I am here.”
“Good. It would not be the same without you. Please remind Neji-san that talking to me while I am this close to Kabuto is unwise.”
Shikamaru looked to Neji who nodded. “He will not speak with you unless there is an acute need. If we are going to speak with you we will warn you with two taps.” He demonstrated by touching the microphone.
“Fair enough,” Sasori agreed.

He pressed the hypospray to Kabuto’s neck and then settled into his chair, ready to speak as soon as Kabuto regained consciousness.
“I apologise for rendering you unconscious and then restraining you. It is important that you listen to what I have to say.”
Kabuto raised his head slightly but said nothing.
“I am a mercenary. You know this. Uchiha is offering a bounty for you and a bounty for Orochimaru.”
“If you were only interested in the bounty, you would not have bothered to wake me,” Kabuto replied.
Sasori smiled. “You’re a good fuck.”
“This time,” Kabuto clarified. “You would not have bothered to wake me this time.”
“True,” Sasori conceded. “The problem with handing you over to Uchiha is that it is a once-only deal. A bit like eating the chicken that gives you eggs, or the cow that gives you milk. Perhaps you do not follow. You were a city boy.”
“I understand well enough,” Kabuto replied. “What are you proposing?”
“A deal. Orochimaru will not deal but you are less proud and less arrogant. You give me information I can sell to Uchiha. In return, I do not hand the two of you over. Instead, we consider joint ventures, for example, me taking Pein’s place and keeping the organisation ticking over while you and Orochimaru go into stasis.”
It was a clever twist; Shikamaru was impressed.
“Surely taking Pein’s place is enough,” Kabuto proposed.
“No. That is a long term strategy. In the short term I need credit and I need to deflect Uchiha’s attention. Both can be achieved by selling them high-grade information.”
Kabuto licked his lips. “If I could provide you with enough information, it might not be necessary to wake Orochimaru-sama. He could be returned directly to stasis.”
Sasori considered. “Shall we say that you can tell me everything that you believe could be useful and I will agree not to wake Orochimaru until after there is no sign of our pleasurable night together on your body?”
Kabuto froze. Shikamaru could see him imagining Orochimaru’s reaction.
“Shall we begin, Kabuto-san?”

The scheduled time for the midday meal arrived; Ran brought a basket of food and stayed to make tea. Neji asked him if he would like to observe but he said that he was eating with Haru and Iruka.
Most of what Kabuto said only confirmed what Shikamaru knew already. Occasionally there were additional facts: some previously unnamed contacts; a safe house; useful information about hybrid engineers beyond what Kotohime had told them.
He said that Kimimaro was alive, which was weird because Shikamaru thought they had confirmed that Gaara had killed him.
“This is too low-level,” Sasori complained when Kabuto paused. “What about something useful, like the source of the information leak within the Uchiha household?”
Shikamaru looked to Neji in surprise. Neji looked back, equally unprepared. At no time had either of them mentioned the leak to Sasori.
It was not somewhere they would have gone without Sasuke’s permission.

Neji signalled for Shikamaru to activate his microphone only to have Kakashi stop him.
“No, don’t. I want to hear what he says.”
“I don’t know,” Kabuto admitted.
“I do not think he does,” Neji confirmed.
Sasori sighed. “The problem is that you do know very little. I am beginning regret to our agreement. Perhaps I should wake Orochimaru now.”
“He or she had a way of getting physical messages out of the household to our contact,” Kabuto added hastily.
“The way? The contact?” Sasori demanded.
“I don’t know now other than that it was physical; some way of passing written notes. The contact was the journalist, Karin.”

It was interesting but not unexpected; there had been no sigh of Karin in Tarrasade since the vendetta had been announced.
If it was Izuna, as they suspected, when had he made contact with Orochimaru? Shikamaru’s mind immediately threw up numerous opportunities. There had been all those social occasions, interviews and visits to the Hunundau store. Presumably one of Orochimaru’s contacts had approached him.

Sasori was continuing.
“That is a little better; medium-grade. The name of the traitor would have been high-grade. Worth enough to consider forgoing the bounty. Could you get Orochimaru to tell you the name of the traitor?”
“Maybe,” Kabuto replied.
Shikamaru understood now why Sasori was asking about the leak. He had not expected Kabuto to know but it allowed him to introduce the idea of Kabuto extracting information from Orochimaru.
“Are you willing to try?” Sasori asked.
There was a pause. Shikamaru could imagine Kabuto realising that the only possible answer was yes, whether he meant it or not. To refuse would mean being packed up and given, along with Orochimaru, to Uchiha.
Unfortunately for Kabuto, the worst had already happened.
“Yes,” he replied. “What else do you consider ‘high-grade’?”
Sasori considered. “Pein told me once that Orochimaru did not found the Akatsuki alone. There was another. Pein thought he was still alive, also using stasis to skip forward through time.”
Kabuto frowned.
“He has never heard anything about it,” Neji confirmed. “He is upset that Orochimaru trusted Pein more than him.”
“I believe that Uchiha would pay well for details of this person,” Sasori pushed.
“The name of the traitor. Details of this possible co-founder of the Akatsuki. This would be enough.” Kabuto checked.
“That would be enough,” Sasori lied. He held up a hypospray. “Sleepdrug. I’ll untie you and put you on the bed.”
“You could just untie me,” Kabuto suggested.
Sasori shook his head. “Not this time.”

They watched as Kabuto lost consciousness. Interestingly, Sasori left him tied to the chair and left the room.
“He agreed too easily,” Neji pointed out.
“On balance, having Orochimaru conscious is better for him,” Kakashi pointed out. “It makes it two to one and everything we know about Orochimaru suggests he is a much more dangerous opponent than Kabuto.”
“He’s a killer,” Shikamaru stated. That was what Na-chan said; Orochimaru was a killer, like Izuna, while Sasuke was not.
“What is he up to?” Neji murmured.
Shikamaru looked at the display. Sasori had reappeared with a trolley.
Neji signalled at him to activate his microphone.
“This is Neji. May I ask what you are doing, Sasori-san?”
“Tanking him,” Sasori replied. “I told him that I wouldn’t wake Orochimaru before all the marks I made had gone. This way I can speed the process up. I intend to have Orochimaru wake him.”
Kakashi pointed at his microphone and Shikamaru activated it.
“This is Kakashi. Your work with Kabuto was impressive.”
Sasori had finished untying Kabuto and was lifting him onto the trolley with surprising ease. “Thank you for saying so, Kakashi-san.”
“I assume you have a video of yourself with Kabuto to show Orochimaru if you decide that would be useful.”
“Of course. I decided to make my own, in case Shikamaru-san should get cold feet about me using his.”

Shikamaru knew that was not the case. Sasori would make his own because there were significant differences between a video made using a carefully installed clandestine surveillance system and one made using a standard video camera hidden somewhere convenient.
“Was it you who found him, Kakashi-san?” Sasori asked.
Found who? Orochimaru? Kabuto?
“Yes,” Kakashi replied.
“I salute you. You must be immensely proud of that achievement.”
“I only suspected that he was an undetected typed-genius, perhaps a typed-seven,” Kakashi admitted. “I had no idea what a typed-seven could do.”
Shikamaru flushed, realising they were talking about him.
“Who does, Kakashi-san? If there are any other sane ones, Centre has them.”
Shikamaru activated his microphone. “Or they have more sense than I do and stay invisible.”
“You are invisible, Shikamaru-san. What we see is merely glimpses wrapped in illusions; the occasional flash of glorious colours that hint at the quality and sheer magnificence of the star diamond that shall always remain out of view.”
“If you are trying to embarrass him you are being successful, Sasori-san,” Neji told him.
“Which is wonderful in itself, Neji-san. Please excuse me. I have Kabuto to tank and preparations to make before unpodding Orochimaru.”

There was a faint click as Sasori’s microphone was switched off and they watched him push the trolley from the room.
“Maybe he is not so bad,” Kakashi admitted grudgingly.
“He is,” Neji disagreed. “Consider how quickly he found one of your weak points and look advantage of it, Kakashi-san.”
Kakashi looked startled and then scowled. “Sneaky runt. Clever though.”
“We didn’t check with him when he was planning to unpod Orochimaru,” Shikamaru pointed out; keen to change the subject. “I’ll set an alarm to tell us if he accesses the control panel.”

They were reasonably confident that Kabuto would need a day in the tank and that Sasori intended him to be out of it before unpodding Orochimaru.
Shikamaru considered the new information that Kabuto had revealed and decided that none of it required urgent attention. Instead he went to find Haru, hoping that Kotohime had not decided to return early.

She had but Naruto had waited in the hope that Shikamaru would become available. He was with Iruka, Haru and Ran in the galley. Shikamaru sat down and Ran got up to make a fresh pot of tea.
“How did it go?” Haru asked.
Shikamaru did not want to talk about it in front of Haru. “Fine. Nothing dramatic.” He looked to Naruto. “Do you have to go soon?”
Naruto studied him. “No, we can stay for the evening meal as long as Iruka-sensei can feed an extra three people.”
“What about the triplets?” Shikamaru asked.
“Sasuke will see to them,” Naruto assured him. “They will be fine.” He turned to Haru. “Ha-chan, would you mind if I spent some time with Shi-chan?”
Haru smiled. “No. We had time together this morning. Ran and I will...”
“Do some chores for Ir-chan,” Ran supplied.
The smile slipped but Haru rallied. “Yes, we are going to help Iruka-sensei.”
Iruka smiled. “That is very kind of the two of you. Help with making the meal would be greatly appreciated.”
Haru looked relieved; Shikamaru knew that he had been thinking it would be cleaning or laundry, neither of which he enjoyed.

They went to Shikamaru’s room, which was much messier now that he did not share it with Neji. Naruto sniffed the air.
“Neji does not sleep here?” he queried.
Shikamaru moved some stuff so that they could sit down. “Does it look like it? No, we use his room.”
Naruto’s whiskers and eyebrows arched in surprise. “He puts up with you messing up his room?”
“Yes. I think it’s part of the penance he is imposing on himself. Like not acting too possessively when Kotohime flirts with me and offering to let me fuck him even though we both know it works better the other way around.”
“He should feel guilty. He left you for someone else.”
“I released him, Na-chan. The only reason I wish I hadn’t is that he got hurt.”
“No rings this time,” Naruto observed.
“Not yet,” Shikamaru confirmed. “Maybe never. We exchanged rings the first time because I pressured him into doing so. I don’t need that now.”
“I don’t understand,” Naruto admitted.
“I know. It’s at odds with your nature. Try to accept that we are different.”
Naruto studied him for a moment and then nodded. “I shall try,” he promised. “Ha-chan says that you are upset about the interrogation.”

Shikamaru sighed. “I thought there was a difference between physical torture and playing mind games, but I’m no longer sure there is. We’ve employed Sasori to lie for us. How is that different from us lying?”
“Very different,” Naruto insisted. “Kabuto knows Sasori will say anything to get what he wants.”
“He’s using Kabuto’s hope, Na-chan, and the truth is that there isn’t any. There is nothing Kabuto can do to change the fact that Sasuke’s going to cut his throat and Orochimaru’s in the killing square.”
They sat in silence for a few minutes before Naruto spoke.
“You sure it is the genuine Kabuto?”
“Yes.”
“You certain about the Orochimaru yet?”
“No, but it’s looking more and more likely.”
“You have to let it go on until you are sure of that. We have to know if we have the original.”
Shikamaru felt himself settle. Naruto was right. It was about confirming Orochimaru’s identity; the information was of secondary importance. They were already close to certain that Izuna was responsible for the leak. Did it really matter if they didn’t find out about the other founder of the Akatsuki? Knowing Orochimaru, he had probably killed him centuries ago.
- 68
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