"Naruto Uzumaki! Get your ass down here! You're going to be late!" The voice rang through the too small apartment as a blonde bolted straight from his room through the front, stopping only to give the blonde girl in the kitchen a kiss on the cheek.

"Later, Ne-chan," he shouted back before slamming the door closed. He sprinted past the elevator, well aware that he couldn't waste the time it would take to wait for the conveyance. He took the stairs almost three at a time in his hurry. If he missed the bus, she wouldn't take him to school. He'd have to wait until Iruka got off to give him a ride.

He flew out the apartment building doors, and skidded to a stop in the rapidly decreasing line of high schoolers climbing into the large yellow bus. Kiba turned his head so that even though he was in front could see Naruto.

"Cutting it close today, eh?" He snickered, showing abnormally long canines. Naruto just snorted, and shoved himself into the seat next to Hinata. The girl nodded a good morning before going back to her Spanish homework. Wordlessly, he reached into his bag, pulled out his own, and thrust it at her.

"Yeah, well, at least I'm pretty sure I've figured out that calc shit," he said, shoving his homework back into Hinata's lap despite her quiet protests. Kiba's eyes bugged out, and he franticly began tearing through the black hole that was his bag. Naruto had to hide the smirk that graced his features at the others panic. Serves the bastard right for making fun of my tardiness.

"Damnit. Ebberton is going to kill me. I haven't turned my homework in for the past week!" Kiba looked genuinely panicked at the thought of having to face his math teacher's wrath. The man may be the world's biggest Star Wars fan, and an even bigger sci-fi nerd, but he got down right evil when it came to homework. Hinata finally took Naruto's work, if only to 'check my answers', as she put it blushing cutely.

"Nice way to start the week, mutt," a cold monotone responded alerting them to the arrival of the third member of the three friends who rode the bus together. He forced his way into the space between Naruto and Kiba, taking the aisle seat. Kiba muttered darkly at his back.

"How was your weekend, bastard? Still haven't seen fit to get laid, I see," Naruto remarked on the fact that the other always seemed to have a stick up his ass. The coldly handsome boy just smirked, flipping the other the bird.

"As could be expected. Mother was off at some fashion show in Milan, and Father, of course, felt the need to see the other one," which caused the two boys to wince. Sasuke's life was like a demented soap opera. One wanted all the juicy details, and at the same time was horrified that this could really be going on in someone's life. Sasuke's father had had numerous affairs in the time the three had know each other, roughly since grade school, but this one was his longest to date.

"Damn. If he keeps this up it'll be all over the tabloids. And then your mother will have to leave him," Kiba said shaking his head. The Uchiha's weren't just rich, they were transplanted Japanese aristocracy. They had moved to the states after World War One, somehow managed to keep their wealth through the depression, and stayed above reproach during the Second World War. Rumors were that they had used a small fortune to stay out of the concentration camps that so many Japanese spent the war in.

"She won't. I'm pretty sure she knows what's going on, that she always has. My mother was raised very traditionally. More than likely, she sees this as an American version of a Geisha," Sasuke really didn't like his family. They were all hypocrites, and, worse, obsessed with appearances. This was why the other two had never been to his home in all the years they had known him.

"On a lighter note, Kyuubi made cookies!" Naruto said shaking the plastic sandwich bag in Sasuke's face. Kiba's lit up like a fat kid in a candy shop. Sasuke just rolled his eyes. The damn things were good as sin, which was why they were commonly referred to as crack cookies. The name was never used in her presence, though. She wasn't just Naruto's sister, she was one of the top detectives in the gang division, and as such had seen just what crack could really do to people.

Kiba snatched them as the bus lurched to a stop and the mad dash for the door began. Hinata quietly handed back Naruto's work with a soft "thank you", and Kiba proceeded to attempt to stuff his mouth full of cookies while collecting his belongings, only partially succeeding. By the time the two of them made it off the bus, Sasuke was surrounded by the three person thick throng that made up his fan club. Both rolled their eyes and dived in to save Sasuke before he left another girl in tears. There had been two last week because they had been trying to do math homework on the bus, and were reluctant to get off.

Luckily, this was avoided as another member of their friends showed up. There was a bit of mayhem as the girls tried to decided between dark beauty in front of them and the exotic red head. In the end, the two left the fan girls still deciding and followed Naruto and Kiba to the area by the stairs already filled with their other friends. Kiba, unfortunately, was still eating cookies when they walked up, resulting in a mini war with Choji, until Naruto produced his bag of cookies.

"Kill anyone interesting over the weekend?" Kiba asked the red head in a joking voice. Gaara was a rehabilitated gang member and closet mass murder. Closet because police had never been able to prove him responsible for the crimes that the streets attributed to him. There he was known simply as the sandman, or in Japanese circles Subaku. Naruto had run into him at the station, where he spent most afternoons, and, despite nearly becoming his latest victim formed a friendship that had a very positive affect on the other. The group had absorbed him, and his past was somewhat of a joke among those brave enough to talk to him.

"No. Temari says Kankuro may be annoying, but killing him won't stop him," his voice a monotone, and left the others looking at him. Normally, his answer was a simple no (they were pretty sure he didn't understand the fact that they were joking, and thus the literal answer). The fact that his sister had to come up with some kind of excuse to prevent him from going after his brother was not a good sign. He tilted his head at the looks he was receiving. "What? It was a joke. Temari says I need to acquire a sense of humor, and everyone seems to laugh at Kiba's nonsense remarks," a collective sigh was released as everyone realized that it was just a sad attempt at humor.

"Sasuke, do you want to join me for lunch?" Sakura said sweetly, trying to lean into him. She was pushed out of the way by her blonde counterpart.

"No way, forehead girl. He wants to have lunch with me," Ino snarled. Shikamaru recognized the signs of an oncoming cat fight. That and that Sasuke looked like he wanted to punch the two of them, and was seriously thinking about it, regardless of the chivalry thing.

"He eats with both of you every day," he stated in his overly bored tone. The girls blinked before turning back to one another.

"He's going to sit next to me, Ino-pig," Sakura said jabbing her finger into the other girl's collarbone. Shikamaru just rolled his eyes. Thankfully, they were saved by the ringing of the bell. Sasuke had never made it to first period so fast, except for the other times the girls started arguing, which was every other day.

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After school found Naruto doing his homework in one of the solitary rooms in booking. It had been a slow afternoon for the station, largely meaning that there was no one other than the usual suspects brought in. Naruto finished his homework and went in search of his sister. She was pouring over a file on her desk, a slight frown on her face. She was a large busted version of what Naruto looked like, everyone always talking about the family resemblance between the two.

"Whatcha looking at?" he asked sitting on the closest to a clean space on her desk. She sighed before looking at him.

"You know the gang structure around here, Naruto," she said. The other nodded.

"There's Oto on the west side, Suna on the north, MS13 in the south, with the Bloods to the east," he stated. Growing up with his sister in the gang division had given him the knowledge of the workings of the gangs within his city. His sister just shook her head.

"Not any more. The Bloods were always the weakest of the four. It seems someone has finally managed to do the deed and oust them. Meet Atatsuki," she said shoving the file towards him. He frowned looking at the paper.

"Ne-chan, there are a lot of blanks here," he said remembering how extensive her knowledge of the other gangs were. She puffed her cheeks out.

"That's the problem. Other than the name, no one knows anything about them. Even the other gangs are hush-hush about them. No one will tell us anything," she said burying her head in her hands. Naruto patted her soothingly on the back.

"You'll figure it out. Remember Suna?" he said grinning. Suna had been his sister's first real achievement in the force. She had managed to crack Gaara (with some help from Naruto of course), and thus bring Suna under control if not down. She smiled as her partner came running down the aisle between cubicles.

"Kyuubi, we've got a request from homicide. They want you there ASAP," Shizune breathed. She grabbed her keys, standing.

"Where?" she asked, already moving towards the door.

"612 Magnolia, upper east," Shizune said following her partner's example. Kyuubi froze her eyes flicking toward Naruto.

"That's…" she began, her voice thick with dread. Naruto had gone pale as a ghost.

"Sasuke…" his voice was barely a whisper. Kyuubi grabbed him by the arm and rushed out the door with him in tow. She shoved him into the back of her unmarked sedan, watching as he buckled his seatbelt out of habit. She put the light on the top of her car and screeched out of the parking lot like a bat out of hell. The route was familiar. Naruto had never been inside Sasuke's house, and neither had she, but she had often taken the boy back and forth from Naruto's apartment over the years. The mad dash felt unreal, somehow.

They were at the gates in record time, and being ushered in by the uniform posted to keep the curious out. The gravel drive crunched under the tires as they approached the mansion. It was sprawling, built to resemble a tradition Japanese manor house, the colors brightly cheerful. The reasoning behind their trip gave the house a spooky quality it had never possessed before. Two cruisers and an EVAC sat in front of the main steps, forcing her to park a little away. She got out and walked to where the EVAC sat. If someone was alive they would be there, for shock if nothing else.

The EMTs were crowded around someone. Her breath caught in her throat. Please, she pleaded with God, please let that be Sasuke. It seemed somebody was listening to her as she recognized the mop of black hair. She was stopped from rushing to the boy's side by her favorite homicide detective, Kakashi.

"He's not talking to anyone, Kyuubi. If it wasn't for the fact that we found him with his cell phone in his hand, I wouldn't have believed he was the one who made the 911 call," he said catching her attention. His voice reminded her of the fact that she had a job to do.

"How bad is it?" she asked, watching Sasuke out of the corner of her eye. Kakashi shook his head. She sucked in a breath. That was never a good sign.

"It's bad, sugar, real bad," if he was calling her that it wasn't just bad. It had to be along the lines of when the last police chief had been done in by Oto. She nodded steeling herself for what she knew she was going to have to see.

"Show me," she choked out and so he did. She entered the foyer, resisting the urge to take her shoes off. The entry was a soft pink marble just lifted off the floor like most Japanese houses. She followed him through the house, passing a kitchen and dining room. He stood next to the doorframe leading to the living room motioning her in. The second her foot hit the black carpet a sickening squelch was heard. She watched a dark liquid ooze over the toe of her high-heel for a moment before she realized what the substance was: blood. And a lot of it to soak the carpet and still be freestanding. She suppressed the urge to shutter. She kept moving forward, a smell tickling her nose. It took her a minute to figure out what it was. It was the smell of ground meat.

It wasn't until just past the couch that she saw the bodies. Or body parts to be more exact. Her emotions had shut-down at this point, and her mind made a mental note of the fact that that was likely the reason there was so much blood. The two heads, for there were only two, and this struck her as odd for some reason, were sitting on the coffee table, sightless eyes looking at where she had come in. Blood painted the wall like some demented red ink, making tiny stylized red clouds. That was likely why they had called her. Those clouds were one of the few things they knew about Atatsuki.

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Naruto followed his sister, despite Shizune's warning to stay in the car. The whole thing felt so surreal. Just like when he had lost his father. He had only been six, but he could still remember the uniforms, so like the ones his father and sister wore, the blood. God, that was the one thing that would forever haunt his dreams. His sister had never managed to get it cleaned off the wall, and in the end they had moved. His death was the reason his sister went into the gang division. Their father had been working a hit that had happened in the west district, and gotten too close it seemed.

He watched as his sister stopped to talk to another detective before going inside the building. Wasn't she going to make sure Sasuke was ok? His feet carried him to the EMTs, where he saw Sasuke sitting, staring blankly ahead. Happy that the other was not among whoever was dead in the building he rushed over and threw his arms around him.

"You're ok, you bastard," he said gaining the attention of the EMTs. He ignored them in favor of the fact that Sasuke hadn't moved, not even to throw him off. "Teme?" he said pulling away. The other turned his head to face him, but it was a moment before he focused on him.

"Naruto?" his voice was soft, not even a whisper. Naruto nodded as he reached forward and yanked him to himself. He began sobbing uncontrollably. Naruto blinked in shock for a moment, before holding him. What had happened to reduce him to tears? He let the other cry himself dry, until he was simply just holding Naruto in place.

"Naruto," he recognized his sister's voice from behind him, but couldn't turn because of Sasuke. She placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. "Why don't you put Sasuke in the car? I'm going to be a while with Kakashi," she said quietly and he nodded. Naruto carefully maneuvered Sasuke back to the car without breaking his hold. They said in the car, not speaking. Naruto knew what it was like to come home to something like this, and he also knew that when Sasuke could tell what happened he would only want to do so once. He didn't know how long he sat in the car, Sasuke's head buried in the crook of his neck, before his sister and Shizune came back.

"We're going back to the station. Chief Tsunade's going to want Sasuke's statement," Naruto noticed the strain on her voice as a sign of just how bad things were inside. Sasuke just whimpered. Naruto was freakishly worried about his friend. The ride back to the station was slower, but no less surreal. He managed to get his friend into one of the interrogation rooms, but when he tried to leave (he wasn't supposed to be present for the formal stuff. He already knew he was going to get it for being at the scene), Sasuke would grab a wrist and pull him back into his seat. In the end, Tsunade had just motioned for him to stay.

"Let's just get this over with," she said placing the tape recorder on the table between them. It clicked on and she leaned forward in her chair. "Please state your name for the tape." Sasuke looked at her for the first time.

"Sasuke Uchiha," his voice was firm, but quiet. Some quality from before missing to Naruto's ears. Tsunade nodded encouragingly.

"Can you tell me what happened this afternoon, Mr. Uchiha?" her voice was firm in it's demand. There was a pause as his eyes left her face, before moving to stare at the wall over her shoulder.

"I arrived home about 3:20; the bus was a little early today. The house seemed empty when I first went in, but that was normal for the time of day. I took my shoes off at the door, and then proceeded to the living room," here he paused taking a large breath. "I noticed that the floor was wet and when I looked down," his voice cracked here, "I saw blood. So much blood. I ran further into the room to see my brother," the last word was a low growl. "My brother standing there covered in blood, a calligraphy brush in his hand. He turned to me covered in blood. He just grinned. He pulled out a katana," here he swallowed. "I'm assuming it's the one that's normally over the fireplace," he paused and Tsunade nodded to show she understood and would have someone look into it. "He said to run, and I…,I did. I was half way down the block before I realized he wasn't following me, and I called 911. You know the rest," he finished the last in a whisper. Tsunade clicked the tape off before sticking it in her pocket.

"Detective Uzumaki has agreed to let you stay at her place while things are sorted out. I took the liberty of having Detective Shizune pack some things for you to take with you," she said standing. Sasuke nodded, and the two followed her out. She handed him the duffel that had been waiting outside the door. Sasuke looked at it for a minute before taking it. She motioned them into the chairs just outside the room before going to fetch his sister. Naruto watched Sasuke for a minute as he stared at the off-white walls.

"Are you going to be ok?" he asked knowing it was stupid the moment it was out. Sasuke turned toward him, a malicious smirk twisting his features.

"I will be, dobe, I will be."

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The return home was quiet. Sasuke said very little, barely answering any of the questions that were asked of him. Naruto however was more concerned with the way that Sasuke had answered his question. He had never seen a look so devoid of sanity. It both scared him and left him excited at the same time. He had never Sasuke so focused on something. He had wanted to ask him what he had meant, but had been interrupted by the arrival of his sister.

It was close to midnight by the time they made it to the apartment. Kyuubi slid her key into the lock, swaying on her feet. Two-and-a-half inch heels were not meant to be worked in for the amount of time she had. The door opened with a welcome click, and the three slid in. There was a pause as she looked for the light switch, which was want to stick. The light cam on, and nearly had Kyuubi reaching for the gun that rested just under her left arm.

"Gaara, damnit, what have I told you about sneaking into the house while we're gone?" she hissed in annoyance. Indeed, Gaara sat three feet away in the hall, blocking their path. His eyes opened as the words left her mouth. He just shrugged, as they took off their shoes. Kyuubi was clearly worn out and frustrated by her day, as she just walked around Gaara glaring at his calm form. "Just be sure to lock the door after yourself," she said in a huff.

"Is there something I can help you with, Gaara?" Naruto asked. Gaara had often broken into their house during the period they had been investigating Suna. Sometimes he came with a purpose, other times it was simply to get away from his house. He would come and just sit somewhere, normally on the living room couch, all night, and be gone by the time that they left the next day.

"Is it true?" his question was directed over his shoulder to Sasuke, who paused in the process of placing his shoes in the cubby hole that they had assigned him from the time he was four, and old enough to come over. His entire back went rigid. "Ah, so then it was you brother," Gaara said in the same monotone he always spoke in. The way his head was tilted to the side suggested that he was thinking about it, however. He rose with the deadly grace he was often known for, moving for the door. He stopped as Sasuke's had flew out just inches in front of him.

"How?" he hissed it through his teeth. Gaara stared at the arm as through trying to decide whether he should obey it or not.

"That is a big question, Uchiha," he said softly deciding to ignore the presence of the arm and concentrate on the oak of the door instead.

"How do you know? Tsunade said she had a 24 hour gag order on the media," Sasuke wasn't looking at the other, thus he missed the twisted smile that played on the other's face.

"They wanted the others to know. They sent us pictures," Sasuke removed his hand and slumped against the wall. Gaara opened the door, and turned to look at the other two, Naruto had moved so that he supported the other partially. "Come to me when you wish to start it, Uchiha. I'll be waiting." He was out the door before he had a chance to reply. A soft click was heard as he locked the door with a technique that neither of the siblings had ever figured out.