A/N: So! The poll revealed that most of you wanted to see what happened with Sasuke and Naruto (Love Is Blind) first. The fic dealing with Shikamaru and Gaara will likely also have Temari in it, but that's after this. People are still kind of connected without knowing it in this fic, as you guys will find out.

* Dunno what's going on with my beta, so I'm editing this myself. Y'all know the drill about typos -.-

To Hell and Back

The sprite spoke. "We'd like a word with you, Sasuke."

Sasuke didn't even get a chance to answer. The dyke only waited until the sprite was done speaking before she plowed a fist like a battering ram into his gut and had him doubling over. He brought his own fist up, rearing backward to take aim, but the dyke had by then muscled him back into his apartment. He went down with her on top of him, feeling her rock-like blows and hearing someone lock his door. He heard a shotgun cocked and thought, Fucking hell, what the Christ is this shit?

He really didn't have time for more as he got an arm up finally and blocked that fist. He grabbed hold of the bitch, flipped her, and crashed his own fist into her face, which brought the cold feel of the shotgun he'd heard to bear on the back of his head. A smooth, emotionless voice said, "I've got the trigger depressed. All it needs is another ounce."

No threat was made, no 'leave her alone or else.' Just that statement. Sasuke halted his fist with it still a foot from the dyke's face before he could deliver another punch. The muzzle of that shotgun stayed on his head as the dyke scooted on her back, moving away from him. When she'd regained her feet, she turned and kicked Sasuke's teeth in. Figuratively. He blacked out for the space of a few seconds, and came to on his own back, with the sprite shouting down into his face about his horrible treatment of her friend.

The dyke was punctuating the sprite's furious words with more blows. The shotgun was held by the spook, trained on him, so he didn't defend himself. The punches were hard, well-aimed, but not debilitating. He would bide his time, but by the Mother he'd get a piece of that bruja.

In the meantime.

What friend was the sprite still screaming about? He could barely make sense of her tearful, shrieking tirade. She even landed a few punches herself. They were light things that he barely felt, though she clearly put all her strength behind them.

At last the sprite and the dyke were done. The sprite wiped her face, then reached into her purse. She withdrew an envelope and threw it down on Sasuke's face. "Stay away from him," she sniffed angrily. "Or you'll regret it."

The trio backed away and watched Sasuke get slowly to his feet. The dyke looked pleased, sporting a small smile. The spook looked as bland as ever, but his shotgun didn't waver. The sprite cuddled against the dyke and blew into a Kleenex she withdrew from her purse.

"You're all under arrest for assaulting a police officer," Sasuke hissed. He located his gun half under his couch. "And this time I'll shoot the first person who moves."

The spook spoke. "That's not happening. You can try, but I promise you it won't work. And unless you want to end up homeless, with no identity and no money in your bank account, you'll accept that fact and go back to sleep. We did what we came to do. Have a nice day." The spook motioned for the sprite and the dyke to make for the door, which they did. The spook backed out last, holding that shotgun steady.

Sasuke went for his cell immediately, running into the hall to follow them. He stopped. His phone had no service, he saw. He ran back inside for his house line and found that dead too. By the time he got to the sidewalk, there was no sign of them. He saw that he still held the envelope that had been thrown at him and absently opened it on his way back to his apartment. He withdrew the money and stared down at it in confusion. Then he flipped the bills over and saw his handwriting. Oh. That friend.

The next morning, his partner climbed into the vehicle when Sasuke went to pick him up, took one look at Sasuke's face, and burst out laughing. "Dude! What happened to you?"

Sasuke put the car in park. "Get out."

Konohamaru tried to stop laughing. "No, okay, I'm sorry."

Sasuke unbuckled his belt, depressed his door handle. "I'm serious, get out."

Konohamaru stopped laughing for real. "Look, I said I was-"

"I need to use your computer. Mine's dead and I don't want to do the search at the department."

Konohamaru slowly got out of the car, turning to speak to Sasuke across the hood. "What search? And what's up with your computer, you forgot to pay your internet bill or something?"

Sasuke followed Konohamaru up the stairs to his apartment in the attractive brownstone he lived in. "No. I'm being targeted. I can't access my bank account, and my phones are dead, both cell and house lines."

"Targeted by who?" Konohamaru went directly to his laptop and opened it.

"By the people who did this," Sasuke gestured at his face. A bunch of colorful sword-wielding people popped up on the laptop screen.

The screensaver was of some stupid anime show Konohamaru was forever going on about. Soap, Sasuke thought it was called. No, that wasn't right. He thought for a moment, watching as Konohamaru pulled up his homepage. Bleach. That was the show he watched.

Sasuke sat at the computer and took a piece of paper out of his shirt pocket. On it, he had written the sprite's name, phone number and the college she'd attended. All this was information he'd gotten from his neighbor's apartment, after he'd picked the lock. His neighbor's name was Naruto, he also learned. He began his search.

When he'd gathered as much info on Sakura as he could, he pulled the wallet he'd lifted from the dyke's pocket while she'd been on him, and looked at the contents.

Nara Ino. Membership at Jim's Gym. Employed by NYPL.

More than enough to get started, but he soon found that no information existed on that bitch. Sasuke tapped the laptop thoughtfully, thinking. Konohamaru slurped Gogurt noisily. He lived off the things until Sasuke only had to smell the stuff to feel nauseous. Sasuke stood up abruptly.

"We going in now?" Konohamaru asked.

"We have a personal day today. I cleared it."

"Word? Sweet. So…now what?"

"You go to this address and question Sakura. I'll take the dyke. From her I'll find out who the spook is."

"And then what?"

"I'll be arresting their asses."

"Won't you need proof they were even at your place last night or that they jacked up your shit?" Konohamaru asked once he'd heard the entire tale.

"Are you loco? What do you think we're interrogating these putas for?"

Konohamaru ducked his head sheepishly. "Oh, right."

-oOo-

Both endeavors lead to dead ends. The address Sasuke had pulled up for Sakura turned out to be bogus and he was respectfully informed by the library manager that Ino hadn't shown up to work that day and would not be in for the next week. Sasuke asked to see her employee file. The manager wrung his hands, asking for a warrant. Sasuke left.

Apparently, whoever had tampered with his personal information had also tampered with Sakura's, Sasuke fumed. The spook had to be a talented hacker indeed.

He hit the gym next and was met at the door by a guard named Lance who said he'd never seen or heard of any Ino. Sasuke talked his way past him (using his fist) and made his inquiries inside. He was told the same thing by every hard-eyed thug in there. When he refused to leave, the patrons of the gym, including the owner, casually began closing ranks around the lone cop. Sasuke made a tactful retreat.

Home again, Sasuke slammed into his apartment and froze. His belongings looked the way they had when he'd left that morning, but he could tell: someone had been in his place.

A brief search revealed the apartment to be empty. He went through it again anyway, and came up with an envelope in his fridge, behind his carton of milk. Who the hell would hide an envelope in the frigging fridge?

The note read:

Stop trying to find me and Ino. I know you have her wallet. Just give up and we'll give you your life back. Keep looking for us or trying to arrest us, and things will get worse for you. Of course, if you try to pursue this I will be more than willing to oblige you. I have nothing better to do…

Never, Sasuke seethed as he crushed the envelope in his hand. He didn't bother saving it to dust for prints. It would be clean.

Three days later he was forced to change his mind. His social security number was invalid, his savings gone, and his rent was due. Worse, his boss had called him into his office this morning to discuss something serious.

"Do you know a Hyuuga Neji?"

Sasuke blinked. "Yes. Why?"

"He's dead, that's why. He was found yesterday and your number is all over his phone."

"Captain, I-"

"There are some suggestive texts as well."

Sasuke shut his mouth. He knew exactly what texts there were on Neji's phone. He was surprised Neji had kept them, but dismayed at what they revealed about his sexuality. That was not common knowledge. At least it hadn't been.

"Coroner placed his TOD somewhere between one and two early Sunday morning. Where were you then?"

Sasuke tried to think coherently. Neji was dead? "Sir, is this our jurisdiction? Where was he found? I mean, doesn't he live in Jersey?"

"Why would you think that?"

"It's what he told me, sir."

"He lived in Queens. OD-ed on sleeping pills, but that's a preliminary conclusion, one made at the rushed request of his influential family. Your whereabouts between the hours of twelve and three am on the night in question, Uchiha."

Neji had lied to him about where he lived? Besides the point. Sasuke thought back. "Home. In bed."

"Alibi?"

"None, sir."

"I see. The homicide detective in charge will be by later to question you. Don't go anywhere."

"Yes, sir. Uh, sir?" The captain looked up at him, eyes flat. "Why am I a suspect?" Because the only reason a detective would drive down from Queens would be because he was a suspect. Which would only happen if the suicide appeared to be murder.

His captain sighed, looked toward his open office door at the noise of the bullpen, then lowered his voice. "You're a god cop, Uchiha. I like you. So this is just between us, got that?"

Sasuke nodded, feeling his stomach tighten in dread.

"There were some videos on his phone. Of you and him."

"Videos, sir?"

"Intimate videos." That flat stare, one every cop perfected before he was out of the academy. The one that said Hey, I'm neutral, but I know your ass is guilty as hell. His captain said no more, shuffling files on his desk in a clear dismissal.

How did videos make him a suspect in an apparent suicide? He considered telling his captain that he was under some kind of attack, that his identity, and probably soon his job, were being stolen from him. When the detective came later, he gave his statement, the truth, and was rewarded with another cop look.

Yamanaka Inoichi was older, harder, and probably ate steel for breakfast. His hair was in a long, blond, unconventional ponytail, his face lined and scarred. He was thin, but solid, and two inches taller than even Sasuke. He regarded everything with distrustful eyes that Sasuke felt were extremely familiar.

"He broke up with you Friday night?" Detective Yamanaka said. His partner was one Akimichi Choza, who jotted down Sasuke's words.

"That's correct," Sasuke answered. He refused to be intimidated by the man's direct turquoise eyes.

"How'd you feel about that?"

"Pretty shitty."

"Enough to kill him?"

"I didn't kill anyone."

"Were you aware that Neji recorded your activities?"

"No, I wasn't."

"Why do you think he did if, as you say, he'd only been using you?"

"Probably to blackmail someone."

Yamanaka and Akimichi exchanged a look that said plainly Here it is, the One-Armed Man plea. "And who might that someone be?" Yamanaka asked with a bored air.

"The boyfriend he said left him?" Sasuke ventured, out of patience. "Shouldn't you be finding out who that is? Or the woman he said he was marrying?"

Their silence told Sasuke that they had knowledge of these people, probably from Neji's phone. Interesting. They changed the line of questioning.

"You said he told you he lived out in Jersey. Did he give you an address?" Akimichi asked pleasantly. He was obviously supposed to be the Good Cop.

"No," Sasuke sighed.

"What did he say exactly?"

Sasuke thought back to that night in the bar when he'd met Neji. "I asked if he lived in The Village. He said his soul was in Jersey."

Yamanaka and Akimichi stood up. "We're done for now. Keep yourself available."

Sasuke stood as well, nodding that he would be reachable.

"One last thing," Akimichi said. He pulled a printout of a photo from his back pocket, unfolded it and showed it, his small eyes gauging Sasuke's reaction. "Ever seen this guy before?"

Sasuke studied the picture. It showed a cute red-haired male, probably late teens to early twenties, between a hundred and a hundred and ten pounds. Green eyes, Japanese tattoo over left eye, black eyeliner. He was reclining on white sheets and a white pillow, smiling winsomely for whoever was taking the picture. "Never seen him before," he said.

The picture was refolded and put away again. The detective and Officer Akimichi left.

At home, his phone rang. The caller ID showed the number as unlisted. His phone hadn't rung since his run-in with Sakura and crew. He answered on the third ring. "What."

"You can have your life back." The word if was unspoken.

It was the spook.

Sasuke didn't answer, throwing his keys on his kitchen table and turning to lean his ass against the counter. He crossed his legs and folded one arm across his chest, thinking. "And all I'd have to do is stop looking for you and that dyke-"

The dyke. Distrustful, turquoise eyes. That's where he'd seen them.

"Yes. Just forget we were there. No lasting harm was done, and you did have it coming to you. Or so Sakura believes."

Sasuke abruptly remembered that he was a possible suspect in Neji's death. His mind took a small trip backward, remembering kisses they'd shared, words of love they'd exchanged, and how hurt he'd been at Neji's dismissal of him less than a week ago. And now the man was dead. He suddenly couldn't care less about finding the people who'd held him at gun point and roughed him up. "You know what? Fine. I give up. I got other shit to deal with. Just give me what you took from me and we'll call it even."

The line went dead. An hour later his cell service and internet were turned on again. A quick check online showed he was able to access his bank account.

-oOo-

The next day was his day off. Detective Yamanaka dropped by, sans Officer Akimichi, and questioned him some more. The toxicology report had come back, stating conclusively that Neji had overdosed on his sleeping pills. Sasuke received this information with a blank expression, hiding his relief. Detective Yamanaka, however, felt it incumbent that Sasuke see the videos. He pulled out a portable DVD player and slipped in a disc.

It was too embarrassing to see himself. He didn't remember Neji being that noisy. Sasuke turned his head away, going to his door to hold it open. Yamanaka got the hint and left.

Sasuke went to his room, dropped on his bed, and brooded.

He'd never truly known Neji. If he had, he would have known he was so unhappy, known he was being used by the man, and known he was suicidal. And if he hadn't known Neji, how could he have loved him so much? What had he really known about him to love him enough to be crushed by his leaving? What the hell had become of Sasuke to forget himself and who he was so completely?

His pride washed through him, smothering the rest of the hurt and insecurity his encounter with Neji had left behind. Then he gasped, his pride shriveling away as he remembered his neighbor.

Neji had used him because his boyfriend had left and he had turned right around and done the same fucking thing, hadn't he? My god, Sasuke marveled. I'm just as bad as he is.

And with this realization, he finally understood what the sprite had been going on and on about.

True, he'd known there was some kind of weird attraction on his neighbor's part, but he hadn't known the guy was in love with him. The sprite had said a bunch of things about crushing Naruto's feelings. About treating him like a whore and taking advantage of Naruto's love for Sasuke…

Honestly, he'd thought nothing wrong with giving the guy some money. His neighbor had practically thrown himself at Sasuke. And he'd figured as long as the guy was offering…

But he hadn't been offering. He hadn't refused once Sasuke kissed him, but that might not have been what he was offering. Maybe he'd only been willing to provide comfort and understanding. Sasuke coming on to him like that must have made it seem like Sasuke wanted him. And then the money…

Aye, Dios, ayudame. What have I done? Sasuke thought. No one deserved that.

He got up and yanked his door open, going directly down the hall to Naruto's apartment. He banged on the door, intent on explaining himself and tendering his apologies.

No answer. Come to think of it, he hadn't seen his neighbor since he fucked him. Where was he?

Sasuke was considering picking the lock again, but as he turned to get the tools to do this from his place, he caught a flash of pink hair disappearing back down the stairwell.

He ran and caught her easily, spinning her around by her arm. She regarded him with wide, frightened eyes. "Let me go!"

"Sakura, right?"

"You're hurting my arm."

Sasuke relaxed his grip. "Where's Naruto?"

"Safe from you. You have no idea what you did to him."

"Actually, I do. And I want to apologize. Where can I find him?"

"Stay away from him. I kept telling him you were bad news but he insisted you were perfection made flesh. It hurts me that I was right, but I'm glad he sees you for what you are now." She stamped on his foot as hard as she could. When Sasuke merely stared down at her sandals with a frown, she did it again, then again, mashing his toes in his sneaker repeatedly.

Sasuke figured he was supposed to feel pain. The woman looked like she weighed all of ninety-five pounds dripping wet. He let go of her.

Sakura swept past him regally and entered Naruto's apartment with a set of keys she withdrew from her purse. Sasuke followed her.

She watered his plants. That was it. Sasuke trailed behind her, ignoring her pointed glares as he took in the rooms.

Things were missing. He had to figure Sakura usually came here during the day while he was at work. She'd probably taken things back to Naruto, who was likely staying at her place.

He left her alone and returned to his apartment to think. He decided he would give Naruto some time to get over his initial anger. When he came back to his apartment, Sasuke would be ready with a lengthy and sincere apology.

Except the man never came back. He waited three weeks. He finally followed Sakura back to her place in the Bronx and confronted her, only to learn he was too late. Naruto had left a week ago.

"To where?" Sasuke shouted in shock. "Kuwait! Why the hell would he go all the way out there?