The blond man panted heavily, pulling his hat and coat closer in attempt to fight off the unyielding weather. Tightly gripping a grey briefcase, he gulped down the cold, sharp air painfully. Eyes flickering about in his all too familiar paranoid state. His thoughts in a flurry and feet shakily carrying him across the wet courtyard. Each slap of his shoe kept squeezing his nerves, till he was sure he would dirty the stone beneath him with sick. He glanced up, seeing the Star Spangled Banner twisting violently in the wind. The brief thought that it would be torn from the pole momentarily crossed his mind, though as he approached the intimidating building, he was reminded of bigger problems. He halted at the door, sniffling his mucus and pushing strands of hair from his face. His breath trembled as he brushed his fingers over the briefcase. He took a moment. That was all he allowed himself. Pushing the doors, he was greeted with the plump, red headed receptionist. Looking surprised, but overall pleased to see him.
"Minato, doing overtime for that promotion, hm?" She quipped, a knowing smirk on her made-up face. Returning with a wave, he smiled.
"Nothing gets past you, Delilah" Nervously patting down the remaining rain clinging to his coat. "Kakashi gone home yet?" He asked, dreading her answer.
"You know he hasn't, I wonder who he picked that up from?" She teased, the sound of her fake nails tapping away at the computer. Minato knew he'd miss that noise and the woman that made it. "Any other person would enjoy their honeymoon, I keep telling him that Rin is going to drag him by the collar one day, and I won't be stopping her!" Her laugh filled the room, Minato gave a nod of his head.
"I'm sure she will one day, have a good night, Delilah" She gave a smile before returning to her work, Minato turned around. His smile dropping from his face like an anvil on the coyote. Sweat collected under the hand that held the briefcase, almost afraid he'd drop it.
Stepping into the elevator, he didn't know what made him feel more nauseous. Between the green walls, the tuneless music and the scent of rain, he just wanted this to be over with. Arriving to his floor and striding down the empty hallways, he recognised the blue light coming from a corner office, belonging to no one other than his faithful mentee. Minato restrained himself from speaking to him. Brushing pass and heading instead to his goal.
Tapping away at a security pad, a metal door slid open. Opting to run, he rushed towards the empty drive. Ripping open the briefcase, snatching the USB and slamming it into the monitor. Rapidly typing away; he deleting every file with his name, every email, every number. Everything that proved Minato was an actual human being that existed. He heard murmurs from the other side of the wall. He cursed, grabbing files that were tucked underneath the file cabinet. Thankful that no one had noticed the hastily stashed papers. Shoving them into the case, he ran a shaky hand through his hair. Jumping a foot in the air as the computer began to loudly beep. He huffed lightly, relieved yet somewhat queasy. Gulping down what he sure was lunch, he quietly returned. His quivering fingertips typed in the last code. Looking up as his own profile reflected him. Information disappearing as three red letters appeared over the screen.
He them over and over. Wondering if this whole run was a dream. Yet, they stood there. Solid and strong.
Minato Namikaze was MIA.
Storming out the building with the files in his briefcase, the wind billowing his coat. A sleek, black town car crept up the sidewalk, advancing steadily like a lion ready to pounce on its prey. Minato stopped, watching the backdoor open. He climbed in, smooth cream leather cushioning him. He stared ahead, a lone figure obscured by the dark. Broad and menacing.
"We appreciate your loyalty, everything is in place now" The shadowy man spoke, his baritone voice rumbled deeply. "Though I'm still not sure why you're adamant in abandoning your family" Minato shifted uncomfortably, "You know you can bring them along" The question hung heavily in the air, Minato avoided his gaze.
"I never want to see either of them again" His response resolute. The other figure stared closely before signalling to his driver.
Leaving as quietly as it came, the town car and the men inside disappeared into the night.
...
It was a crisp autumn, the wind had remained a pleasant friend and the rain a distant one. Kakashi looked into the greying sky, knowing this meeting would crawl slower than the clouds he gazed at. He glanced toward the clock, he supposed an hour late would be alright. He shot a look towards Shizune, the woman was clearly unimpressed with his timekeeping. Without even looking his way, she spoke.
"The director isn't going to be happy"
"Well, someone has to watch the clouds" He responded light-heartedly, she gave a roll of her eyes as Kakashi approached the door. He gave a casual knock and waited before Shizune spoke once more.
"You okay? I know these meetings can be...somewhat-"
"Get in here!" A commanding voice ordered, Kakashi gave a smile and shrugged.
"That's my cue" He entered the room with Shizune's worried look on his back. He hated the weight it bore. Promptly shutting the door and giving a cocked brow toward his boss, a surly woman who wouldn't bow to his charisma.
"Are you some sort of masochist?" The woman hissed, hands folded beneath her chin. Mock shock took over his face.
"You been talking to my wife?" He joked, but he knew laughs seldom prevented the director's wrath. "Or perhaps Guy? Though it's difficult with his acorn sized-"
"Kakashi!" Tsunade snapped, "Not only do you turn up late, but you come here making jokes" Tsunade stood, "I handed this case to you thinking no one else would be as diligent in bringing Minato in, with my ass on the line for that decision, I'd think you'd take this more seriously" Her face red in anger, Kakashi had the decency to look away. Tsunade had little regret over her sharp words. She straightened her blazer before settling back in her seat. The momentary quiet ended with Tsunade slapping a yellow folder down. "New information from Asuma and Kurenai" Kakashi stepped forward, flipping open the file and zeroing in on what they had discovered.
"Naruto's enrolled to San Diego State? Kushina's named herself as the parent with her maiden name?" Kakashi was puzzled, they never came above the radar like this, neither even had credit cards to keep their whereabouts vague. "Why now? What-"
"That's what you need to find out" Tsunade stated before fiddling with a ballpoint pen, "Well, someone of your choosing..." She clarified, Kakashi shut the file.
"Danzo" He spat out, desperate to get the venom of that man's name out his mouth. Tsunade gave an apologetic look.
"He's still furious you're the leader on this case, or on this case in the first place, he's demanding that someone else from the NCS go undercover" Explaining would do no good, sitting back as Kakashi leaned forward on her desk, determined as always.
"I could easily go in as a teacher, a tutor, a counsellor, anything" Kakashi was bargaining, Tsunade cut it short.
"Huff and puff all you want, this was a direct order, I can't dismiss it" Kakashi held her gaze before turning to the side, "You can send in Sasuke, he's your protégé, right? You were asking for a serious mission for him" Tsunade suggested, Kakashi blinked several times before responding.
"He's still young"
"Which means he can fit in as a student, get in Naruto's friendship group, hell if he's as good as you preach then we might actually nail Minato" Tsunade listed. Kakashi still looked unsure, but Tsunade had no time to coddle him, her face turned stern. "Progress needs to be made, Kakashi, otherwise, they'll take this case from you and turn him into a kill target" Kakashi rubbed his eyes tiredly, nodding after a moment. "Good, take the file and go send Sasuke off, remind him that he's on his own, he's got a gun and a phone" Kakashi frowned.
"I thought the government being broke was something we just said" Kakashi questioned, Tsunade began writing out paperwork.
"Danzo cut your funding, sent it over to another team in Florida, called personal beach house" Tsunade chuckled at the supressed curses Kakashi came out with. He turned and left, staring at the folder before tucking it under his arm. Sasuke was going to be thrilled. having his first undercover mission was the only thing on his mind since he joined the NCS sector of the CIA. Kakashi entered the nearby break room. Sure enough, Sasuke was methodically going over his latest recon mission with an uninterested Suigetsu, a language officer with little regard for anything that would take too much effort.
"Hey, look, it's your daddy, go bore him with this" Suigetsu flatly stated, taking a sip of his coffee. Sasuke glared at the snarky man before turning his attention to Kakashi. A more pleasant expression reserved for him. Kakashi was assaulted of the memory of gazing toward his own mentor in such a way. Shaking it off, he came closer.
"Kakashi, I cleared the Zabuza case, found a weak link in a boy he visits every month, turns out he wasn't a prostitute" Sasuke stood proudly, showing his work as if he brought home an A-plus. Perhaps Suigetsu wasn't too far off the fatherly comment...
"His name was Haku, he's the supplier no one was able to locate, I did a check on him and turns out he stores it all in an abandoned junkyard by North Carolina" Sasuke was beaming, he always did when he solved something. Even more so when he got to brag about it to Kakashi. Kakashi smiled, ruffling his hair.
"Well done, Sasuke, I'll make sure to pick up some stickers for you tonight" Sasuke rolled his eyes, while Suigetsu snickered.
"Hardy har" Sasuke folded his arms, "Say what you want, Neji struggled with that case for months, I solved it in a week" They heard a complaint from Neji echo from the room over. Kakashi chuckled and inclined his head for Sasuke followed him into his office. Of course, Sasuke had noticed the yellow folder immediately and was staring hard at it.
"Hoping to develop x-ray vision?" Kakashi asked humorously, Sasuke smirked.
"Mind reading, actually" Kakashi chuckled, sitting down on the worn out, Scandinavian couch Guy had gifted him when he became a senior leader. God, he felt old sometimes. Sasuke sat across from him, taking the folder and ignoring Kakashi's comment about patience.
"Minato?" Sasuke's eyes widened.
"Minato's family to be more accurate" Kakashi responded, pointing toward the picture of a 12 year old Naruto, "The photo is eight years old, but that's the latest we have, turns out Naruto is pretty good at avoiding photos, at least clear ones" Kakashi brought out Naruto's application form, pointing to his major, "He's taking a course at San Diego State, a bachelors in Journalism, I'm gonna get you on that course as a student, it's up to you to get close to him" Kakashi ignored Sasuke's animated expression, attempting to finish before Sasuke could jump in. Of course, Sasuke was a hard force to stop.
"Is this my own mission?" Sasuke questioned, "In charge and everything?" Excitement laced with every word.
"Yes, now pay attention" Kakashi needed to keep Sasuke grounded, he couldn't afford for him mess up. Sasuke pulled his shoulders up, picking up the picture of Naruto. "We're certain they know of Minato's whereabouts, or at least, what his plans were, he was a family man who-"
"Probably told his family his next move and is why we've not been able to track them at all, he's been hiding them" Sasuke finished, Kakashi stared at him before Sasuke coughed lightly, "I read the report the tracker made when you took me on a few years back" Sasuke admitted, Kakashi shook his head at Sasuke's relentless task of documenting his entire life.
"I'm impressed if not pissed off, though I shouldn't be surprised, after all you ended up in my house talking with my wife only three days after meeting me" Kakashi remembered clearly walking into his kitchen to see the 18 year old drinking ice tea with Rin. Sasuke was nothing if not dedicated to his job. "Anyways, you're only 21, so you'll fit in with the students, but you're gonna be deep undercover, so you'll have to do the actual work of a student, I'll set up fake grades and reports so you should get a scholarship" Kakashi handed him a blue sheet with too many codes to memorise, "You are there to collect as much information about Minato as possible, find out where he is, find out if the family will move to another city soon, and you have you be careful" Kakashi pointed to a picture with graffiti of a red and black cloud, "Akatsuki are protecting the family, we assume since Minato left with them"
Sasuke stared wearily before placing the picture down. The Akatsuki constantly eluded them all, no one was even sure how far it went. Whether it was firearms, drugs or prostitution, the Akatsuki name always came up. The leader made no appearances, the man was a shadow at best.
"Who am I working with?" Kakashi shook his head.
"Limited resources, Hinata has been sent to Arizona to become neighbours with Kushina, but since Naruto's college in is California, you'll have no access to her" Sasuke frowned, but nodded in agreement.
"Okay, when do I start?" Sasuke was eager to do this. His first real mission. This Naruto would spill his every secret to Sasuke, he knew he could do what others couldn't. Kakashi handed him a gun and a CIA cellular.
"Pack your bags tonight, you'll have a monthly allowance, find a close apartment near him, and Sasuke?" Kakashi gave him a deathly serious luck.
"Do not fuck up"
...
"Seems he only applied to one" Sasuke wrote down the address Gaara gave him, circling around other apartments near the one Naruto was trying to get.
"Thanks, Gaara" Sasuke had another paper out, ready to get as much as he could. "Anyone else going for it?"
"I voided the other applications, so only yours and Naruto's has gone through"
"Good, now I can bug his room" Sasuke noted to buy a few, waiting for his friend to confirm the rest.
"I thought you just had to live near him, not with him"
"Hn, I go above and beyond" Sasuke smirked, "Besides, it's not going to be hard to get close to him even if I didn't do this; chances are he's some idiot that just parties, drinks and chases girls, I'll find Minato within a month max" Sasuke scoffed confidently, Gaara gave an unconvinced noise from the other end of the phone.
"Don't get ahead of yourself, Uchiha, most people die like that"
"Most people aren't me" Sasuke replied. Before Gaara could respond, Sasuke saw him.
Sasuke's small gasp caught in his throat.
Naruto Namikaze. In the flesh. A boy who harboured CIA criminals and apparently had whisker tattoos on his face. Sasuke wondered if they were gang-related, curiosity riled. For a boy in hiding, he wore loud clothing; red kicks, orange jersey and acid washed jeans. Sasuke's eyes hurt from the neon yellow that was his hair, clearly dyed and obnoxious as hell. Clunky sunglasses hid half his face, but not the striking smile. So, Naruto was this moron? Sasuke bet he'd find Minato within two weeks. The boy then proceeded to trip on his own untied shoelaces.
Make it one week.
"Trust me when I say that this man is an idiot"
"Perhaps it takes one to kno-"
"Watch it" Sasuke growled, hanging up and watching his target greet a pink-haired girl before slamming into a lamp post.
It was just too easy.
...
"Our intel informed us that someone from the CIA is going to be moving in on the Namikaze family" A gravelly voice warned.
"We can't have them getting to Minato! They'll throw him in jail" Another responded.
"Don't worry, our own will be protected" A high pitched woman spoke, "We just need to keep an eye on Minato's boy"
"And I know just how to do it" A deep man spoke, "I, myself, will be taking a personal interest in this matter, the Namikazes will remained untouched"