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STANDARD DISCLAIMER APPLIED

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"—where is he? Stop him! I've told you already, he's dangerous! He needs to be stopped."

((RUN DON'T LOOK BACK RUN!))

"—AKATSUKI can't deal with this sort of disruption. I don't care who he is; you kill him and you do it fast. He does not get out of this building alive. None of them do. We've gotten what we need."

((He runs faster, darting to the left and out of sight; there he crouches, panting and scared, and oh so lonely. He watches as men run past, carrying guns; some fire blindly into corners and boxes. Who are they searching for? He doesn't know; oh, he's tired, so tired. How he longs to sleep; sorry, can I sit this one out, thanks.

And then—

"—GET HIM!"

He's running again.))

"—I've put all my faith in you, number Four. I expect you'll do the right thing; the correct thing. Kill them all. All of them. Don't leave a single one standing; AKATSUKI were never here."

((He turns, jumps, and then he's hidden, squeezing his body into the smallest hiding place he can find. Midnight-black hair sticks to pale, sweaty skin— or is it blood?—, and he stuffs his fist into his mouth. He chokes back tears; where are they?))

"—all of them, including our own. AKATSUKI were never here. Never. Remember that, Four-san."

((A group of men run past; they stop, look around, and then continue on their journey. He remains hidden, no longer terrified; an unusual, deadly calm has washed over him and he feels only a strange sense of foreboding. Something is going to happen.

Something terrible.))

"…Understood."

((When the last person has passed, he springs down and rolls nimbly. No one notices his movement; there is no one there to notice. He straightens, begins to run and then—

"—Sasuke."

His eyes widen. He turns. There he is— nii-san, nii-san!— standing tall and proud, katana in hand; his brother takes a step forwards and he finally notices the blood.

It's everywhere.))

((MOTHER! FATHER! WHERE ARE YOU?! I NEED YOU!))

((Nii-san's eyes shimmer suddenly, surprisingly; it scares him and he steps back. Tears trickle down his cheeks, shining in the dim light; but nii-san doesn't stop moving, he keeps coming, he keeps walking slowly forwards.

"…N—Nii-san… N—Nii-san!"

"What's wrong, little brother?" Nii-san cocks his head and smiles gently. "Do I scare you? Does this blood scare you? It is our blood, little brother; the blood of our mother and father and every Uchiha."

"N—No."

"Yes." Nii-san reaches out, one hand still clutching the katana, and presses his index finger against the younger brother's forehead. They stand in silence and then Nii-san finally pushes him away. "Run, Sasuke. I don't want to kill you; run. Run and hate me."

"N—No! Please, this isn't h—happening…! N—Nii-san!"

"RUN!"

And he does just that.))

"…They're dead."

((WERE YOU CRYING? WERE THOSE TEARS? OR WAS IT JUST BLOOD?))

"All of them?"

((He slips quietly out of the building. He leaves without a sound, gone without a trace. He looks back only once, remembering; he can see the blade arching through the air, hitting it's target; he feels the spray of blood wash over his face, as his parents shield him with their bodies.

He'd rather be dead.))

"Yes. All of them."

-

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We kill to protect those closest to us. We kill to protect ourselves. We kill to protect those closest to us. We kill to protect ourselves.

We kill for the truth.

And, yet, everything seems to be a lie.

-

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((—SUKE!))

Stop calling me. Stop shouting. I can hear you. Stop.

((—SASUKE!))

Please. I can't—

I can't what?

((SASUKE!))

Who are you?

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(hot, hot, hot!)

_B

_e

_s

_t

(spicy, tch, tch!)

_S

_e

_r

_v

_e

_d

(ooh la la, monsieur!)

_H

_o

_t

(a forbidden love amongst death!)

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"—Sasuke?"

Uchiha Sasuke blinked blearily, lifting his head out of his hands, and then looked around. He'd fallen asleep (again) and it looked like it had been Naruto's turn to wake him up. The blonde stared at him, biting his lip, his cerulean eyes worried.

"What?" He murmured, stretching; his gaze swept over his desk, taking in the messy papers and the scattered pot of pens.

Naruto paused, looked swiftly around, and then ducked into the cubicle; he ran a hand through his blonde hair, before lowering his voice. "Dreams again?"

"Nightmares."

"…You were whispering something. I couldn't quite hear it, but it sounded like 'nii-san'. D'you have a brother?"

Sasuke scowled, sweeping the mess he'd caused to one side and then turned to look directly at his work-mate (and, coincidentally, his best friend). He let out a sharp breath and placed his head in his hands. "I don't… I don't know. And it kills me because I don't know. I don't even know who I am!"

Naruto paused, before clapping his hands together. "That's easy— you're Sasuke. You're Uchiha Sasuke, the most annoying, anti-social, bastard the world has ever seen!"

"…Moron."

"Oh yeah; I'm going out to get pizza. Come with?"

"Hn." He stared at his desk, considered his options, and then stood up. "Fine. But you're paying and I get a free can of coke."

"Wha—? That's not fair! At least buy the coke!"

"But then it's not free."

"Ah—! Bastard!"

-

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"He's on the move. Should I follow him?"

—static. "Of course. Do not let him out of your sight; proceed as normal."

"…He's with a friend. Should I still—?"

—more static. "Before I answer the question, why don't you have a guess? Of course; I said proceed as normal! You attack him and his friend; preferably killing his friend. And then you come back to me. Understand?"

"…One-sama, are you absolutely sure? Surely, if Four-san kept him alive, it was for a reason."

—static, static, static. "Do you doubt me, Five? Just bring the boy!"

"…Of course, One-sama."

—beeeeep.

-

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"—pizza, pizza, PIZZA! Pizza, pizza, PIZZA!" Naruto chanted, pumping his fists into the air in time with his little song.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Shut up."

"What—?! Sasuke-bastard, don't let me bring you down. I know how happiness and joy makes you feel and all. Just tell me if I'm making you uncomfortable."

"You are such a moron."

The blonde cheered, "Yup, that's me! Uzumaki 'Such-A-Moron' Naruto! And you, Sasuke-teme, need to have fun." He turned to the counter-boy, grinning happily. "One meat feast and one margherita pizza. He wants a margherita 'cause he's boring!"

A fist collided with Naruto's forehead.

"OW! What was that for, you bastard?!"

"Being an idiot." The Uchiha sighed, before pointing at a table for two, next to the window. "I'll go and sit down. You're paying. And remember the coke."

"Coke? What coke—? ACK! STOP HITTING ME!"

"Don't be so loud." And with that last warning, Sasuke turned and walked away, leaving the blonde rubbing his aching head. He sat down, resting his head in his hands, and then turned and gazed out of the window.

A tall man, with electric blue hair, gazed back at him.

Sasuke blinked, peering harder at the man. He was tall and light-skinned; in fact, was his skin blue? It looked blue. He wore sunglasses and a long leather coat, hiding his entire body; as Sasuke looked closer, he noticed that one hand was hidden inside the coat, as though it were holding something—

—a gun?

The man began to walk closer, crossing the road; and then, just as they were opposite each other, with only a glass window separating them, the man stopped and looked past him.

"—I got your pizza, Sasuke-bastard."

As if in slow motion, the man pulled his hand out of his coat. Sasuke's eyes widened; he turned to Naruto ("get down!") and then—!

BANG, BANG, BANG.

Three gunshots, one right after the other; and then Naruto was falling, crashing down onto the table and staring blankly at the ceiling. It was as though time itself stopped; suddenly, the man outside was circling around, throwing open the door, stepping into the building.

Screams.

Panic.

Sasuke turned; his face was pale and deathly-white. He gazed up at the newcomer— something cold was pressed against his forehead. The gun.

"You're coming with me." The voice promised nothing but a slow and painful death.

"Like fuck he is."

BANG.

Sasuke blinked; the voice was so familiar. Who—? He turned and gazed down at Naruto's lifeless body— apart from, it wasn't so lifeless. In fact, Naruto was panting breathlessly, clutching a gun and glaring up at the man.

"AKATSUKI, right? Shit, I knew this would happen." The blonde staggered to his feet, cursing loudly, before peering at the Uchiha. "Sasuke? You're not hurt, are you? C'mon, we need to get out of here."

"Who are you?"

"…I'm Uzumaki 'Such-A-Moron' Naruto." He smiled sadly. "Nothing's changed, Sasuke. I just know a lot more than you think."

"Who's that?" He turned to stare at the man writhing on the floor. "Why did he shoot you? What's going on?"

"…We need to get out of here, Sasuke. I'll explain all when we're at LEAF. You got that?" Naruto paused, before grinning. "Hey, I'll even get you your free coke." And then his voice hardened. "But we need to get out of here, before more come."

He paused, frowned, and then—

"Fine, moron, but it had better be a good explanation."

"Tch, of course!"

-

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Five sighed, flicking open his phone. He dialed the number, scowled, and then punched the floor, cursing. "Shit."

"Heh. It's fucking dandy to hear from you too."

"Seven. I lost him."

"No wonder you're pissed! One's gonna kill you; you're so goddamn dead and I don't know what the fuck you want me to do about it."

"He's going your way. Look out for a black Toyota MKIV Supra. You can't miss it—"

"—shit, you mean the car which just passed me?! Fuck."

A chuckle.

"It seems I'm not the only one who One-sama's going to kill. See you then, Seven. It's a date."

"Bastard—!"

—beeeeep.

-

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"Isn't this weird? We're sat here sipping tea together! Have we ever done this before? I mean—"

"—Naruto, shut up."

"…Your mood's as bad as ever. Jeez, when will you take that stick outta your ass? It pisses the hell out of me!"

"Shut. Up."

The blonde scowled, pressing his foot down on the accelerator; his Toyota began to speed up and then sped around a corner. Naruto let out a cheer, before glancing at Sasuke. "You look pale. You had questions you wanted to ask?"

"Who am I?"

"Didn't I tell you?"

"You lied."

"…To protect you." Naruto sighed, looking away. "You were part of LEAF once; an assassination group. And the AKATSUKI captured you and tortured you; they tried to use you against us; so we swooped in there and KA-BAM. We rescued you. But you were stabbed— we don't know who by— and you lost your memory. Amnesia. We set you on your way; but I didn't like it. So they let me go; well, they told me to protect you and that's what I did."

"You were my babysitter." Sasuke sounded incredulous.

Naruto sniggered. "I've been wiping your ass ever since LEAF let me go. Not because it was my job."

Silence.

"Back when you were in LEAF, we were like brothers. Team SEVEN. No one could stop us. Invincible. And then they captured you and she went in straight after you. We couldn't find her. She was gone; and you lost your memory."

((Shouts.

"Where is he?! WHERE?! Oh God, SASUKE! Please, WHERE ARE YOU? I'm coming! I'll save you! SASUKE!"

He tried to respond, to tell her to run, to flee, to get away—

"SASUKE!"

but she couldn't hear him or he couldn't speak; he didn't know which.

"SASUKE!"))

"—Sasuke?" Naruto called, waving a hand in front of the Uchiha's face. "Sasuke, are you okay? You went all quiet."

"Nightmare."

"In the middle of the day? What was it this time?"

"I heard— I heard a woman."

"…"

"What was her name? I can't— I can't remember. Who—? I can't—! Who was she, Naruto? I can't— I can't… I can't remember! I can't—!"

THUMP.

"Sorry, Sasuke, but I really need you to shut up."

His eyelids closed and he slumped forwards, sleeping soundlessly. Naruto frowned, staring long and hard at him, before gazing back at the road. He swerved easily past a white van, speeding through a red light.

"…Her name was…"

-

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((Lights flashing. Bright, shining, hurting, painful. Flash, flash, flash.

A shadow.

"This won't hurt a bit, Uchiha-san."

Pain.

White-hot, never-ending pain.

Writhing, convulsing, screaming.

Such terrible, terrible pain!

"Oh dear. It seems I lied."

Soft, gentle brown eyes— girl's eyes and, yet, the eyes of a man— staring down at him. Terrible eyes, but so beautiful. A child's face, yet so adult. Pale lips turned upwards in a smirk. Messy, unkempt red hair. The Doctor.

His name, his name…

A badge glittered in the dim light; what did it say, what did it say?! Sa…Sas…

DR. SASORI.

Such pain.))

-

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"…Ah…"

"Sasuke? Another dream, huh?" Naruto yawned, stretching; it was then that Sasuke noticed that the car had stopped and night had fallen. He glanced around.

"Where are we?"

"Halfway to no-where."

"Hn. Moron." Sasuke paused, leaning forwards and resting his head in his hands; Naruto leaned back, his feet placed on the dashboard, and the pair sat silently together.

"…What was your dream about?"

"It was a memory. Your words made me remember something; probably from when they caught me. It was… a name. A person."

Naruto tilted his head, staring at his friend. "Who?"

"A doctor. Sasori, I think. He had red hair and looked like a kid; but he was wearing white and holding a needle."

The blonde froze, paling rapidly. "…Sasori? You were kept prisoner by number Nine; AKA, Scorpion. Shit. I feel for you."

"…I can't remember any of it. Only the pain. I can't even remember what he was doing; searching for something? I don't know… I can't remember."

"I know. It's not your fault." Naruto frowned, staring out of the window. "But, that night… Nothing went as planned. Half the reason why I left was because I thought there was someone in league with the AKATSUKI in LEAF. I don't know who."

"Then we should find out."

Naruto turned to Sasuke, obviously shocked. "That would be the equivalent of turning against LEAF! We'd be outsiders; just like the AKATSUKI. The bad guys!"

"No. You've already said it, haven't you? They think I can't remember anything, but I'm beginning to. They've basically dismissed you. We can destroy AKATSUKI and find out what LEAF was up to. We can stop them. We've got to. So that— we can find her."

Silence.

"…Shit! This is not good! I can't believe I'm letting you talk me into this." A sigh. "We're going to need to get equipment. As much as we can. And data."

"I can hack."

"Great. Awesome. Spectacular."

"…"

"We're so dead."

-

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_password, please._

(typing)

(processing… processing…)

_you may enter._

_welcome, KITSUNE._

(click, click)

_who would you like to contact?_

_h y u u g a_

_n e j i_

(processing… processing…)

_you are being connected._

(processing… processing…)

"Hey, moron. Who's this Hyuuga-guy?"

"He's head of the Intelligence Department and head of ANBU; you were originally head of ANBU, along with me, but then we left, so… Anyway, he's really clever plus he owes me."

"Hn."

(processing… processing…)

_WHITE RABBIT can now be contacted._

_proceed?_

_y e s_

(processing… processing…)

"White Rabbit?"

"It's 'cause of his eyes. They're white and creepy."

_loading picture._

_picture loaded._

_thank you for waiting, KITSUNE._

The screen buzzed and then flashed, before going completely black. And then suddenly a picture filled the screen; a young man, wearing a pair of glasses, glowered darkly at them, brushing a strand of long, dark-brown hair out of his eyes.

And what unusual eyes they were! Such a startling, bright white.

He frowned, and then his eyes widened. "Naruto…?" His voice sound muffled and slightly crackly.

"The one and only."

"Is that Sasuke?"

"Yup. He's starting to remember stuff. And he's not a happy bunny."

"Not funny, moron." Neji sighed. "What do you want?"

"We need info, Neji, and quick." Naruto said, before pointing at Sasuke. "Seriously, he really isn't happy and neither am I. Remember that lead I told you about?"

"Yes. According to you, we have a snake in our midst."

"Yeah, that lead." Naruto paused. "I need you to open a hole in the AKATSUKI files. We need them. Badly."

White eyes widened. "What—?"

"Come on, Neji! Don't ask questions, just open the hole. Say it was never there. Put it under my name. I don't care! This is really, really important!"

Sasuke paused, peering sideways at Naruto; he'd never heard the blonde speak so seriously and in such an urgent tone of voice.

"…" Neji sighed, pushing his glasses further up his nose. "…Fine. If you get caught, I was never in on it. Understood? Because, unlike you, I value my job."

"Thanks!" Naruto cheered, in a sing-song voice. Neji merely shook his head and the screen went blank. "Okay—" Naruto turned to smile at Sasuke. "—on with the next part of the plan, right?"

"Of course."

_welcome, KITSUNE._

_s e a r c h_

_A K A T S U K I_

_searching._

_AKATSUKI files found._

_ACCESS DENIED._

_PASSWORD NEEDED._

"WAH! What type of hole is this?!"

"Moron. Type in the password."

"What password?!"

"Your name."

(typing)

(_n a r u t o_)

_ACCESS GRANTED._

_welcome, KITSUNE._

_search…_

_A K A T S U K I_

_m e m b e r s_

(loading… loading…)

_known members;_

_number one;_
_unknown._
_unknown._

_number two;_
_Orochimaru._
_alive._

"Print them off." Sasuke murmured, gazing down at the list. "It's not particularly helpful, since you know barely any of them—"

He froze.

_number eleven;_
_Uchiha Sasuke._
_amnesia._

Naruto blinked, turning to look at him. "You're part of AKATSUKI? N—No…"

"No…" Sasuke repeated, quietly.

"That doesn't make sense! They were after you! AKATSUKI were going to kill you! How could you be part of— it doesn't make any sense—!"

"It makes perfect sense."

"What?"

Sasuke turned, staring directly at Naruto. "You're going to have to trust me. I was never a part of AKATSUKI. This—" he gestured wildly at the screen. "—this proves that there's a traitor in LEAF."

Naruto didn't say anything.

"—And," Sasuke continued, ignoring the blonde's silence. "—I'm going to kill them. All of them. AKATSUKI will die by my hand."

Still silence.

"Do you trust me?"

"…I suppose… Of course I do! We're Team SEVEN! We'll kick their asses together!"

Smile.

_goodbye, KITSUNE._

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5:55:49 pm

"HYUUGA!"

Neji winced, turning his chair around to glare at the source of the noise. Lady Tsunade, AKA; PRINCESS, glowered back at him, hands on her hips, her brown eyes dark and deadly.

"What the fuck is this supposed to mean? Last night, at about four 'o' clock, you were talking to someone; and that person wasn't registered on the database. Ten minutes later, the AKATSUKI files are hacked into. What the fuck have you done?"

Although Neji had said he'd blame it all on Naruto, to save his own skin, he had more dignity than that; and Naruto had known it too. All in all, it had been a pretty cheap trick on Naruto's behalf, and Neji was pissed.

"What are you implying, Princess-sama?"

"Are you fucking with me, White Rabbit? What the hell's going on— and, goddamn it, you'd better tell me!"

"…It was a security breach. Nothing more."

"Who were you talking to? And don't try and lie!" Tsunade warned.

Neji paused, before looking away. "I was talking to Uchiha Sasuke. He said he had information on AKATSUKI."

Tsunade froze. "Uchiha…?"

"The one and only."

She scowled; she twisted, punched the wall, and then cursed. "Shit! Of course he's going to have information! That traitorous sonofabitch!"

"…?" Neji blinked.

Tsunade waved a hand airily, ignoring his befuddlement. "You're not supposed to know; you don't have access to the AKATSUKI files. Right, I want the breach sorted out; passwords changed, etcetera. Get Poker-Face to do it."

"Of course."

"And don't you dare fuck with me like that again!"

"…" Neji watched her leave, silently, thoughtfully. Then, without a moments hesitation, he turned to his laptop.

_welcome, WHITE RABBIT._

_search…_

_A K A T S U K I_

_f i l e s_

_searching._

_AKATSUKI files found._

_ACCESS DENIED._

_PASSWORD NEEDED._

Neji smirked.

"Bingo."

-

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(("Ah, Uchiha-san. Good to see you again; well, hah-hah. I mean, it's not like you can move. I bet it hurts. It does, doesn't it? Oh dear. Poor you."

Pain.

Agony.

"H—Help m—me…"

"Oh, really. Now why would I do that? Try not to sound too pathetic, Uchiha-san." Sasori smiled slightly, stepping forwards; and then he paused, gazing at his watch. "…I'm late. I hate being late."

"Aah… AAH. UGH. AH, AH, UGH—!"

"I have to rush now, Uchiha-san. Oh dear. I'm being awfully messy."

"ARGH! UGH!"

"Now, hurry and show me your sharin—!"))

"—Sasuke?! Wake up and stop screaming! God, you scared the shit out of me!" Naruto muttered, staring at the other.

Sasuke hissed, wiping the sweat from his face. "Where are we?"

"Huh?" Naruto grinned. "We're going to see my old sensei. The Pervy Sage."

"…Seriously?"

"What?"

"He's not really called 'the Pervy Sage', is he?"

"Pfft; he might as well be. But he's good. Real good. He'll help us find Scorpion. And the others."

-

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TO: number unknown
FROM: 123

Sasuke's back. With Naruto. AKATSUKI files are in their hands. Need you to block the AKATSUKI files.
— W.R

-

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Sai blinked, gazing at his phone. Sasuke was back? Ooh, intriguing. And they had the AKATSUKI files. No wonder White Rabbit wanted them blocked—

—no, that didn't make sense.

White Rabbit was head of the Intelligence Department.

He purposefully let them see the files, even though he'd never seen them himself. "Naughty, naughty. What are you up to, I wonder?"

-

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TO: 123
FROM: number unknown

What are you up to, W.R? Those files = can't be seen without a password. Who gave them the password?
— P.F

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Neji scowled.

-

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TO: number unknown
FROM: 123

Don't ask questions. Just work.
— W.R

-

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Sai chortled merrily, before continuing with his job. He changed the password easily, having already figured out what the Naruto password would be (his name, of course). Then he picked up his phone and deleted the messages.

It seemed things were finally getting interesting.

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