It had been incredibly hard for Naruto to finally pick one of the job offers. He knew he'd garnered some attention but the list of job offers Itachi had was long and tedious, and there were so many that he was tempted to take. He ultimately wanted to stay near enough to Miami to visit Itachi and his brother but far away so he could get away from his so-called friends, so finding a happy medium was a task and a half. Nothing seemed feasible so his urge to get away eventually overran the urge to stay nearby and he ended up accepting a job at the FBI's headquarters in Los Angeles, all the way across the other side of the country. Despite originally thinking he would be nervous to leave, Itachi reassured him that it would be an amazing opportunity to gain more respect in the world of forensics and there was always the bonus of double the pay.

"You know you're always welcome back," Itachi said as they wrapped up the meeting, "That office will never truly belong to anyone else." Naruto gave a hesitant smile and ran a hand through his hair.

"When's Kyuu coming?" He asked. Itachi gave a quick glance at his watch before replying that he'd be here any time soon, and Naruto's nerves tumbled about in his stomach. He felt sick and angry and terribly betrayed, but a small part of him wanted to make them suffer, make them believe he was getting fired for their act of stupidity. Itachi seemed to have cottoned on to this as he explained what would happen.

"So Kyuubi will come in to the head office via the desks of the others then he'll come and pick you up, take you to your office and help pack up your stuff. I'll stay in here until you come and bring your badge and gun to me, and then I'll escort you two out of the building, okay?" Naruto nodded, suddenly realising Itachi was far more cunning than he thought. "I need to make them feel as awful as they can for setting you up, it's the only chance of getting a confession out of any of them. Also, I won't lie, I'm pissed off at them for hurting my brother-in-law. Scapegoats aren't really a thing I condone, to be honest."

There was a knock on the door before a redhead walked in, he was tall but not quite as tall as Itachi, meaning he still towered over Naruto as he grabbed him into a fierce hug. He stood back up from bending to hug his brother before turning to Itachi.

"Your brother is a dickhead." Itachi put his hands up in defence.

"He's your brother too."

"Only in-law. If I wasn't married to you I wouldn't have anything to do with him. Maybe I should have never married you." Kyuubi smirked at his husband before asking the plan and getting the low-down. "Itachi Uchiha, you are a sly sly man." Itachi gave a rare grin and glanced at Kyuubi before reminding himself of the task at hand.

"Okay, okay, you go, and remember Naruto, don't go home, I have friends at the airport so we'll book you on the next flight and you can go straight there, they're sorting out your accommodation for you so don't worry about that." He looked at the man who was practically his brother. "Come here you two." He grasped both Uzumaki's in a strong hug before whispering the one phrase "I'll make up for my brother's mistakes, okay?"


Sasuke's desk had a clear view of Itachi's office, which in hindsight was both an asset and a hindrance. It was an asset because he'd know when Naruto came out but it was a hindrance because he spent all of the following three hours with his eyes fixated on the door, waiting for Naruto to emerge. People would come by and try and talk to him, all the while noticing he was far more interested in the door of his brother's office, so they'd just drop their case files on his desk and hope he would read them soon.

Neji's desk was rather more shielded, but this only meant he had manoeuvred his chair to the end of the desk, meaning he had far less room to work with, but he could at least see a section of the door, the rest was obstructed by a stone pillar that every recruit signed when they left the force. Among the signatures Neji could see his father's and Sasuke's father's, and Sai's father's.

Kiba had taken a different approach to his guilt, instead of waiting and hoping, he had been sat planning exactly what he would say to Naruto when he came out. The practice of his epic speech was cut off half-way when Itachi's office door opened and Naruto emerged with Kyuubi taking the lead. They walked to Naruto's office, leaving Kiba following their moves with nervous eyes. Now was better than never. He stood on shaky legs and walked to Naruto's office, raising his hand to knock on the door. His fist was suddenly grasped by a strong female grip and he turned to see a furious looking Tsunade beside him.

"I certainly hope you weren't contemplating talking to him, Inuzuka, because I may have to crush his pretty little hand of yours if you were." Her threatening tone was accompanied by a painful squeeze to his fist.

"I just want-"

"You want to what, Kiba?" She whispered ferociously, her eyes flashing, "You want to apologise for pinning a murder on your best friend, yeah? Somehow I don't think he'll want to listen. Fuck off back to your desk before I kick your ass so hard you will bleed from every orifice you have, including ones I will personally make for you." Kiba stumbled back to his desk, feeling the curious eyes of Neji and Sasuke on him as he sat and worked, occasionally looking up to watch Naruto pack up his things through the glass window of his office.

One such instance he stared at his best friend's profile, silently wishing he could go back in time, and Naruto's head inclined upwards, making eye contact with him. The air was static and Kiba wanted to shout sorry a million times but his mouth couldn't work so he just ended up watching Naruto's eyes dim and then divert back to his packing.

Sasuke had had enough of sitting and doing nothing. Yes, he had set his friend up, and yes, he felt guilty, but nothing could change the past, all he could do now was something to help Naruto out. He stood, suddenly knowing what to do, taking long, confident strides to his brother's office. He knocked on the door, opening it at Itachi's response.

"Hello, Sasuke, take a seat," Itachi said without looking up from his paperwork. From Sasuke's line of sight he could see the photograph attached to the documents; they were Naruto's records. "Let me just finish this." He pulled out a page titled 'Document of Dismissal,' signing at the bottom next to another previously signed signature, before slotting it back into the folder and setting it side. Moving round his office, he opened up his blinds to let in a little more light. "That's better. How can I help?"

"You're … you're firing Naruto, why on earth are you firing Naruto?"

"Pardon?"

"Firing Naruto. He's Naruto! Don't you think that's a bit harsh, Itachi?"

"Actually, no I don't." Came the snappy response, "From what I gather he shot and seriously injured an innocent woman. I can't give him special treatment just because he's my friend and my husband's brother. So unless you have any other information that may help his cause, there is nothing I can do." Itachi had clearly given his brother a way to confess, to admit that everything he had said was complete and utter nonsense, but Sasuke didn't take it.

"That's it then?" Sasuke asked.

"Actually no," Itachi busied himself with rearranging the folders on his desk, pulling Naruto's out. "Naruto wasn't fired. He wanted to leave and I gave him the means to do so."

"Why-"

"He wanted to leave because his best friends betrayed him. You made him out to be a murderer and surprise surprise he didn't fancy sticking around much after that, Sasuke."

"How do you know he isn't? You're taking his word over ours!"

"No Sasuke, I'm not, I never would. We have CCTV footage of Naruto leaving his gun in the car and rushing out to save Bambi. It appears 'your word' is absolute horse-hockey and even if you don't have to face repercussions on the job side of things, Naruto is leaving the building right now and you'll never see him again."

"He isn't leaving right now, he was still packing up-"

"He's just getting in the elevator." Sasuke turned to see the figure of Naruto in the lift, disappearing between closing door. He leapt out of his seat, slamming the office door open and gaining the attention of most officers in the room. The lift was already going so his pressing of the button was doing no good whatsoever. Instead, he sprinted down the stairs, occasionally skipping a few at a time, stumbling and whacking his arm or leg, grazing or bruising himself until he reached the bottom floor. By the time he was at reception Naruto was almost out of the door, and Sasuke still had to undergo the pocket search. He rushed it before running out into the car park, spotting Naruto and Kyuubi getting into Naruto's convertible. He sprinted as fast as he could, lungs heaving and legs complaining, only to have to stand and watch as the car drove away, any hope of him talking to Naruto dashed.

"Fuck." He ran his hand through his hair, pacing. Balling his hand into a fist he hit at a nearby wall. "FUCK!" Blood dripped from his knuckles as he leant on the railing overlooking the road. Any one of the tiny flashing cars could contain Naruto and he didn't know which one. A shaky sigh left his lips as he walked back to work. Bruised, battered and bleeding, this was the sight the others saw when he returned to the office.

"Jesus, he must be a pretty good fuck for you to chase after him like he's a popsicle and you're a sugar deprived schoolchild," came the snide comment from a smirking Sai.

"Fuck off, Sai," Kiba snapped back, earning a smug look from Sai, "Naruto is way more than just a fuck, Sasuke is in love with him." Sasuke felt dizzy and sick as the realisation dawned on him. He was in love with Naruto. Shit.