A/N: Another thank you to my amazing reviewers as well as everybody who has followed or faved this story so far, you are encouraging, my inspiration, I love you ( : I hope I can keep you intrigued~ I will always respond to any questions you have. If you need a fast answer and don't want to wait for the next update, send me a message. Just don't request any spoilers! Happy reading.
The Red Moon
She must've stared into those sharp, jade eyes for a full thirty seconds; nearly a lifetime in her mind, as she stuttered, suddenly hypnotized and forgot what language she even spoke. She managed gibberish until finally a quiet, "H-hey...hi. Hello..."
"...Hey,"
"Uh... I'm... I'm sorry, I just wasn't expecting..." Sakura's face turned bright red, "expecting to see you again."
Gaara scratched the back of his head, his expression remained tranquil, "Um... Sorry... I never called."
"I don't believe I ever gave you my number..."
"Oh. Right..." Gaara sighed and looked around, sensing the awkward tension between them, "so... Sakura, huh?"
"Hm?" she hummed, confused. Right- we never even told each other our names... "Oh, yeah, my name is Sakura."
"That's a uh... nice name," said Gaara.
"T-thank you," she stuttered again, face becoming even more red. She broke eye contact and looked down at the floor where the flowers lay. She knelt down to pick them up and continued to speak, "I never did catch your name... huh?" When she stood back up, he was gone. She hung her head and cursed herself, You just had to embarrass yourself, didn't you?! The flustered pinkette whirled around and went back inside, slamming the door behind her. "Shit! Shit! Fuck!" She threw the flowers down on the kitchen table and sat down in the chair, crossing her arms and scowling.
You're probably never going to see him again, and you didn't even tell him!
She was so angry at herself that she felt like crying, but she had cried herself dry. The negative thoughts about this unwanted pregnancy came rushing back, clouding her judgment all over again. Perhaps an abortion was the choice she should have made. This baby was going to have a rough life; a single mother who was probably going to be labeled a whore for the rest of her life, a father who whose name they wouldn't even know, let alone meet, and they'd probably grow up to be socially awkward and-
Sakura spotted another card attached to one of the stems on the bouquet, right below the card that was signed by Naruto and Hinata. She snapped the string that it was connected to and held it up to read it: Temari's Flowers...
He had delivered these flowers for her from her friends, and it must've been from this shop. Maybe he works there? she thought. What an odd job, delivering flowers... Hardly the job she pictured him having.
At the least, it was something to look into. But for tonight, she had embarrassed herself enough. Another day, she told herself.
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Sasuke and Naruto rolled up on a club and parked discretely in a shadow a building was casting as the bright moonlight shone proudly from the other side. Sasuke's dark gray Subaru was practically invisible in the shadow once he turned the headlights off.
"Where are we?" asked Naruto.
Sasuke lifted a single finger off of the steering wheel and pointed at a club that a couple buildings away.
"The Red Moon?" he said, stating the clubs name, "I mean, it's an alright club I guess, doesn't strike me as your type of club, but drinks are drinks and hoes are hoes, right?"
"We aren't here to have fun you idiot," Sasuke said sharply, "this could be our key to unraveling the Akatsuki."
Naruto raised a brow, looking confused. Sasuke scowled at his not-so-witty partner.
"The Akatsuki owns this club, Naruto,"
The Akatsuki was a criminal gang that the ANBU had been investigating after catching one of its members on an enormous drug charge during a typical traffic stop. They remained off the ANBU's radar until this point in time when they finally caught one of the gang members; the amount of drugs they found in the vehicle was enough to get the ANBU's attention, leading them to believe there was a lot more behind the man they caught, possibly the source of Konoha's underground drug trade. The culprit wouldn't squeal, so the only thing the ANBU had to go on was the obvious gang tattoos. Which thus far, proved to be more than enough information that overachiever Sasuke Uchiha needed.
A light went off in Naruto's head, "Oh!" he gasped, "how did you figure that out?"
"By doing my job," Sasuke stated sarcastically.
"So, what are we going to do?" Naruto asked. "Are we just going to run up in there and hold them all at gun point?" Immediately after asking, Naruto pulled a handgun out of his waistband, then another one out of the glove compartment.
"No, moron," Sasuke snapped and shoved the gun back into the glove compartment, "how did you ever get this job, any way?"
Naruto shrugged, "Just got lucky I guess." Truth be told, Naruto wasn't stupid. He just wasn't very intelligent in the heat of the moment. But his actions oddly proved effective; most of the time.
"No, Naruto, we can't just run in there and start firing. Aside from lack of evidence, we don't know how many of them might be in there and armed," Sasuked explained, "and plus, it's a public club. There are innocent people in there. We have to do this carefully, and it may take a while."
"So... what are we going to do?" Naruto asked again.
"You're going to go in there," said Sasuke, "undercover. You're going to bug the place, so we can listen to them. We don't have enough evidence to tap their phones yet, so this will have to do for now."
"Me? Why me? You're coming with me, right?"
"I can't,"
"Why not?! You're going to send me on a suicide mission, alone?"
"Once you're inside, you'll understand why I can't."
Naruto frowned. Sasuke groaned and slapped his palm against his face, frustrated. "Only because I know you won't stop asking why, my brother is part of the gang," he said, "he'll obviously recognize me and the whole operation would get thrown away."
Itachi. Naruto had met him a couple of times after the long haired Uchiha had been arrested on a few petty charges; nothing serious. It wasn't until now that Naruto discovered he was associated with the gang.
"...How...what..." he stopped himself before he said more. Sasuke's family was a topic Naruto knew better than to prod at. The conversation usually ended badly for Naruto; violently. However Sasuke found out was his own business, but he clearly planned on doing the right thing about it. Naruto looked back at the club with wide eyes, contemplating for a moment before he grinned and said, "So... when do we start?"
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Downstairs in the basement of the flower shop, Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari were sitting on the cement floor in a circle accumulating a large pile of freshly trimmed marijuana in the center. They were beginning the harvest, and with only the three of them, they were looking at a few weeks worth of work. It was already so late, but Temari insisted that they cut down and trim up at least ten plants.
"Believe it or not, we've cut the amount of time it would've taken Temari and I to do all this work in half by having you here," said Kankuro. He finished snipping the larger leaves off of a large branch, then handed it off to Gaara to snip off the tinier leaves.
Gaara groaned; it had been four hours and they were only on the third plant. They knocked the first one out in no time, but it didn't take long for it to become yet another tedious, time consuming task and they slowed down. Tonight was going to be an all-nighter. On top of that thought, Gaara's was already feeling pain in his back from slouching over.
"It's a lot of work, but it will pay off," said Temari "just keep thinking about all of the things that you'll be able to get."
Already being so spoiled his whole life, Gaara couldn't think of anything in particular that he even wanted.
"When we're finished with this, I'll take you with me to sell it off to the Akatsuki," said Kankuro.
"This looks like a lot of shit," Gaara commented, "do they buy all of it?"
"They give us half of the cash up front, then the other half when they get rid of it."
"Seems risky..."
"There's nothing but risk in this game little brother,"
"I see," said Gaara, "but what if they don't pay us?"
"Our family has been working with them since before we were even thought of," Temari chimed in, "I don't think we'd have to worry about that, but it's better than sitting on this product and getting caught with it ourselves."
Gaara nodded and tossed the finished piece of work into the pile with the rest. Stiff, he took a moment to stretch his limbs; he swore that he heard every bone in his body crack. He looked around at the rest of the work that hadn't been touched yet and sighed; three plants down, only several more weeks worth to go.
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~Three weeks later~
Naruto rang Sakura's doorbell, and for once waited patiently for her to answer the door. She came quickly, dressed in a pair of baggy sweatpants and a large white t-shirt.
"Get dressed, fix your hair, let's go!" piped the energetic blonde.
Sakura reached up and ruffled her messy pink hair, "Huh? Go where?"
"We're going out," he said.
"Out...where?" she observed Naruto's outfit; he was wearing a black suit with a red tie, reeking of some sort of expensive cologne. Clearly, he had plans that she wasn't aware of yet.
"To the Red Moon,"
"What?" she looked slightly offended, "a club, Naruto? That's hardly a place I should be going in my condition... Did you already forget?"
"Not at all," he said, referring to her pregnancy.
Sakura scowled and moved out of the way so Naruto could come inside. "Why don't you ask Hinata," she suggested, "you know... your girlfriend, if she wants to go with you? I'm not going to be very good company..."
"Well, you're my girlfriend too!" he said, and then quickly corrected himself as soon as he saw her contorted expression, "I mean like, my girl... friend. Girl and friend... with a space between girl and friend... a friend who is a girl... not like, girlfriend, all one word-"
"Stop Naruto," she chuckled, "I know."
"Heh, sorry. So, are we going? I think you deserve to get out of the house for a couple of hours and go somewhere besides work," he said, "I'm sure they serve food there, too, and non-alcoholic drinks. I won't even have a drink if that'll make you feel better. I'll buy anything you want!"
He wasn't necessarily lying, he really did feel like she needed to get out. He couldn't tell her why he was going there; the case against the Akatsuki was still very fresh, so leaking any information what so ever could compromise the operation. Going alone would draw too much attention. Hinata knew a club wasn't her boyfriend's scene in the first place, but he couldn't take her because she'd ask too many questions about why, and then just try to change his mind and insist they go somewhere more romantic. Jealousy also played a slight role in his choice as well, as Naruto was a little possessive of his girlfriend and didn't want to have to pick a fight with a random stranger who may hit on her and distract him from setting up the bugs.
Sakura hummed, considering taking him up on his offer. He shot her a pair of large, pitiful blue eyes and she couldn't help but give in. "Alright," she sighed, "I'll go get ready..."
Naruto sat down at the kitchen table while she went to change into something more club-appropriate. After about ten minutes she returned, her hair neatly parted and brushed with a red headband on top, wearing a thigh length blo"od red qipao. It was tight around her belly, exposing the baby bump that was beginning to protrude ever so slightly. A stranger wouldn't look twice, but Naruto could tell immediately.
"What are you looking at?" she asked, following his eyes down to her belly.
"Oh, nothing!" he stated quickly, afraid she may get offended and assume he was calling her fat if he made any comment about her belly. "You look great, Sakura! Now let's go!"
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The bustling club was alive and and frisky with the energy and perversion of alcohol, sex and drugs. The dance floor was littered with confetti and broken glow sticks, leaking the illuminated liquid to be spread by the colorful crowd of energetic club goers. The bass from the loud electronic music was vibrating the entire building, possibly all the way down the block. Within the crowd, surrounded by the massive amount of sweaty people and neon lights were Sakura and Naruto, trying to push past everyone and find an open area. There must've been some sort of event that Naruto hadn't planned for going on, but this could oddly work in his favor; there were so many people here, he could just blend right in. The chances of getting discovered were slim, now. The corner of Sakura's mouth twitched in disgust as a large busty woman twirled across her vision, carelessly spilling her drink all over the place and eventually all over Sakura's arm.
"Watch it, bitch!" Sakura tweaked, raising a clenched fist at the drunken broad. She turned to Naruto, "I don't know if this was a good idea, Naruto. I'm not really feeling it."
"We won't be long, Sakura!" Naruto shouted over the music. He grabbed her hand and lead her through the sea of people. When they were nearing the end of the dance floor, she pulled back and stopped him. Something wasn't right. Upon seeing the large quantity of people that were outside, let alone inside, Naruto would have turned right around and left. But he didn't. Why a club? Why a busy club? With a pregnant girl, who can't even have the type of fun that clubs are meant for? Not morally, at least.
"There's something you're not telling me," she said. Naruto looked over his shoulder at her. She glared at him suspiciously, and then she suddenly realized, "you didn't want to take me out. You're working right now, aren't you!?"
Naruto quickly covered her mouth before she could say more and dragged her away from the crowd. She grabbed onto his hand and bit him. "Ow!"
"I knew it! Asshole, why didn't you just tell me!?"
"I'm sorry!" he tried to whisper, hoarsely by her ear so nobody else could hear what he was about to say, "but you know how this works. You know I can't discuss an open case, Sakura."
Sakura crossed her arms and gave her friend a bemused scowl. She wasn't happy that he lead her to believe he just wanted to get her out of the house, but after being with Sasuke, who shared the same job as Naruto, she knew better than to even ask why they were here. He was working, and needed her to help him look less suspicious; just another couple going out to a club for a night. Sakura gave him a nod and smiled. But then, something- someone, caught her eye, right over Naruto's shoulder only a few feet away.
Gaara was here. He hadn't seen her as far as she knew; he was walking with two other guys towards a door that read "Employees Only" which probably led into a more secluded part of the club. Unbeknownst to Sakura, Gaara and Kankuro had arrived to take care of business with the Akatsuki. Seeing her eyes get wide suddenly, Naruto tried not to make it obvious that he was looking over his shoulder. Upon spotting the other man, he shared the same expression as her. He immediately recognized Sasuke's brother, Itachi Uchiha, and then turned back to Sakura who was trying to use him as a shield so Gaara wouldn't see her.
"What are you doing?" he asked
"That's him!"
"Huh?"
"The redhead!"
Naruto did a double take and spotted Gaara this time, who was carrying a very large bag on his back. He watched as Gaara and his brother followed Itachi into the back room, closing the door behind them.
"...Who?" Naruto asked, still unaware of who exactly Gaara was to her.
"That- that guy!" she said, "you know... that guy that I don't know!"
It took Naruto a moment before he realized that was the man that Sakura had a 'one night stand' with. Ooh, he thought, and then another thought quickly rushed to his mind as he began to put the pieces together. Itachi was part of the gang he was currently working at taking down. The man Sakura had just pointed out was now connected to her through a mutual unborn child. That same man was carrying a large backpack- which may or may not have contained an illegal substance, and heading into a private area of the club. Regardless of what was in the bag, this man was communicating with a known gang member; and Naruto doubted they were just old friends. There was something going on. His mouth hung open.
"What?" Sakura recognized the look on his face; he knew something that she didn't.
"Nothing," he lied, "you should go talk to him!"
"Well- he just went back there," she pointed at the door, "and besides, this isn't the sort of place I want to tell him..."
"How are you going to tell him if you don't even know where he lives?"
"I think he works at that foreign flower shop," she explained, "when you and Hinata had those flowers delivered for me, he was the one who came to my house. I haven't gone yet... but I plan to."
What the hell is going on? Is the flower shop a front, too? Naruto silently wondered, his cop-brain racing a million miles a second, trying to put everything together. He was worried for his friend, but didn't want to spill any information in case he was thinking too far ahead. Not yet, not until he was certain. This was a tender issue.
"You should go tomorrow, and I'll come with you if that will make you feel better," he said, trying to sound more like a caring friend rather than a cop who wanted to dig up more dirt. Sakura smiled and nodded, then grabbed Naruto's hand as he carefully proceeded to circle the club, placing all of the bugs discretely in hidden places. Now aware that Naruto was there on business, Sakura relaxed and helped him blend in, dancing with him all around the club. She didn't think it would be a good time at first, but even though she was ignorant to exactly what her friend was doing, she was glad she came out of the house tonight.
A/N: Just to clarify, the 'ANBU agents' in my story are similar to DEA agents, who specialize in high level drug trafficking and gang activity. I wanted to call them 'ANBU' to help preserve more of a Naruto theme, considering this is an AU. Next chapter, Gaara and Sakura will have more of a formal meeting, now that most of the small details are out of the way ;) Until next time~
Edit 6/11/15 - Special thanks to my reviewer tanuki for informing me that every letter in ANBU is capitalized, I was not aware!
