Hello and thanks for coming back to this story.
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Warnings: I'm still looking for a Beta, so I apologize for the grammar.
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The first rays of light had just started to break through the darkness when Sasuke walked quietly down the dorm's hallway towards Naruto's room, he had left Kiba in their room making preparations so they could be ready to leave when the call came. Kiba also had instructions to give him twenty minutes then go wait for him outside the blonde's room. He and Kiba had arrived last night, but he had taken sometime to grieve for Rin, before finding the blonde. Arriving at Naruto's door he was about to knock when the voices inside the room stilled his hand.
"Dad, what are they doing to find Iruka, it's been days since he disappeared?" Naruto asked as he paced back and forth.
"They are doing everything in their power to find him, his parents have hired private investigators to assist in the search and I know for a fact that the President has his own men looking as well." Minato answered, worried about his son; his once cheerful, exuberant son was now looking pale and tired.
"Then why haven't they found anything useful? Was the body they found in that small town connected to Iruka's disappearance?" Naruto asked biting his lower lip nervously.
"Naruto, listen I know Iruka means a great deal to you, but you need to stop beating yourself up over this, you can't help him if you make yourself sick." Minato told his son as he hugged the young blonde tightly.
"I know dad, but I just want him back safe and sound." Naruto whispered.
"I know, look I'll go down to the office and make some phone calls, see if anything new has come up and I'll call you; in the mean time I want you to stay here in your room until Sai gets back from his errands."
"Okay"
"Naruto, I'm serious, you are not to step foot outside this room without Sai, you understand me." Minato stated sternly.
"I got it, I will stay here locked up like some prisoner until my babysitter gets back, if that will make you happy."
"Smart ass, I love you, now be good and if I find out anything I'll let you know."
"Love you too, dad."
Sasuke moved away from the door as he heard the footsteps approach. The raven haired teen watched as the older blonde left the room and walked down the corridor before approaching the door again.
Knocking softly Sasuke waited for Naruto to answer.
"Dad did you forget something?" Naruto asked as he pulled open his door, only to freeze at the sight before him.
"Teme, what the hell are you doing here, didn't you drop out or something?" Naruto asked glaring at the dark haired boy.
"Nice to see you too dobe, and where did you get the idea that I would drop out, if anyone's not cut out for higher education it's you, what with your poor grades and such." Sasuke smirked watching as the blonde's eyes narrowed.
"Shut up Sasuke, I'm not in the mood to deal with your better than everyone attitude." Naruto gritted out as he tried to close the door on the raven.
"Well that's too damn bad, because we need to talk," Sasuke stated calmly as he pushed his way into the room.
"What makes you think that I..."
"They found Rin, that's whose body they found." Sasuke interrupted the blonde.
"Oh, I'm sorry Sasuke, I didn't think." Naruto began biting his lower lip. "I'm so sorry."
"It's alright dobe, we had been expecting it, since Iruka disappeared."
"What you're wrong, Iruka has nothing to do with Rin, it's not even the same kidnapper, this one is just waiting so he can get more money from the Uminos." Naruto protested tears gathering in those azure eyes.
"Come on Naruto, stop lying to yourself, you know as well as I do that Iruka is living on borrowed time, that no matter how much you or his family deny it, the fact remains that the same bastard that killed Rin has him."
"SHUT UP! That's not true, Iruka will be returned safe and sound, the kidnapper is going to call any moment now and demand a huge payoff, which we will gladly give him." Naruto replied, voice cracking as a sob escaped. He knew Sasuke was right, but the thought of not getting Iruka back was unbearable.
"Shh...it's okay." Sasuke whispered as he gathered the blonde in his arms.
"You..You're wrong, Ir...Iruka has to b..be.. found, it...it...it's my fa..fault he got t..ta..taken," Naruto sobbed clinging tighter to the raven haired.
"Don't be ridiculous dobe, how can it possibly be your fault?" Sasuke asked walking the blonde over to sit on the couch.
Naruto gave a small shake of his head, before burying his face deeper into Sasuke's chest.
"Naruto, why would you say it was your fault?" Sasuke prodded, clearly confused and on edge by the statement, could the dobe know something the authorities didn't.
Azure eyes glistening with tears and guilt looked up into obsidian one as Naruto sighed softly before pressing his face back into Sasuke's neck, looking for strength.
"I was there, I should have insisted that Sai and I drive him home, I should have followed to make sure he was alright." Naruto whispered.
"Dobe, that was his choice, it doesn't make you responsible in anyway." Sasuke whispered, holding back the edge from his voice, he had hoped for more.
"You don't understand, I should have tried harder, I knew Iruka was on edge and that he was being more careful than usual." Naruto continued, the gentle rubbing on his back making him feel safe and secure.
"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked suddenly becoming alert.
"Iruka had been nervous the last couple of days before he disappeared."
"Nervous how?"
"He thought he felt someone watching him, and I blew it off to his imagination and the fact that he spends most of his time reading in that musty library, I should have been a better friend." Naruto finished shaking slightly.
"Naruto, this is important, now think back did Iruka every say if he actually saw someone following him, did he see someone that looked out of place, someone that made him nervous?" Sasuke asked calmly, his mind spinning with the new information.
Had the killer stalked Rin as well, if she had become nervous she would have called Kakashi immediately, why had Umino sensed that something was wrong and Rin hadn't, and if he had felt like he was being followed why the hell hadn't he gotten some protection.
"Sasuke, are you listening?" Naruto asked wiping away the last remnants of tears.
"Sorry Naruto, I was wondering why Iruka wouldn't have asked his parents for a bodyguard if he thought someone was following him?"
"To answer your first question, no, Iruka never said if he actually saw someone following him it was just a feeling he had but now that you mention it he did think he saw a shadow the other day when we were walking to the coffee shop, but he blew it off, thinking it was his imagination and the fact that he was exhausted. As to why he never told his parents my guess is that after what happened with his ex-boyfriend he didn't want them to overreact and worry."
"But I should have been a better friend Sasuke, I should have done something; if I had then Iruka would be safe, so that's why I'm sorry for your loss, but Rin's death has nothing to do with Iruka." Naruto's words rang with conviction as he walked away from the other boy.
"First of all, there is nothing you could have done Naruto, Iruka is a big boy who made his own decisions, and secondly you can't just stick your head in the sand and pretend something isn't real. I'm sorry Naruto, but it's already been 11 days since Iruka was kidnapped, so you better wake-up and be prepared." Sasuke finished just as the door to Naruto's room opened and Sai walked in.
"What the hell are you doing here Uchiha?"
"That's none of your damn business, now if you'll excuse me I left Kiba in the dorm room, but he should be heading this way already." Sasuke replied as he walked towards the door, he needed to call his brother at once.
"Oh and Sai, you might want to keep an eye on your blonde charge over there, he doesn't seem to be doing so good." Sasuke commented as Sai turned in time to watch Naruto crumbled to the floor.
"I swear if you did anything to him, I'll rip you and that mutt you call a guard apart." Sai hissed as he rushed over to Naruto.
"All I did was force him to accept reality," the door closed on those words.
"Bastard."
"Oi, Naruto, are you okay?" Sai asked.
"50 days, Sai we have no more than 50 days to find Iruka before that creep kills him."
"I know, I've called every connection and every favor I have in, but have come up empty so far."
"What do we do Sai? How do we help Iruka?" Naruto whispered as he put his head in his hands.
"I don't know, but Shikamaru and Shino should be here shortly, maybe they have some ideas, you know if anyone will be able to come up with something it will be Shikamaru."
"It's not enough, 50 days is not enough." Naruto whispered as the knock on the door sounded.
The sound of footsteps outside his darkened prison woke Iruka. After his tears had dried up the pain radiating from his face and back had become too much to bear and he had welcomed the reprise that unconsciousness had offered.
The creak of the door opening caused a tremor to course down his body.
"Good morning pet, how did you sleep? I imagine the pain was quite bad last night," the voice hissed getting closer and closer.
"Now why don't we take a look at the damage you did last night, you know things always look better in the light of a new day," the warm breathe next to his ear caused him to jerk back, just as a blindfold covered his eyes.
Fighting down his panic, Iruka ordered his body to stay still, taking a deep breathe he listened and waited.
The sound of a shutter opening caused Iruka to turn toward the noise. He had always suspected that the room wasn't windowless, why else would the kidnapper insist on blindfolding them before he turned on the lights to inspect the damage he had inflicted; that bastard wanted to keep any idea of escape or hope from forming.
Iruka felt the warming rays of the sun as the noise from the shutter continued. He wondered how long it had been since he had last been out in the warm sunlight.
"I'm disappointed pet, I had really hoped that the new day would prove that the injury you inflicted on yourself wasn't as bad as it seemed last night, but now I see I was wrong," the voice whispered anger radiating from it.
"How could you ruin everything, I had such beautiful plans for you, now I have to modify them, all because you were selfish."
"Me, you're the asshole that kidnapped me, and I'm the selfish one," Iruka gritted out unable to control his temper or his tongue. How dare this creep blame him, he was the victim here.
"My, my such temper, I bet if I took that blindfold off your eyes would be pools of fire and hate, those eyes that are so damn expressive I would love to drown in them, maybe see what kind of emotion I could get reflected in those chocolate eyes of yours; but I wonder how long your temper will hold up before you break, because they all broke, some took longer than others, but they all became broken in the end, and you will to my sweet little Iruka it's just a matter of time and though I hate to admit this, but I might actually regret the fact that soon your eyes will be as dull and lifeless as the others," the hiss came moments before the wet tongue licked his still tender cheek.
"Don't touch me!" Iruka bite out as he jerked his face away.
"So touchy, I only wanted to make you feel better, my pretty little Iruka, even though you are no longer the perfect specimen, I think I can still work with you, after all you're still better than all the others and the fact that half your DNA comes from him is such a wonderful bonus."
"Fuck off, you sick freak, you probably got some kind of twisted satisfaction from hurting those poor people; but you're nothing more than a sick, pathetic excuse for a human being and I would rather die here than let you get one single thing from my parents and I don't know what your deal is with my father but I will not let you use me to hurt him." Iruka panted out, he knew he should have controlled his temper, but the anger was beyond him; how dare that prick talk about all those poor souls like they were nothing.
"Shut your mouth, before I decide that you'll still be useful without that poisonous tongue of yours; and just so we're clear nobody said anything about Umino," the voice hissed as he yanked Iruka's head back, "now why don't I teach you some manners, and if you're really nice I might let you in on a little secret."
He refused to cry out, refused to give him that satisfaction, no matter how much he ached he would not cry.
"Your still as stubborn as ever I see, why don't you just give in a little, it would make both of us a bit happier," the voice asked as Iruka heard footsteps walking away from him.
"Guess I'll have to stop for now, I would hate to accidentally kill you, that would ruin the plan and since you haven't really been a good little boy guess I'll just keep my secret a little longer, who would have thought you would have inherited that stubborn streak from him. You know pet if the morning had been a little more fruitful and you would have been a little more accommodating I might have opened up your eyes to the lie you've been living all your life."
The closing of the shutters had Iruka turning as the blindfold was removed. He had bitten his lower lip to keep from asking, he didn't want to know what that bastard had to tell him, it was probably nothing more than lies.
As the door closed Iruka wanted nothing more than to break down and cry, but he would not give in to self pity, that was the first step down the road to giving up and he would never give up. He was getting out of here and if his parents and Jiraiya didn't hurry up and rescue him, then he'd just do it himself, because Iruka Umino would not be letting that asshole win.
He was shaken out of his silent ranting (and mental pep talk) by something hitting his head; he looked up in the darkness and tried to think of what it could have been. Yanking on his chains, he heard a creak that hadn't been there before; yanking harder caused a second small object to hit his head.
"Calm down, this is good, you just need to stay calm." Iruka told himself, after all if the ceiling surrounding his chains was falling then it clearly meant that the universe was giving him a sign to stop waiting for others to rescue him; he just needed to take things nice and slow, he couldn't draw attention to the situation.
How long did he have before his captor returned, he had said it was morning so it was a new day? Iruka had no idea how many days he had been here, but it didn't matter he would figure it out when he got out, but for his purposes today was day one and he would make sure to keep track of how many days in hell he spent.
Iruka also needed to see if his kidnapper had a schedule that he kept, he would have to wait until the creep came back and then figure out a way to keep time, and keep doing it until he could judge when the next visit came. He could do this, he would do this; for the first time since this whole nightmare began Iruka smiled with hope, despite the pain he smiled and thanked whatever deity out there was in charge of faulty ceilings.
"Itachi, we need to talk." Sasuke said in form of greeting as soon as his brother answered the phone.
"What is it Sasuke? Did you find out something from Naruto?"
"Yes, is Kakashi with you, what about Genma, you might want to put me on the speaker." Sasuke replied.
"Yes he's here, everyone's here, I'm putting you on speaker right now."
"Sasuke, what did you find out from the kid?" Kakashi asked as soon as the connection kicked in.
"I'm sorry for your loss and I wish there had been something we could have done." Sasuke began, before clearing his throat.
"I talked to Naruto, he was the last person to see Iruka before he went missing."
"Are you sure Sasuke, the report made no mention of Iruka being with anyone that night,it just stated that he had been studying at the library?" Genma asked.
"Yes, he was at the library helping Naruto study, I'm guessing Naruto kept quiet out of his feeling of guilt."
"Why would he feel guilty, Sasuke?" Itachi asked his brother.
"It seems that Iruka had been extremely jumpy and nervous days prior to his abduction, according to Naruto, Iruka thought someone was following him and no matter what he did he couldn't shake the feeling of being watched." Sasuke continued.
"Sasuke, are you sure?" Kakashi asked his hands in tight fists on top of the glass table.
"Yeah, Naruto was pretty distraught about it, he blames himself for not really believing Iruka and ultimately failing to protect his best friend."
"Why did Morino not mention this, were any of the other victims being followed prior to their abductions as well?" Genma asked angry that none of this had been in any of the reports he had been given.
"Because he didn't know, I'm pretty sure Naruto hasn't mentioned the fact that Iruka was being followed to anyone, not even Sai." Sasuke commented.
"Iruka didn't tell his parents or Jiraiya, either." Kakashi stated wondering why the blonde had kept it a secret after the fact.
"No, Iruka didn't tell anyone but Naruto and he swore Naruto to secrecy, he didn't want his parents finding out."
"Why, would he take that chance, why not ask for protection?" Tenzou interrupted, speaking for the first time.
"For the same reason, he didn't tell his parents about his ex-boyfriend," Sasuke began not sure if he should be sharing Iruka's past life with his brother and senpai, "if his parents had known, then Jiraiya would have known and Iruka would have had bodyguards intruding on his life 24/7 and I know you all don't know him, but for someone as independent as Iruka that kind of sheltered existence would have killed him." Sasuke finished.
"Yeah, Jiraiya can be pretty stubborn about certain things and I guarantee Iruka's safety would have been one of those things and he doesn't compromise, not to mention he certainly doesn't know what the word inconspicuous means." Kakashi reasoned.
"Sasuke, what else did Naruto say? Did Iruka ever actually see anyone? Did Naruto ever see anyone that looked out of place when he was with Iruka?" Itachi asked.
"No, there was nothing else Naruto could tell me, and aside from a shadow with no actual features that Iruka saw there was no concrete description and I didn't press Naruto for more, he was pretty distraught and pretty much having a breakdown when I left him to his bodyguard; look Kiba's at the door, I have class in a few and I'm going to ask to take the next round of exams early so call me when you need me to get on the next plane out of here."
"Thanks Sasuke, see if you can talk to Naruto again after he calms down, but don't push to much, the last thing we need is for his father to come gunning for you; and Sasuke watch your back."
"Hai."
"So what now Kakashi, do we question Naruto on our own and see if he remembers something else." Genma asked.
"No, Minato would butcher us if we go after his kid, let Sasuke handle it," Kakashi stated turning toward his assistant, "Tenzou, why don't you let Ibiki know what we discovered, let him deal with Naruto and Minato as well."
"Genma, call your best computer guy."
"Okay, what for boss."
"Iruka and Naruto spent a lot of time at and around the university library, including bookstores and coffee shops. I want to know how many cameras were monitoring that whole area, I want to know every shop and ATM machine that might have a camera that picked up Iruka and Naruto's moments. Have your best tech guy start at Iruka's apartment building and see if a video time line can be established, have them go back at least a month, more if necessary; who knows how long this psycho stalks his victims before the abduction. I know Ibiki and his guys went over some of the surveillance video to see if they could pick up the actual abduction, but they weren't looking for someone making repeat appearances." Kakashi finished as he stood up walking towards the door.
"You all have your orders, I need to call Jiraiya it would be unfair to keep him in the dark, besides even though I know our tech guys are good, there's nothing like the call from the President to get people to corporate."
"Mr. President, there's a call for you from Mr. Hatake on line 3," Jiraiya's assistant's voice jarred him from his thoughts.
"Thank you, I'll take the call and I don't wish to be disturbed, oh and one more thing have the car readied, I'll be leaving as soon as I'm done."
"Of course, Mr. President."
"Kakashi, what do you want?"
"Well hello to you too, Jiraiya."
"Look I don't have time for you right now, I'm sure you've already heard that Morino hasn't come up with anything new and the Uminos are getting extremely desperate, so I'm headed over there to try and talk some sense into them."
"I know, but we found something that I think you should know about and I think you should hear it from a friend."
"Oh god," Jiraiya whispered fearing the worst.
"Calm down, they haven't found a body yet, it's too soon and I really don't think the kidnapper is going to change his MO at this late stage of the game." Kakashi gritted out, anger in every word.
"Maybe, but you don't know Iruka, that boy's temper and mouth have no thought process to them he's driven completely by emotion and if he wanted to he could drive a sane person mad." Jiraiya finished fondly.
" You're right I don't know Iruka, but you do, so tell me why would he keep the fact that he thought someone was following him a secret from both you and his parents?"
"What? That's ridiculous Kakashi, Iruka would never keep something like that from me, he knows how important his safety is."
"You're probably right, and he probably knows what you would have done if he told. Let's see you would have assigned a team of not so subtle agents to guard him, to follow him around wherever he went and take away any possible independence he might have had." Kakashi stated.
"You're right this is all my fault, I would have smothered him with my protection, I would have just steamed rolled over any objections he might have had and if the team I sent reported that protecting him in the environment he was in was proving to difficult, I would have pulled him from that school."
"Jiraiya it isn't your fault, you just wanted to protect him."
"The problem is you have no idea how independent he always wanted to be. Do you know that when Iruka was about ten he wanted this really rare book that he found in some small used bookstore, the problem was that he didn't want to be dependent on his parents or me for the money he needed, he refused to feel like he owed anyone; so instead of asking us, he decided to open a lemonade stand to raise the money on his own." Jiraiya laughed as he continued the story. "It was the worst lemonade I had ever tasted, but I was so proud of him that I refused to have all his hard work go to waste, so I made ever member of my staff buy a glass. I could have told him the truth and then given him the money for the book but I didn't want to crush his independent spirit, I wanted him to stand on his own to realize that he could do anything he set his mind to without us; maybe I should have crushed him back then, maybe then he would have come to me to protect him."
"Jiraiya, there's nothing to do about it now, and for the record I think you did the right thing, children need to learn how to stand on their own, and regardless of what decisions were made in the past, it doesn't change anything now."
"I know, thanks for letting me know, how did you find out about that anyway, Morino hasn't said a word about someone following Iruka."
"Morino doesn't know, at least he didn't; Sasuke found out from Naruto."
"Naruto? That makes sense if anyone was privy to Iruka's secrets it was his pseudo little brother, that boy meant the world to him, did you know that Naruto is the reason Iruka stayed at that university, he could have gone anywhere he wanted to go but he wanted to stay close to the blonde, so he stayed at the school that was close to Naruto's own school."
"Look Jiraiya I just wanted you to know, and to inform you that I'm going to have some of my tech guys dig around, maybe Iruka's stalker was caught on one of the many ATM or shop cameras around the university; my guys are good, but nothing gets people to corporate like the government." Kakashi finished waiting for a replay.
"Understood, I'll have some of my people make contact with the locals to make sure you have everything your guys need, but I want to be kept in the loop, I want to know the minute you find out anything. I know for you this is about making that bastard pay, but Iruka is still alive and he is my priority, once he is safe and back home, then you do what you need to do." Jiraiya stated.
"Look, Jiraiya thanks but there's just one more thing, make sure that you're prepared it might not turn out the way you want it to ." Kakashi finished hanging up the phone, he couldn't really help his friend right now, his own grief was too suffocating.
"Be prepared," Jiraiya whispered putting his head in his hands after hanging up the phone, "how the hell do I prepare to lose my child a second time."
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