C H A P T E R 8

The assassin sat in the bushes just outside of the very modern looking palace, completely stupefied. He watched, eyes wide with shock, as Naruto and Gaara walked into the dwelling. How could this have happened? That stupid blonde was supposed to lead me to my no good brother! Not some sand noble. How in bloody hell did this happen?!

He swiftly stood and left the vicinity, not trusting himself to sit still when in such close proximity to the source of his anger. In his haste to leave the area, he missed the sight of the one person who could have been of help to him. The flash of blonde and black ran swiftly from his own position in front of the palace, headed towards the Residence.

The murderer's thoughts swirled around in his head. The stupid bastard was supposed to lead me to Sasuke! Whipping back his hood, the assassin's red eyes glared furiously at his surroundings, cutting through alleys to stay out of passer-by sight. He cast his eyes left and right, making sure no one was there, before quickly leaping up to the top of the building and sitting on the roof to brood.

He closed his eyes, and tried breathed deeply. It was at times like these when his Mangekyo bothered him the most. His 'wheel eyes' almost burned with their intensity, and he pressed bunched up fists to his eyes, knowing even still that it wouldn't alleviate the pain. He ground his teeth together with frustration. How much longer would he have to endure this torture?! He slowly lowered his hands, the only solution blaring in his mind like the glare from the sun he could no longer completely see.

He would have to interrogate Naruto Uzumaki. That demon spawn must know where Sasuke was. This whole trip through the desert must have been a ruse, a ploy to lead him further away from his objective. That redheaded dip-shit must be in on it too. Why else would he have invited the knight into his home? They must be planning to hide him somewhere. I'll have to keep a close eye on them. If they somehow manage to alert Sasuke of my presence before I get my hands on him, I won't stand a chance. I have to take him by surprise.

His decision made, the assassin slowly stood, turning around to fix his red eyes on the looming palace ahead of him. Itachi Uchiha would not be deterred from his mission. He would not allow Sasuke to live.


"After you eat," Gaara said, biting into an apple and pocketing the wedge in his cheek to continue speaking, "we'll go see someone I know at the Residence. She's in charge of the correspondence for all of Suna. If anything has come in relating to your friend Sasuke, she'll be able to find it." He chewed and swallowed, taking another bite.

Seemingly inhaling the ramen Gaara had made for him upon request, Naruto nodded and swallowed. "Sounds good to me."

They sat in companionable silence until Naruto spoke again. "What do ya do for fun around here?"

Gaara blinked, slightly taken aback. "Well, I take great pleasure from some lucrative reading, and reviewing the reports from my properties in and around Suna."

The knight stared. "You call that fun? What about dating? Or going out and banging a hot piece of ass?" Taking another slurp of beef ramen, Naruto hoped Gaara would understand what he wanted.

The sand noble's face flushed a deep red. H-he wants some…ass? Sweet Kami, can he mean what I think he means? "W-well, I find it to be an appalling waste of time to attempt 'banging a hot piece of ass' when very few of the people belonging to that ass would want to connect themselves with my person." After all, how many gay men could there be in a city that's survival depended on many generations of children to protect and support it. Besides, Gaara preferred to be banged than to do the banging himself.

Naruto paused, his chopsticks held up halfway to his face. "Connect themselves with your person? That's crazy. Why wouldn't they want to associate themselves with you? You're the most amazing person I've ever met." D-did I just say that? Dear Kami, I'm attracted to the boy. He had to stamp down a quick rush of jealousy at the thought of someone else realizing the precious jewel that Gaara was revealing himself to be. Finishing his bite, the knight pushed aside his empty bowl and leaned on the counter.

Gaara looked away, trying to ignore Naruto's last comment, but unable to hide his blush and the glow that came to his eyes. "Well, most…all the citizens of Suna view me as a monster. I was born with two souls. One is my own, and the other is the soul of a demon. I have it under complete control, except when I'm under stress or I'm feeling very emotional, but the populace doesn't seem to want to believe in my abilities to control Shukaku."

Naruto's eyes softened, and he stood up to slowly round the table and sit beside Gaara. He spoke softly, "You're not the only one with two souls Gaara."

"I-I'm not?" he whispered, his sky blue eyes opened wide as he stared up into Naruto's open face. He didn't read any hatred there. Only kindness, and Gaara thought, a little love. He sighed inwardly. Probably platonic love. What I thought I saw before, when Naruto complimented me, was just a friendly comment. Nothing more.

He leaned his elbows on the table, looking forward at the kitchen. "I have demon soul within me too. I wasn't born with it though. The demon was attacking my village, and my father died trying to seal it. He ended up sealing it within me, knowing that I would probably be the only one able to control it. It hasn't earned me much love. I have my friends, but I don't have that special someone to come home to, you know?" He finished this by looking back to Gaara, a gentle smile on his lips.

The noble felt a shiver rush down his spine. I have to stop this before I do something I might regret later. "Have you finished eating now?" he said quickly, diverting the conversation.

Naruto's smile widened slightly. "Yes, I have. Does this mean we'll see your friend now about Sasuke?" He felt his pulse speed up with anticipation.

Gaara turned his back to hide his small frown. "Yes, it does. Come, let's hurry. It's a good fifteen minute walk back to the Residence, and I'm not certain as to when she goes home."

The knight stood swiftly, grabbing Gaara's hand and pulling him along. "Then what are we doing standing here? Let's go!"


Oki rushed around her office, grabbing boxes and placing them gently on the large table she used to sort the mountains of correspondence she got every day. The small woman was in charge of all the delivery services for the Suna Council, and she went through the mail, organizing it to be sent to its proper delivery services centres within the city. The most important aspect of her job though. Espionage. She prided herself in her ability to identify 'spy mail' as the warriors of their village liked to call it. And that, among other letters, was what she was going through at that very moment.

"Oki," Gaara whispered fondly in her ear, "I see you are disorganized as ever."

Gasping with indignation, she straightened quickly. "What are you talking about?! I am immaculate." She gestured around her office, wincing at the state of it. Well, it had been immaculate, before Gaara and his push-boy showed up. Still, she knew he was teasing, and thus couldn't help the smirk that graced her smooth features.

"Ahh, yes, I can see that it is," the noble replied, swiftly picking up the box she had been inspecting and plopping it down with the others. Naruto grunted from where he sat, flipping through old mail, looking for anything that might hint at Sasuke's movements.

Her smirk widened into a grin. "Hey, as long as I know where everything is, it can't really be counted as disorganized now can it?" Bending down, she picked up the last box they would need and walked toward where the blonde sat, paying close attention to a letter he had in his hand.
"What have you got there," she asked, taking a stack of 'spy mail' from her box.

Naruto blinked slowly, drawn out from the words on the page. "Hmmm…? Oh! Umm, it mentions something called the Akatsuki threatening your borders. It intrigued me. There have been members of an alleged organization of that name harassing my village as well, among others in the surrounding Countries."

Oki frowned, picking up the letter and reading through it quickly. "Huh, you're right. But this is many years old. They haven't been bothering us for nigh on…7 or 8 years now."

Gaara nodded confirmation. "The last I heard," he said, "was that they had retreated from our borders for a still unfound reason. They just suddenly weren't there anymore."

Naruto picked up another letter, growling softly to himself. "Well you should keep a watch out for them. Those bastards are tricky, and very clever. I bet they could get one or two of their spies into this city without even realizing it. Heck, when I crossed into your borders, the guards didn't even ask what my business was."

"That's strange," Gaara murmured. "The border guards have always been known for being the most suspicious of our warriors. It used to be they wouldn't even let me back in until I had proven that I was indeed the Sheik of Suna."

"When did things start becoming weird around here," Naruto asked, quickly reading and eliminating half a box of correspondence.

Oki frowned, placing a finished box on the floor. "I think that would be around the time the citizens got the strange idea in their heads that we needed a council to advice you."

Gaara nodded his agreement again. "Yes, that does seem about right. Come to think of it, that idea was proposed right around the time Akatsuki disappeared, by the foolish pup Takehiro."

"The war general that's taken your place as Council Head?" Oki gasped. She knew about him all right. She hated having to work for him. Something about him was…off.

"Yes," Gaara murmured, "the very same." He paused reflectively, staring down at the letter Oki had placed in front of him. This is too much of a coincidence. Takehiro and the Akatsuki must have something in common. But what?

While he pondered this revealing information, Naruto and Oki continued their search through the mail for any possible link towards the man Naruto was searching for.