Disclaimer: CapturedByNoodles and Kizukatana sadly own nothing.

Kizu and Noodle's Author's Notes: Love this chapter for various reasons. I'm kind of excited we can finally release it. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! Kizu and I stuffed ourselves, obviously. We ate a bunch and lounged around and just enjoyed the sweet smell of food, because it's not national turkey day. It's national food day folks. That I'm sure of.

Warnings: Graphic depictions of violence in this chapter.

Chapter 10 - Something's Gotta Give

"Yeah," Sasuke said softly, after a pause that had Naruto wishing the floor would just open and swallow him whole. "It was… something."

Naruto's head snapped up, and he was met with Sasuke's intense, black gaze.

Sasuke brushed his thumb across Naruto's lower lip, his eyes darkening. Naruto felt his breath still in his chest as heat pooled into his belly at the simple touch.

"Sasuke…" his voice sounded low and raspy to his own ears. Sasuke's hand slid around to the back of Naruto's neck, and Naruto felt his eyes start to close as Sasuke pulled him closer. Naruto knew that Sasuke wasn't likely to put into words what he meant by 'something', but the look in his eyes made Naruto feel like he'd be more than happy with a demonstration.

Yet before any of that could happen, they heard the sound of the key in the lock and the apartment door rattled and creaked before bursting open. Naruto glanced over his shoulder to see Haku with two bags of groceries in each hand, his leg extended in the air from having roundhouse kicked the flimsy door (which had evidently gotten stuck again) open. Zabuza stood behind Haku, slack jawed and silent. But his clouded eyes remained trained on Haku's back, and Naruto felt a protective urge shoot through him again as he glared at his fake pimp. He realized he needed to have a serious talk later about Zabuza's intentions, which were by no means platonic at this point.

Not noticing the tension, Haku wiped his forehead with the back of his hand and exhaled through his nose.

"Naruto, we brought some take-out and - Oh, were we expecting someone?" Haku chuckled, giving a polite smile in Sasuke's direction. The gleam in his eye suggested Zabuza may already have filled him in on a few of the day's events. Naruto blinked when Haku's stares between the two of them lingered, and realized just how close he and Sasuke were on the futon when he glanced down to find Sasuke's hand resting on his thigh.

Naruto stood up quickly, trying in vain to prevent the stain of red from permanently resting on his cheeks. "This is Sasuke. He's, uh…" He hesitated, finding that the word friend didn't ever really suit them, and at this point wasn't even an accurate description of their relationship. Sasuke noticed how he was at a loss for words and stood up, moving to help Haku with the bags. He extended his hand to Haku's now free one.

"I'm Defense Attorney Sasuke Uchiha, Kakashi asked me to help with the case," Sasuke said casually.

"I see," Haku said, the glimmer still present but dimming as he set the bags of food on the scarred counter.

Zabuza snorted. "Well, it wasn't his lawyer skills that Kakashi brought him in for, that's for damn sure."

Naruto shifted his feet and eyed Zabuza critically, his lips forming a tight line. He crossed his arms across his chest.

Sasuke stood and walked over to stand by Naruto, sliding his arm casually around Naruto's waist, and sending Zabuza a challenging look that clearly said 'Do you have a problem with this?' Naruto hadn't expected it - and couldn't deny the way his heart raced at the gesture. Sasuke's touch felt… warm. And more than a little distracting. Naruto tried to focus on a little matter he needed to settle here. The matter of Zabuza trying to get in Haku's pants, and whether Haku was ready for something like that after what he had been through.

"So what took you and Haku so long, huh?" Naruto asked, looking at Zabuza with a stern expression as if saying he better not even think about lying to him.

Zabuza sent him a glare, but his lips quickly formed a sinister smirk. "We were doing grow-up things, rookie," Zabuza's gaze flicked over to the futon where the bag of condoms and lube he had purchase was no longer visible. "And if you two burned through my entire stash of rubbers, aside from probably setting a world record, you owe me sixty bucks and a trip to the convenience store before dinner."

Haku sent Zabuza a sharp glance. Zabuza instantly raised his hands and looked contrite. "Not that I'm expecting… or assuming… just maybe…" Here his face shifted into much more predatory. "... hopeful."

Haku chuckled and turned away from him, pulling out a tupperware bowl of rice and casually setting it down on the table. When he turned around though - to Naruto's horror - he grabbed Zabuza by the hair and brought him down so their lips were only centimeters apart. Haku moved quickly enough so that he was pressing Zabuza against the wall. He gave the other a sly smile, "I hope that stash of yours is extra large, because if they're not going to set a world record...we might."

Naruto blanched, gaping at the two of them. It was too late. While he was out chasing a serial killer, Haku had reached the point of no return with this both stared longingly into each other's eyes, Haku's expression one of challenge, while Zabuza's lips curved with some sort of sadistic amusement. It was clear that Zabuza wasn't taking advantage of Haku at least. If anything, it looked like Haku was going to be the one running the show. And as Naruto sat there, wondering if the two of them were going to go at it on the living room floor, Sasuke leaned in, the breath of his lips brushing past Naruto's ear. "You could always sleep at my place tonight if you wanted to give them some privacy." The low timbre of his voice made Naruto's breath hitch.

Haku evidently had excellent hearing, because he shot an amused glance at Sasuke. "Let's have dinner before whatever entertainments we all retire to for the evening happen, shall we?"

"Sasuke, I couldn't go to your place even if I wanted to," Naruto murmured, realizing he must have sounded somewhat disappointed by that reality when he saw Sasuke smirking.

They all followed Haku over to the beat-up kitchen table, where he was already setting the food out. To Naruto's utter shock, Zabuza grabbed some bowls and helped to set the table. Naruto barely suppressed the urge to snicker. He was already whipped.

"And...Haku, so are you and Zabuza, uh…" Naruto paused as Haku set a fork down beside him. Naruto let out a frustrated sigh. He grabbed the fork and jabbed it threateningly in Zabuza's direction. "Just watch yourself. I get you're my superior, but if you hurt Haku after everything he's been through you're in for an asskicking."

Zabuza looked at Naruto, a hint of approval in his eyes. "If I hurt Haku, then I'd deserve it."

Naruto looked and saw nothing but sincerity in Zabuza's eyes.

Haku smiled and sat down after all the food was out.

"Naruto, you can stop being over protective. Now, why don't you tell us about your friend? How did you two meet?"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow to Naruto, indicating he should answer.

Naruto rolled his eyes, not surprised. Outside of the courtroom, Sasuke never talked much. Except when he was making fun of Naruto.

"We went to high school together. He and I were classmates."

"You were friends in high school? That's nice," Haku said, adding a little more salt to his rice.

"Ah… I wouldn't really call us friends, but we were…" Naruto stuffed a forkful of rice in his mouth, chewing thoughtfully, "...were in the same classes, I guess."

Sasuke's fork paused halfway to his mouth, then he slowly forced himself to take the bite. Zabuza was busy eating, but Haku had noticed the slight reaction.

"So… you just had some classes together? That's all?" Haku said. "Zabuza seemed to indicate you seemed closer."

"Well, ehrm… We had a lot of mutual friends? We saw each other a lot through them, at parties and stuff, but well…" This was starting to get really awkward and uncomfortable.

Sasuke put his fork down, and pushed his plate slightly away.

Haku glanced over to Sasuke's face, but as usual it showed no emotion.

"Sasuke," Haku began seemingly casually. "So what did you think of Naruto in high school?"

Sasuke fiddled with his fork on his plate, then realized he was doing it and withdrew his hand, flattening his hands against the table.

"I thought…" Sasuke began slowly. "That Naruto was the most interesting person in our school." He looked at his plate briefly, then picked up his fork and resumed eating as though he had never spoken.

Naruto almost choked on the chewed up chunks of food in his mouth at the statement. He watched Sasuke carefully out of the corner of his eyes, wondering if the affection he heard had been all in his head or not. Naruto swallowed, fiddling with his fork when Haku looked to him for an answer.

"Honestly? I thought he was a huge jerk," Sasuke slowed his chewing, "We weren't really friends, in fact we kind of disliked each other...but…" Naruto's fingers lightly grazed the utensil in deep thought. "...but somehow… all I ever really wanted was for him to look me or...acknowledge me. I ended up really...admiring him, I guess? He was just always good at everything, and well...at first it'd piss me off, because nothing I ever did seemed to be nearly as good. He never seemed to notice anything I did. But then I realized...it just drove me to work harder. I wasn't exactly a natural in academics the way I was at sports, but I just… didn't want to keep losing to him at everything. I would never have had good enough grades to make it into the police academy if I hadn't been pushing myself to try to catch up to Sasuke. In a way he's...sort of the reason I am where I am today."

Somewhere during the middle of Naruto's speech, Sasuke had stopped eating again and was staring at Naruto. When Naruto finally finished, Sasuke's eyes seemed to be frozen on Naruto's face. It didn't even look as though he were breathing. Haku smiled warmly and cleared his throat.

"Ow! What the fuck, Haku?" Zabuza said, looking under the table where a sharp thump had sounded suspiciously like someone getting kicked.

Hakus stood gracefully, taking his plate, shooting Zabuza a not-so-subtle look that his ass had better be joining him in the kitchen. Zabuza grumbled, rubbing his leg before shoveling the last three bites of his food into his mouth and following suit.

Sasuke sat for a frozen instant before he also stood, walking over to where Naruto was seated, and without saying a word pulled Naruto out of his chair and dragged him into Zabuza's empty bed room. Unable to get a word out Naruto watched Sasuke roughly shut the door behind him before Naruto found himself pressed against it. Sasuke slid his fingers through Naruto's soft hair before he pulled their mouths down together in a bruising kiss. Naruto barely registered what he was doing when he felt the pressure of Sasuke's lips increase against his, the wet heat of Sasuke's tongue running along the seam of his lips. Without hesitation, Naruto opened his mouth, groaning as Sasuke's tongue found his and grazed eroticaly against it.

Naruto fought to keep breathing as he returned the gesture, pressing forward with equal force, feeling their tongues dance and slide around each other.

Sasuke drew back slightly, his eyes darker than Naruto had ever seen them. "You…" Sasuke breathed finally. "..are an idiot."

When Naruto opened his mouth to say something, Sasuke thrust his tongue back in -that was becoming a regular theme these days - and made speech impossible again.

Sasuke heard the slight groan Naruto made, the husky sound making Sasuke's blood pound like liquid fire through him. He pressed his body flush against Naruto's, reveling in the feel of the way Naruto's body responded instantly. Sasuke could feel Naruto's pulse leap beneath the skin at the tan throat. He felt Naruto's tongue thrusting against his own, the wet sound of their tongues together making him think of all the other ways their bodies could be joined and making similar noises. His pants grew painfully tight and Sasuke pulled back, wanting Naruto to understand what his words had done to him before he ended up completely losing control and fucking him into the floor.

"Naruto…." Sasuke swallowed, trying to figure out what to say. Expressing emotions was never his strong suit, and his brain was already hazed with desire. "I…"

"I never thought I'd see the day when Sasuke Uchiha was at a loss for words," Naruto smirked, feeling a strange surge of pride at the glazed look in the dark eyes of his former rival. He was feeling the same thing he felt in Sasuke's Lincoln, that possessive power that came with seeing Sasuke come undone because of him. So many people had thrown themselves at Sasuke's feet, and Naruto had never seen the man look twice at anyone. It felt almost surreal that Sasuke was… kissing him like this. Sasuke, usually detached and stoic, was raw with desire and something a little deeper. Naruto felt an answering emotion surge through him. All those years of vying for Sasuke's attention… Naruto knew with certainty that this was what he had wanted, but just hadn't been able to recognize at the time.

Naruto closed the distance between their mouths for a second time, this time being the aggressor. He felt Sasuke's sharp intake of breath and slid his hand over Sasuke's throat and up to his jaw, using his thumb to pull the pale man's jaw open further to deepen the kiss. The low growl that came from Sasuke's throat seemed to reverberate straight down to Naruto's cock. He pressed his body back against Sasuke's, registering the other's arousal as well.

Naruto lost all ability to hold back, sliding his fingers up into Sasuke's hair and pulling him more forcefully into the kiss. He felt Sasuke's hands slid along his ass, grinding their erections together and lifting Naruto slightly as their whole bodies eagerly slid together with delicious friction. Naruto felt like he was about to come out of his skin. He certainly was more than ready to be out of his clothes.

As if reading his mind, Sasuke started to untuck Naruto's shirt when a loud crash from the kitchen startled them back to reality, reminding them of where they were and the paper-thin walls of the shitty apartment. It took them both a few seconds to react, neither wanting to stop what they were doing.

Naruto slowly came down from his high, realizing his hands were still gripping onto Sasuke's hips. Their lips parted, Sasuke breathing heavily against them. Naruto hands lingered, but pulling away he turned to open the door, only to see… the crash had been a plate. Haku had Zabuza pressed against the kitchen counter with his partners hands squeezing significant portions of Haku's ass. Naruto loudly made his presence known by coughing in their direction.

"Haku, isn't it getting late?" Naruto asked pointedly. Reality hit him when he had seen the clock and realized it was getting late, and Haku was supposed to be back at the safe house.

Zabuza threw Naruto a look that should have leveled him to the ground. "If you're gonna be a cock-block, kid, I might leave you on that street corner for real next time."

"I don't think you'd do that. Because than we wouldn't be able to catch the guy that hurt Haku," Naruto replied back. "You know...the person whose ass you're currently grabbing?"

Zabuza cast a somewhat sheepish glance in Haku's direction before releasing his grip. "Maybe he liked to hunt at night… we might actually catch him faster. Besides, Haku is perfectly capable of making his own choices," Zabuza said, slanting an appreciative gaze over to where Haku was straightening his clothes. Then he frowned. "But it's too bad we're back to square one," he said, dusting off the back of his jeans.

Sasuke's phone buzzed. He glanced at the caller ID. "It's Itachi. I have to meet him out front," he turned and looked at Naruto, clearly not wanting to leave. "Don't be an idiot out there," he said gruffly, sliding his thumb softly over Naruto's cheekbone. He stood there for a suspended moment, then turned and pulled on his jacket.

Naruto gave him a small nod, but not before grabbing the sleeve of Sasuke's jacket and tugging it towards him.

"Sasuke, before you go…" He started, finding that this was a little easier now than it had been earlier. "Just...uh, this is...something...right?" Naruto asked lamely, echoing the words he said earlier that day.

He was a lot more confident on what he wanted with Sasuke but… he just needed to make sure Sasuke wanted it, too. Pulling Sasuke towards him, he brushed his lips against the others in a chaste kiss, much like the one he gave him when they were in that Lincoln.

Sasuke took the opportunity to kiss him back, not quite as chastely, before he leaned in to whisper in his ear. "How many people have you seen me kiss before, dead last? Of course this is something." He turned to go as his phone buzzed with an impatient text from Itachi.

"Be careful, will you, bastard?"

Sasuke looked back at him, worry coloring his dark eyes.

"Hn, you're the one who's bait for a serial killer. Take your own advice."

A week had passed since the incident in Sasuke's Lincoln, and Naruto continued to work his corner, seeing no sign of the killer, and no sign of Sasuke. Both were driving him crazy.

He blew into the palms of his hands, trying to find some warmth. It was getting a lot colder as they reached the end of month, and Naruto found that the leather jacket Haku provided him with wasn't doing much to shield him from the biting winds. The weather was taking a dive, and for a guy trying to do his job in a skirt - and then some - even stockings didn't help ease the frigid chill. But Naruto didn't let his freezing nuts deter him. If anything, this just encouraged him more to find the asshole that had made this whole thing necessary and bring him to justice soon.

Since the peeping Tom was known not to be the stalker, the need for Sasuke to be involved was gone. There was still a small chance that the killer had been watching at the same time as the first suspect, but it wasn't that likely. Kakashi had held firm that there would be no further visits of Naruto's 'regular'. In the end, the captain had decided that the risks to a civilian - especially one that was an Uchiha - outweighed the slight chance of benefit to the investigation, and he let Sasuke go. Sasuke accepted it with the condition that Itachi remain in the loop on the operation.

Naruto had mixed feelings about it.

He would be lying if he said it didn't give him a thrill to be doing those things with Sasuke. And it wasn't just the physical aspect, but the way that Sasuke had seemed so intent on him, so focused with what they were doing together that somehow made Naruto crave it even more. But 'more' evidently wasn't going to happen in the near future. Not until they caught the serial killer and Naruto could get back to his regular life of quality ramen and quality boxers, not thongs.

He felt frustrated by the delay. Yet at the same time, this… thing… between him and Sasuke was new and confusing and intense. Having it play out in public had just made it all the more stressful and complicated. Especially when the majority of what happened involved Naruto wearing women's clothing, muddying the waters in his mind as to exactly what was attracting Sasuke to him.

He would rather have time with just the two of them so they could sort it out without a running commentary from Kiba and Sai. And - god forbid - Itachi. Naruto didn't have enough fingers to count how many innuendos Sai whipped out about the two of them after Sasuke left the case. Kiba said he had enough material to leave his job as a cop to become a stand up comedian, and at this point, Naruto believed him.

With Kakashi cracking down on the 'no outside contact' rule of undercover work, Naruto had had zero contact with Sasuke since then, and it was killing him. But it gave him time to think, and the more he did, the more he was sure that whatever he was feeling for Sasuke had been there for a long time and wasn't likely to go away anytime soon. He hoped that Sasuke was reaching the same conclusions on his own, but of course - without being able to actually talk - he couldn't know for sure.

Naruto groaned. He missed Sasuke. That sure was a weird feeling. And the longer they went without contact, the more he found himself wondering if Sasuke really felt that same burning, intensity of consuming emotion that Naruto did. If Sasuke was feeling things for him, was it only because he was now visualizing Naruto as a female?

He tried to not let his insecurities run away with him. Like whether this was just a passing thing for Sasuke, a phase, or something more? Did Sasuke even think about him anymore, or had he already moved on to someone else… someone more accessible.

Naruto had been lost in his own thoughts when he saw a beat-up looking pick-up truck pull up. His senses immediately went on alert, because it wasn't the type of vehicle he usually saw in the city. The guy driving it looked pretty rough around the edges, with a thick neck, and scars covering the muscled arm that was hanging out the window of the truck. He looked to be in his late thirties, and built like the proverbial brick shithouse.

Naruto brought his mouth to his ear piece and muttered into it.

"Are you guys seeing what I'm seeing?"

Sai's voice came through the earpiece, "Naruto, watch this guy. Something about him doesn't read right." Sai had been in vice long enough to know what the typical profiles of Johns were, and it made Naruto nervous that this one was sending up a red flag to the veteran was a reason a lot of working girls ended up in the morgue, and most of them weren't put there by the guy Naruto was hunting.

He decided he'd look into it and eventually let vice handle the guy. He'd get in and - with the promise of 'a bit more privacy' - direct the guy to the designated place where they would pick him up and book him. Naruto wanted to make sure that none of the other girls got in with this dude. As he made his way to the truck, a sense of foreboding swept over him. He stopped in front of the car door, noticing it was already open and the man's eyes were hard and trained on him.

"Get in, bitch," the man said gruffly. "I've got fifty, but I don't got all day to spend it."

"Naruto, I'll head over to the pick-up spot. Have him drive over. I've already called for back-up; he looks like he won't go willingly. Just play along until they get there."

"Okay, baby," Naruto said, talking to Sai but knowing the guy would think he was directly answering him instead.

Naruto opened the door and started to get in, but the man was impatient and grabbed Naruto's arm hard and jerked him in so he was sprawled out across the front seat, his face in the man's lap. He drove an elbow into Naruto's spine between his shoulder blades, pinning him there as he reached over and slammed the door shut.

The man pressed down on the gas pedal, rapidly pulling away from the curb and the safety of Kiba and Zabuza's surveillance. Naruto sucked in a ragged breath as the car moved, trying to steady himself and stay in character. He was supposed to be a hooker, not a cop. He started to look up but found his head pushed violently back down.

"I have a spot, just around the corner -" Naruto said as he tried to give directions to where Sai and the guys from vice would be waiting.

"Shut the fuck up, bitch. The only thing I want your mouth to do is scream when I hit you and suck my dick when I shove it in you." With those words, the older man jerked Naruto up by the back of his hair and backhanded him hard across his face, spitting Naruto's lip and sending him crashing back against the passenger side window, while not letting go of the steering wheel with his other hand.

For the first time since Naruto had started his assignment, he felt real fear for his safety snaking through his veins. This could potentially go very badly, very quickly. He felt the guy turn left at the intersection, heading in the opposite direction of Naruto's back-up. He wondered what the range on the tracking device was, and if Sai had already realized that it was blowing up. But he couldn't tell. Sai wasn't saying a word through his earpiece. All Naruto heard was static.

"Listen, don't you think we should -" Naruto felt the man grab another fistful of his head before slamming his head against the dashboard. There was a big steel wrench on the floor that the man grabbed before slamming it into Naruto's ribs, causing Naruto to double over in pain. The car screeched to a stop on some abandoned curb of the road out front of an old warehouse.

Naruto drew a breath through his now bleeding nose, trying to figure out how to play this. He couldn't announce he was a cop, because if the guy said anything about it their entire operation would be in jeopardy. But given that the guy had driven them pretty far away from where Naruto had been picked up, he figured he could fight back without fear of blowing his cover as 'easy prey.' Besides, anyone in a situation like this would fight back. If he didn't...

Looking over at the guy, he knew it wasn't going to be easy. Naruto could tell that this asshole was going to be tough to incapacitate, even if he went all out. Not to mention, he was at a disadvantage since he was in the man's car and the doors were locked shut. Then there was his size, and the fact that he was temperamental and could probably snap his neck if he tried hard enough. Naruto swallowed, forcing himself to think carefully about his options at this point.

He had dropped his purse when the guy had jerked him inside the truck, so he no longer had his gun. He assumed they were going to be heading into the warehouse they had parked out front of, which meant that Naruto would have his best chance to break free between the car and the warehouse door. Naruto looked around, noticing there were other cars parked where they were. God only knew what they guy had set up in there if he had planned this in advance.

But the man seemed to realize that Naruto was not going to go quietly.

With no warning, he grabbed Naruto's arm and twisted it violently while slamming a palm into Naruto's throat, stunning him. Naruto felt a wave of nausea wash over him when he heard a sickening pop come from his shoulder. He held back a pained scream as his head lurched forward, willing himself not to pass out.

"Get in the warehouse, slut, before someone sees us. You make any moves, and I'll break your other arm to match."

Naruto's brows were furrowed together, teeth clenched, trying in vain to remain calm as he nodded his head and waited, waited for the man to open his door and get out. When he did, Naruto would have enough room to gain some momentum and hopefully overpower the much larger man. It felt like an eternity of him sitting there, wheezing, before he heard the lock unlatch itself. Once he heard the familiar sound, Naruto figured he'd have about a five second window to try to take him by surprise. He knew his odds weren't good without back up and with his shoulder dislocated. But he couldn't just let the guy get away and do the same thing to someone else. The man was undoing his seat belt, reaching over to grab something from the glove compartment when Naruto found his chance. And he took it.

With his good hand, Naruto grabbed the seat belt and wrapped it around the man's arm, dragging it toward the door. He drove his elbow into the guy's nose, breaking it, then kicked his door open and tugged the man's arm just enough that his hand was in the door before slamming it closed and breaking the guy's fingers.

"YOU LITTLE BITCH! FUCK!" The man screamed as he tried to open the door and free his hand, but Naruto used his remaining strength to lean against the door and keep him trapped. Naruto struggled to inhale. Whatever happened to him, he needed to make sure that this guy got arrested before he went and picked up another hooker who would be less able to defend themselves. If the guy planned on escaping, he'd have to leave his hand behind to do it.

Finally, Naruto heard the sweetest sound he could have ever imagined.

Sirens.

Sai had his gun out and was jumping out of the car before it even came to a stop… and Naruto finally gave in and slipped into blissful unconsciousness.

xXx

To be continued...