~X~ .P. ~X~

POSSESSIVE

Chapter 10

When Naruto and Itachi re-entered the ballroom, a passing waitress stopped before them with a smile. Naruto grinned as he grabbed a glass of the syrupy red wine, while Itachi found himself bowing slightly as he retrieved one of his own. They slid back into the crowds as quietly as they could, trying to blend in unnoticed after such hasty exits.

Naruto swirled his red beverage within its glass as he idly cast about, walking slowly through the crowds in a somewhat random direction. Itachi would've preferred that they quickly retreat to the corner of people he actually knew (if only just), but he found himself idling at Naruto's side as the blonde searched.

After a small amount of time, dotted by a handful of interactions with guests that, at first, forced Naruto to smile pleasantly and discuss his father's company and ended with him muttering to Itachi about their low intellect or dubious sexual tendencies, he finally seemed to locate his target. He set his path more surely and Itachi's breath caught when the boy was almost clotheslined by a portly gentleman, but the blonde smoothly ducked under the jolly, exaggerated movements, nimble, as he avoided the speeding limbs. Itachi chuckled in amusement as he skittered past the man, Naruto shaking his own head.

They walked up to a group that featured its own array of characters and played host to its own birth of space that separated them from the rest of the mingling crowd. Naruto slid into a gap in the circle, smiling at the woman on his immediate right who smiled courteously back. He smoothly took a step to the side, making a quick hand gesture to invite Itachi forward and the Uchiha did so, smiling politely to the woman as he slotted into place next to her.

"Ah- Naruto." Minato smiled at his son as he appeared. On his left, Akane also turned and smiled at the young man, and on his right, Kushina grinned and waved while Kakashi, on her elbow, nodded in greeting.

"Father." Naruto's smile was crisp but polite as he regarded his father, politely greeting Akane, his mother, and the few other rich men and women that comprised the group. Itachi caught Kushina's eye and smoothed a hand over his mouth, eyes questioning. She shook her head brusquely and smiled, shaking off the frown lines that had developed. Being around Minato was fine, they were still good enough friends, but the conversation had loitered much too long on slavery - its statistics and net worth, but nothing about the humans who's lives they shipped about unmercifully. She smoothed a hand over Kakashi's arm which was wrapped around her own – he'd expressed his own concern a few moments prior and both were glad Naruto had decided to appear at that moment.

Later, Kushina would inform Naruto that, by this time, Konan had already left—perhaps fearing for her life.

The conversation before they'd arrived was dismissed, but most of the gathering seemed in good enough spirits and comfortable with the people they were conversing with. A new topic was brought up; an elderly man with a classy moustache began criticizing one of the best Japanese slave companies, one of the strictest, about their recent mass breakout. Over half of the slaves-in-training had disappeared before the guards had even noticed, and a full 45% weren't recovered. The group had a good chortle at this, Kushina letting out a small sigh of pleasure at the fortune of the slaves and Itachi himself snickering at the bad luck of one of the Uchiha Slave Company's lifelong rivals.

Words trickled within the group easily: ridicule, opinions, and snarky comments. Itachi was thrilled as he spoke to the group; even after a decade away from these kinds of conversations, conversations he'd never really liked, he found himself able to partake and was regarded soundly for every comment he made. For the first time in a while, he felt like an equal to people he was once equal to, instead of the groveling slave numerous owners, trainers, and Orochimaru himself had turned him into.

Just in case, he kept his ringed hand in the pocket of his dress pants and sipped from his champagne with the unclaimed hand. He didn't know how many of those around him knew he was a slave, but he knew most didn't see him as one - at least at that moment.

Out of the blue, for no discernable reason, Akane barked out a laugh. It startled the current speaker into wide eyed silence as the woman quickly flashed a hand over her mouth, but her shoulders shook and she almost folded over, gasping around her hand as she struggled to smother her sudden bout of laughter. She half turned into Minato's shoulder as she became the center of attention, trying to hide her red cheeks. Minato put his hand on the woman's shoulder as she did, gazing wide eyed at the group for an explanation for his usually sane rival's sudden insanity.

After a few moments – Naruto leaned against Itachi, raising an eyebrow at the man as he whispered, "She's finally cracked." and Itachi nodded hugely in agreement – She managed to right herself and calm her laughter down to an occasional chuckle. Akane turned away from Minato and raised her sleeve to blot at her eyes, still grinning from ear to ear. She straightened, taking a deep breath and releasing it.

"Naruto…" she began, and attention instantly switched to the young man, who blinked, suddenly wary. She paused, lips quirked.

"Akane…" he replied slowly, prompting her.

"That is a … lovely earring you have there…"

After a moment, Naruto laughed himself, eyes lighting up as he finally caught up with the situation. He raised a hand to push a lock of view obstructing hair behind his right ear and turned so she, and the rest of the group, could see it better. "Thank you, Akane. It was a gift." He grinned at the woman.

Kushina gripped Kakashi's hand and grinned as the man laughed, Itachi found himself chuckling and as soon as a few others saw the point, the whole group was soon chuckling, coupled with a few 'ooooooh's' of understanding. Not so much at Naruto's expense, but at Akane's display. Minato frowned, puzzled, left out of his companions' sudden moment of clarity.

The woman on Itachi's right leaned forward, smiling slyly. "Why, Naruto, I had no idea." Naruto grinned at her and the woman "tutted", shaking her head playfully. Those playing careful attention to Minato – Kakashi, Kushina, Akane and Itachi – caught the widening gaze of a man slowly being dragged to an unfavorable realization. Naruto was purposefully ignoring him.

There was a woman on Naruto's left, but the man beyond her smiled as he leant forward to look at the blonde. Tenzou, Naruto remembered his name to be. He reached across the woman to clap Naruto on the shoulder solidly. "Welcome to the ranks kid – I thought I saw you at Babylon a while ago," he said, flashing a wink at the blonde.

Now Minato knew who Tenzou was and, specifically, knew his preferences. If he didn't have such a high standing amongst Minato's peers, the man wouldn't have been invited to this occasion. Cconsider two and two put together. His teeth clenched and he wrenched his gaze away, shoving down every harsh word that threatened to rise and squashing every bit of denial that threatened to explode from him…only because he knew how bad it would make him look. He knew how bad it would affect his image with these people and, as the host, how fast word would fly around them. It was only, only, his place at the highest of high society, here in this building and beyond, that held his tongue. Image; image was everything. And he would not spoil his because his son sought only to incite him by, not only lying like this, but by putting on a show for his peers.

Beside him, Akane, who had been silently reveling in Minato's sudden tenseness and presumed horror – she'd known the man since high school and was, of course, acutely aware of his homophobia – felt the smile slip from her face. Naruto was only playing a joke on his father, right? Because he couldn't actually be gay. That didn't make any sense. It wasn't that she had a problem with homosexuals, as far as she knew, but he was supposed to be courting her daughter, Sakura… so he couldn't be gay, right?

"Shh... don't tell my father I go to Babylon," Naruto replied as he winked back, playful. Tenzou smiled, glancing to Minato and paused. Minato's face was a harsh mix of guarded emotions, but to someone who had been exposed to plenty of them, he could read the man like a book – anger, disgust, some level of horror, all shone clearly to Tenzou's searching eyes. He straightened, leaning warily away from the man.

His stomach dropped as he was hit by an acute level of worry – worry that bordered fear. Not for himself, god no, he was far stronger than that. But the young man, Naruto, was showing off, he could see that now. He was taking the dumbest approach to a homophobic father that Tenzou had ever witnessed. Naruto was rubbing it in his father's face.

Conversation idled, drawn out, as Naruto became the centre of attention with varying reactions, every word hammering down on Minato as he was forced to realize that his son had just 'Come out' to his fellow colleagues. His teeth ground together and he briefly worried about what his dentist would say next time they met.

Tenzou took advantage of the next conversation change to excuse himself for the night. Minato found he could only nod stiffly as the man ducked gracefully out of the conversation and fled.

He was quick to leave the grand room behind, raking a hand through his hair, upset over the turn of events and sympathizing heavily for the young man and what he had to deal with. Shit yeah, he knew who Namikaze Naruto was. He'd seen him at Babylon, many times. Nor was he ignorant of the other local haunt down that end of town. He knew that Naruto's name was well whispered in Pandemonium, had even heard of some of his more notorious achievements. So it wasn't that he thought Naruto wasn't strong enough, physically, to handle something like this. It was the mental side he was worried about.

His slave darted up with his coat, helping him put it on, before leaving to flag down his limo driver to pull the vehicle around. While he waited, he spotted one of the Namikaze slaves nearby, overseeing a small incident appearing to involve a broken vase. The slave, obviously of some minor position of power, was quick to set other's to the task of cleaning the mess, efficiently delegating chores.

Tenzou waited for the other slaves to dart off with their orders before catching the leader's attention and waving him over.

Ibiki kept his face flat as one of his master's guests handed him a business card and gave him a short command: tell Naruto to "Call him whenever he needed to." Ibiki smiled, assuring the man he would do just that. Tenzou left with his heart feeling a bit lighter. Besides, if you could brave Babylon and Akatsuki, you could probably survive a parent… probably. Ibiki eyed the card after the man left before pocketing it – having absolutely no intention of giving it to Naruto unless Minato approved.

Back in the hall, Kushina busied herself smoothing the sleeve of Minato's jacket, feeling how tense he was. Mentally, she cursed, honestly worried about how he was taking his sons' display – for both their sakes. Desperately, she cast a glance behind her to Kakashi.

Said man stepped forward, nerves acting up as all eyes turned straight to him. Unable to help himself, a hand flicked up to smooth over the lowest edge of his coarse, medical grade eye patch, before lifting to card through his thick hair and pull it down, in an act that essentially hid the patch from view. He addressed Naruto, raising his visible eyebrow. "Naruto, I think I heard Kiba calling for you."

Naruto paused in the act of raising his glass to his lips and narrowed his eyes at Kakashi ever so slightly. Kakashi stood his ground, though. After a moment, Naruto nodded, relinquishing. "I thought I heard him too, but I wasn't sure." He paused, mouth open for a moment, as if to say more, before he shrugged and half smiled, amused.

He bid the guests well and excused himself politely, Itachi joining in and also exchanging pleasantries. They left soon after, retreating to the corner inhabited by the rest of the second coming of Bijuu, both aware that Kiba had not called for Naruto in the least.

("Bastard," Naruto shot, "I was having fun." "And your father was having a heart attack," Itachi replied. Naruto shrugged, eyes carefully blank.)

Kushina spurred a new conversation, and the rest of the circle, some genuinely oblivious, others so amused they might have snickered were they, themselves, not worried about the social blow Minato's wrath might incur, joined in, engaging in whatever new triviality had been arisen. Both Akane and Minato seemed preoccupied, though, and it showed. Akane was biting her lip, worried. Minato was holding his tongue and clenching his fists, gradually balling up his indignation and working doggedly to shove it aside.

~X~ .P. ~X~

Naruto sat perched on the arm of the couch, leant back and to the side, half sprawled over the head of the couch. Settled beneath him, Itachi released a loud yawn, jaw popping as he did so and making him wince immediately after. Naruto snorted, then chuckled, hand lifting lazily to card through Itachi's ponytail, causing the man to shiver at the erratic pulling of hair strands and soft touch. "Tired, 'tachi?" Naruto asked.

"Mmm," the man replied, lifting a hand to rub at his eye and staving off another yawn. He tried to refocus on the going-ons. Kankuro and Kiba were versing each other in Janken on the couch to their left, Gaara had fallen asleep in the couch to their right, Shikamaru was fiddling with his phone, and Hinata and Temari were still energetic and quite happy to gossip amongst themselves on the couch across from them, often roping the rest of the group into small snippets of conversation.

Kiba let out a whoop of triumph as he finally broke the deuce, winning the third match. Kankurou groaned loudly as this meant Kiba had won the series of games, one to two. He rolled backwards, splaying against the couch in boredom, almost knocking over one of the beers the boys had brought along. "Dude, these upper class parties get so boring. I mean, you can get wasted, but you gotta keep your toe behind the fucking line!"

Hinata giggled. Swiftly, she leant forward, flicking the man's ear. "Don't whine, Kankurou," she admonished as the man yelped.

Temari kicked her brothers foot, grunting, "Yeah bro, get over it."

Kiba chuckled before standing with a sudden woosh, stumbling against the arm of the couch and grinning as he leaned cheekily into Hinata's space. The girl clicked her tongue, quick to lift a hand to his face and playfully shove him away. Kiba straightened, grinning from ear to ear. "You're right, man. Wanna go hit Pande'?" He cut off Pandemonium's name as he often did, extending a hand to his friend.

Kankurou snorted, but took the hand and allowed Kiba to pull him to his feet. "Nah, let's go to a normal bar, pick up a chick, or two. You don't get lucky at Pandemonium, not when you're constantly looking over your shoulder. What about you guys. Hinata, Temari?"

Temari hummed, casting a glance at Gaara, whose head leant back over the edge of the couch, his chest rising and falling slowly. "Well, I could go…"

Naruto chuckled. "We can cart him to one of the guest bedrooms," he said, standing and stretching his arms above his head with a satisfied grunt. "I wouldn't wake him; he had way too much to drink, and lord knows he can't tolerate even the slightest amount."

Naruto grinned, scratching at his cheek idly as Temari nodded sagely, snickering. "Kankurou, you help him up the stairs, then we'll vacate. Wha' bout you, princess?" she asked Hinata.

The heiress shook her head, rising to walk over to Gaara. "Neji may have left by now, but my father is still right over there. I have to go join him, and I'm a bit tired anyway." She shrugged, smoothing the back of her palm against Gaara's cheek fondly.

"Awwwrighty then," Kiba said, twirling his car keys on his finger before once more returning them to his pocket. He walked over to Gaara and lifted one of his arms, ducking underneath it, as Kankurou did the same on the other side.

Shikamaru was nudged harshly, with less care than of that taken with their leader, and with a long groan, he stood. The troupe left the ballroom – though the crowd was maybe a third of it's original. It was now divided into two sub-groups that conversed closely, familiarly, as opposed to the earlier tenseness of important relations. This was also possibly caused by the elders receiving their own supply of alcohol over the course of the night.

Naruto pulled out his phone as they ascended the stairs. "It's two a.m.," he remarked blankly, swinging to a stop and raising an eyebrow.

"Why am I still awake, goddamnit?" Shikamaru groaned. He stumbled up a step a caught himself on the banister, evoking a long, hard laugh from Naruto. "I can stay too, right?"

"Of course, of course. Wouldn't want you to miss any more beauty sleep, Nara." He smiled, turning to look at Itachi at his side as they reached the top of the stairs. "Straight to bed with you too, mister."

Itachi shook his head, then turned away to stifle a yawn. Naruto grinned while the girls giggled, Kiba snorting and Kankurou grunting under a sudden weight shift. Itachi ducked his head, feeling the corners of his lips turn upwards sheepishly - a testament to how much he'd drunk that night. God, he'd missed the taste of a good wine or champagne, the comfortable buzzing warmth of a satisfying drink, even the light headed feeling of having drunk too much.

Kiba, Kankurou, Hinata and Temari tucked Gaara safely into a bed in a room Naruto pointed out, While Shikamaru waved goodbye lazily and entered his own, herded off by a reasonable chorus of 'goodnight's'.

Kankurou and Kiba exchanged quick, familiar hugs with Naruto and shook Itachi's hand – half mocking the sophisticated act, half respecting of a new friendship. Naruto disappeared into his room for a moment and came back out, sliding something slyly into Itachi's hand as he walked over to the girls.

Itachi lifted the plastic rectangle, puzzled, and saw the ways the boys' glances trained in on the credit card. He smirked, swinging it idly between his thumb and forefinger. "I suppose I'm meant to give this to you…" Naruto, saint that he was, often offered to front a whole night's worth of drinking, when he was feeling generous – make no mistake, though, this privilege had been abused once and only once.

The boys' eyes tore away as all three of them glanced to Naruto, who had squeaked unnaturally as Temari, in a drunken but familiar manner of torture, had pulled the blonde boy flush against her chest. Naruto had jerked, trying to get away. After a moment, Temari finally let him go and he flew back a few steps, panting and glaring bloody murder. Itachi raised an eyebrow, while Kiba and Kankurou broke into laughter at Naruto's display, despite the embarrassed blonde's furious snarls.

Hinata wore an apologetic smile and was a bit gentler as she hugged the boy, making sure her raised arms offered no resistant should he test them minutely while in her grasp. Both girls had a nasty habit of doing this, half because they loves his muscles, half to, well, torture him. Naruto sheepishly ducked out of Hinata's arms quickly enough after Temari's display, face red.

"Oi, Itachi…" Kiba began after they'd stopped laughing. Itachi snorted, dropping the card in the waiting palm, much to a small amount of shock. The men hugged him with cheers, unmindful of the sleeping Gaara, nor the rest of the household. Itachi tentatively hugged them back, before being released. The boys and Temari raced down the stairs, excited now, and fled. Hinata politely said goodnight to Itachi before, regal as always, descending the stairs and gliding back to the ballroom.

Naruto had disappeared and Itachi moved for the bedroom, shutting the double doors behind him. The bathroom door was shut but light shone out beneath it, so Itachi stretched his arms out above his head as he left the blonde to it. It had been quite easy to puzzle out early on that while Naruto had no problems sharing a bedroom, Naruto would sooner have a bathroom to himself. Itachi wasn't fussed either way, but… well, you take what you can get.

He settled for changing into something to sleep with and brushing his hair. After a couple of minutes, Naruto emerged from the bathroom, rubbing at an eye tiredly, and Itachi took his place. When Itachi re-emerged, he found Naruto slumped face down, haphazardly sprawled across the bed. Itachi snorted at the image, hand resting on his hip as he shook his head, amused. Naruto groaned in reply, turning his head to peer out at Itachi.

Itachi swooped over only to spin around and throw himself backwards, falling on top of the blonde. Naruto's groan was louder this time, but muffled by his face now being buried in the comforter. Itachi chuckled. "That's what you get."

Naruto raised his arms and pushed himself up, shuffling violently and forcing Itachi to roll off of the blonde. Naruto grumbled as clambered to all fours, throwing himself back on his heels. "That's what I get for what?"

Itachi shrugged, biting his lower lip to hold back a yawn. Naruto smirked, shuffling to throw a leg over Itachi's waist. Itachi smirked back, lifting an arm to twist his fingers in the hair at the nape of Naruto's neck. The blonde lifted his hand fondled one of Itachi's bangs, wondering after the silky feel before leaning down and…

…Promptly leaning away, turning his head to the side and yawning loudly. Itachi chuckled, letting his arm flop down beside him and his other hand come up his mouth as he tried to smother himself. Naruto shook his head, clearing it, before leaning his forehead against Itachi's, loving the way mirth swam through those very, very dark eyes.

He leant back, before sprawling flat across Itachi, flopping down with a grunt. Itachi groaned, shoving at the blonde's arms. "Just 'cos you're tired doesn't mean you can sleep on me!" Naruto chuckled before he pulled himself up. Together, they shuffled for the edge of the sheets and crawled underneath them to their respective sides of the bed, intent on a good night's sleep.

~X~ .P. ~X~

How dare he? Minato raged about his office, pacing persistently, long strides covering the formidable distance easily and harsh strokes scattering the papers from his desk in one smooth movement that sent a stapler careening into the wall. He failed to notice any new arrangement of the white sheets, whether or not Sai had left any traces of his presence.

Minato had not raised him in such a way, but still Naruto persisted with those slanderous lies, dragging both their names through the dirt!

Minato growled, pacing. What was wrong with his child? Why did he insist so... insistently, that he was something he wasn't! Something he couldn't be! No son of his was going to be gay! It was unnatural!

Namikaze. A pride, the name was passed down at least five generations, five generations of sons! No fag can have a son, a child, a wife! What of Sakura, the poor girl, had his son been stringing her along?

Where had he picked this up from? Surely he'd been a good role model. He always went to the school things, spending plenty of time with his son – especially when you consider the work load he bears! He helped Naruto get into basketball, and was glad that his son was also into cars. Gay men didn't play basketball, gay men weren't into cars. They dressed up in skirts and flounced about waving jazz hands.

Was it that slave boy – Haku? He was an A-class, what if he'd taught Naruto things when no one was watching? What if all of Haku's friends were actually his clients – he could remember all those that gathered around his deathbed, only a few he'd previously known – he certainly had never encountered that flowery man, Utakata. Minato snarled – it was a very real possibility that Haku could be blamed for Naruto's… Naruto acting like this. Minato never had liked the slave boy.

What of Kushina then, was it her fault for purchasing the child? Not only that, but her free spirit – was it her influence? The woman never did hate anything, except maybe Orochimaru (understandable). But god, if Naruto had even thought a thought, she would've nurtured it, let him believe he was something he wasn't, let him pretend – let him play his stupid games.

He shuddered. Oh, would he have a word with her.

But, if he had to pinpoint it, pinpoint the sudden rebellion, when Naruto had come up with this wonderful little delusion of his, it would've been maybe a year and half ago, a year after Kakashi had joined them. His stomach twisted as he doubled over with a gasp.

No…that was sick. Disgusting. That man, touching his son. Minato berated himself, as he steadied himself against the desk. How much free reign had he given Naruto after the boy had finished school? How much time, indeed, would that man have had to work Naruto to his advantage?

Minato swallowed thickly. And now that man had turned his attention to Kushina – did she know? Did she know what that man had done to her son? She couldn't possibly – she was definitely above associating with those kinds of… beings. Wasn't she? She wouldn't be with him, at the very least. Maybe… no, it couldn't have been Kakashi… but what if Kushina just didn't know?

Regardless of Kakashi's involvement, it was not the case now. Because now, now the problem was Itachi.

He glared. Itachi.

Always on his sons heel. Too lackadaisical, too careless… too rambunctious and too argumentative. He fought against Minato's words as if they were that of a child from the streets – completely ignoring him if he saw fit, arguing whenever he felt need to do so, coming between him and his son.

If he hadn't hated the man the day they'd met, then he did now. Oh boy, did he ever. He was what kept Naruto's homosexual illusion grounded. He was the reason he couldn't even talk to his son at the moment, for fear of an irreparable argument. He was- there was a knock on his office door.

"What?" he snapped, turning a glare at the wooden structure.

The door opened and Ibiki stuck his head through. "Sir?"

Minato sighed. "Yes, what is it?"

Ibiki came forward, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the card he'd received earlier. "One of the gentlemen this evening gave this to me when he left. He said to give it to Naruto and tell him to call him." Ibiki's mouth twisted, expressing plainly enough his thoughts on the matter.

Minato paled. Moving quickly, he was on his feet and snatching the card from the man. He snarled as he read the name. Quickly, he ripped it first in half, then continuously until he felt comfortable with dropping the scraps in his wastepaper bin. "Bastard... that fucking bastard. Making a move on my son? Who does he think he is?"

"Sir?" Ibiki blinked. Without a word, Minato flicked his wrist at him, dismissing the man. Ibiki bowed before silently leaving.

Minato fumed, leaning over his desk. "How dare... such slander..." Gradually, his face softened, and he sat, resting his head in his hands.

In a whisper, "What do I do...?"

~X~ .P. ~X~

Gaara idly leant against the desk, arms crossed. Shikamaru sat at the desk in front of him, head laying flush against the desk like most mornings, and this first day of term was no exception. Gaara prodded him with questions, lazily pearling out almost random strings of words. Shikamaru groaned, rolling his head to and fro before glaring at the red head. "Yes, no, seven, ice and you spell it A-n-t-i-d-i-s-e-s-t-a-b-l-i-s-h-m-e-n-t-a-r-i-a-n-i-s-m." He clicked his teeth shut in a sneer. "Now fuck off."

"But what's the square root of a million?" Shikamaru rolled his head again, folding his arms over it in an effort to drown out his friend's voice. "Does Shikamaru Nara have any interesting anagrams? Who would you travel back in time to meet, given half a chance – and would you bring them to life now?"

Naruto sat in the farthest back chair in the room, by the window, on the other side of Gaara. He was not in a talking mood: Gaara respected this and, in turn, ignored him. He seemed to be in an okay mood though, because eventually he did turn, lazily, to eye the pair.

"One-thousand, 'A rank, I am a rush', and Aoshi Shinomori because he was a badass genius, but no, I wouldn't bring him back to life." He desperately reached for his headphones, before dimly realizing that Gaara had confiscated his iPhone earlier in the conversation. Any attempts to retrieve other music devices would result in further confiscation. Naruto chuckled lowly and they turned to him, Gaara raising an eyebrow, Shikamaru imploring.

"Give it a rest, Gaara. Shikamaru may just finally kill you one morning." He smirked. "And lord knows Shika needs his morning rest."

"Thank you, Naruto," Shikamaru snapped, glaring at Gaara now that Naruto had interfered, because it took Naruto to make Gaara change his mind about anything, or do anything.

Gaara rolled his eyes, finally giving up. He crossed his arms and leant back, giving up on his torture as, conveniently, the morning bell rang over head. Shikamaru groaned loudly, unimpressed that his morning had been wasted answering questions rather than sleeping.

Gaara slipped into his seat after a minute of people filing into the classroom for the brief morning check in and roll call. The teacher arrived about five minutes later, after most of the class had filed in and crowded about, sending people to their seats and calling the roll.

A few late people slithered in, some in time to get away with it, others having to announce their presence because they'd missed their name on the roll. Gaara, Naruto and Shikamaru chimed their answers as their names came up, but otherwise relaxed into their seats, lazy, and perhaps contemplating their next period or some other point of the day.

Briefly, they registered the females in the row in front of them chattering about a new student, but paid little attention.

So it wasn't a complete surprise when there was a knock at the door. One of the office clerks flounced into the room and gave the teacher a slip of paper, before bouncing back out and patting someone on the shoulder as she did so.

Sasuke Uchiha walked into the room and found his eyes glued to the floor under the weight of the silent class. Briefly, he heard a gasp, and winced as he realized that fan girls were found everywhere- he didn't note that it was a male voice that made the noise.

Gaara had been watching the door and had let out the sharp intake of breath. Naruto had turned sharply to him then, frowning, towards the new arrival, eyes widening.

The teacher called him forward to introduce himself by saying his name and a greeting, and then find a seat. Sasuke walked to the gestured center of the room and paused before looking up. He smiled tentatively and opened his mouth.

A noise. Naruto's chair clattered as he stood sharply. Gaara was ahead of him, silently creeping for the door, grim faced, eyes wearily watching Sasuke. Naruto was less tactful. He grabbed his bag and bolted for the door, keeping as far away from the new student as possible. Gaara paused at the door, glaring in a puzzled and pained manner, but Naruto shoved him, rather brutally, along and out the door.

He slammed the sliding door after them and the class heard the pair run off.

Sasuke was wide eyed, and he turned to the teacher, puzzled. The man shrugged. "Don't worry about them – I'm sure they just forgot something." Sasuke smothered a comment that the man himself should be worried, but proceeded to introduce himself.

Shikamaru watched, eyes alight with curiosity.

~X~ .P. ~X~

He was cornered the next period in English as Naruto appeared by his side. His eyes were harsh and fierce, and Shikamaru winced as he kicked back the chair beside him lest the blonde continue to stand – ominously – by his side. Naruto sat quickly, and Gaara, a silent presence he hadn't noticed, sat stiffly on his left, both ignoring the young female teacher at the head of the class. Good or bad, she knew better then to call Naruto out for his late arrival, the conversation he was about to indulge himself in, or even the fact that Gaara, who wasn't in her class, was present. At the very least, Shikamaru and Naruto were present in the class.

Naruto and Gaara, obviously upset and pained though seemingly only pissed off to anyone else, had probably only shown up because of Shikamaru. Because Shikamaru knew all, and they wanted answers.

"Who was that?" Gaara was the first one to break the silence that hovered in their privacy bubble, hissing the words at Shikamaru.

"Sasuke Uchiha," Shikamaru drawled, prepared. "He's lived in this town since his family's accident-" He rolled his wrist absently and, amusingly, he noticed, Naruto and Gaara nod in sync, gesturing their knowledge of the subject. "-with his uncle. He attended that other school, the one that isn't private… Saint Germain's. He's just starting school here for the second semester, which started today, if you two can keep up." He smirked lazily. Naruto glared but held his tongue, and Shikamaru idly noted that this demonstrated just how much Naruto needed this information.

"He's actually a year younger than us-" They stiffened, and Shikamaru paused, mouth half open to continue, before looking between them.

Naruto coughed, clearing his throat, and asked for him to continue. Shikamaru's gaze narrowed, and he turned in his seat to face Naruto fully and looked him over – that cough had been the result of emotion clamping on his throat. As a rule, though, all of Bijuu had come to see Naruto as rather emotionless (Apart from that one instance with their sensei, which had seemed like a wounded animal reopening to the world… but, of course, the animal had been beaten one more and Naruto hadn't re-emerged since), and even though the logical part of Shikamaru, (what, ninety-nine point nine percent?) told him that it wasn't that he was emotionless, but that he was, in fact, wounded, didn't mean Shikamaru believed it. Sometimes the recursive thought of 'god, don't show any love or care, Naruto' can eventually translate into 'Naruto doesn't care'.

Naruto turned defensive as Shikamaru turned on him, eyes narrowing, spine straightening, face slackening into carefully detailed nonchalance. Shikamaru shook his head, scrambled for a moment, then continued.

"Yes, a year younger than us. He got pushed up, and then his uncle transferred him to our lovely private school. He's next in line to inherit the Uchiha Corporation and… he has two pet cats." When Gaara snorted, Shikamaru shrugged. "Hey, I fetched all this between seeing your tails as you fled the classroom and having you appear here – give me some credit."

He patted the wide pencil case in front of him – only his friends knew that the lowest zip opened to a notebook computer with very good specs and perfectly suited to his hacker capabilities.

Naruto and Gaara looked to each other. "Alright then. Is that all?" Naruto looked back to Shikamaru.

"Not really. I'd like to know what the problem is."

Gaara stood, without a word, and left the classroom. Naruto looked about to do the same, but did in fact look to Shikamaru. "You weren't around, but I know you know our history. He happens to look identical to Haku. And Haku was a year younger then us as well." Shikamaru's jaw dropped – that explained everything. He watched Naruto wide eyed for a moment, and the blonde nodded once. "That's all there is to it." He stood, grabbing his bag, and prepared to leave.

Shikamaru jerked, half out of his chair, as he asked quickly. "So what are you going to do?" Naruto shook his head, lips firmly clamped together – he didn't know. Shikamaru slid back down into his chair. He glanced back at his pencil case, before righting his chair. "He's in your next class."

He felt more then saw Naruto stiffen and look to him incredulously, before the blonde turned and left the room. Shikamaru idly ran a finger down the side of his pencil case, before pretending to focus on the teacher.

~X~ .P. ~X~

Business.

Class, that is.

Naruto's gaze flittered to the teacher and away as the man paused mid-speech in annoyance, though he didn't make a move against the late blonde as he entered the classroom. He moved for his seat at the back of the classroom, and he was not surprised in the least to see Sakura, doused in floral and pink, sitting in the seat beside his. And, he supposed, he wasn't entirely surprised to see Sasuke sitting beside her.

Both looked up at his entrance, along with the rest of the class he cared nothing for, Sakura's face broke into a smile as she turned towards him. "Oh! Naruto! How were your holidays?"

"Alright, thanks Sakura," he replied as he sat down beside her. Pointedly, he caught her eyes and glanced beyond her. Sakura blinked, before her glossy lips rounded in an 'o' of understanding.

"So, Naruto, have you met Sasuke yet?" she asked as she leant back, opening the view for the boys to see each other. Naruto obliging leant forward as Sasuke did the same, revealing the same pale facial features he hadn't seen in years. The hair was different, but still dark, and seemingly as soft. His eyes were wide and trusting, happy too – and that took the cake. Naruto's heart stuttered as Sasuke smiled nervously and fluttered his fingers in a wave.

"Hey there, I'm Sasuke Uchiha." He flashed a smile, retrieving the hand quickly.

Naruto smiled in reply, stealing himself. "Naruto Namikaze – it's a pleasure."

Sakura place a hand on Naruto's shoulder, rubbing it with a smile. "Naruto and I have been friends since we were the tiniest of kids, Sasuke, on account of our families being so… Well, I suppose you have to say close. He's awesome." She giggled, lifting a hand to her mouth.

Sasuke smiled, seeming to relax now to find that the new participant was regarded so highly. "That's sweet. I don't have any friends that old. Hey, Naruto… are you one of the ones that ran out of my first class this morning?"

"Uh- yeah, that was me." Naruto's smile slipped. He turned away, focusing momentarily on the teacher at the head of the class. He grimaced, before looking back to the expectant pair. He smiled, abashed, a hand lifting to scratch idly at his cheek. "My friend Gaara and I had forgotten something… sorry we missed your introduction spiel."

Sasuke shook his head. "That's fine. I didn't say that much anyway." He shrugged, also turning to look at the teacher before glancing down at his notebook and the pen in his fingers. Sakura took this chance to grab Naruto's elbow and lean close.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

He looked at her, incredulous. "You really can't see who he looks like?"

Sakura glanced, not very subtlety to her left, watching Sasuke twirl his pen around as he, in turn, watched the business teacher who was informing them about what the text books would actually be used for over the course of the semester. Her green eyes critically flicked over key features before she gasped, quickly smothering the noise behind her hand. She turned to Naruto, eyes wide over her hand. Naruto nodded.

Slowly, she removed the hand, placing it once more on his arm. "Oh, Naruto… I didn't even see it before you pointed it out… Are you alright? They really do look the same…"

"It's fine." Naruto affirmed, shaking his head. "This close, there are differences. I'll get over it, probably soon." He leaned forward, smiling. "Hey, Sasuke?"

"Mm?" the Uchiha returned, eyes flickering to the blond and back to the teacher.

"Do you play any sports?"

"Ah, yeah actually." Sasuke blinked, turning away from the teacher. "Basketball. What about you?"

"Basketball, too. What period do you have sport today?" Naruto asked, and the Uchiha quickly retrieved a piece of already worn paper from his pocket. "Sixth."

Naruto grinned. "Me too. If you're any good, I'll let you be on my team. I'll… See you then." He winked. Then he stood, grabbing his bag before bending over and leaning close to Sakura. "I know I'm being flighty and faking too much, but I'll adjust to his presence quickly, I promise. Okay?"

He leaned away from her ear to look her seriously in the face, and she reached up to pat his cheek before kissing the other side lightly. She smiled gently, nodding. "Okay. Do try, though." Naruto nodded, leaving the classroom.

Sasuke watched him go, eyebrows raised. "Is something wrong, Sakura?"

"Nah… nothing to worry about, Sasuke." Sakura replied, lifting a finger to her lips. She chewed one of her manicured nails idly before she withdrew her hand and smiled at Sasuke, spurring another topic conversation.

~X~ .P. ~X~

Author's (Very Long) Note: One of my reviewers commented on the code names on the Akatsuki. When the Akatsuki is fully exposed in the story, as they will be, I'll be sure to explain their names and the reasoning's behind them, as well as maybe including the funny story of their forming! People loved the tension between Itachi and Konan, then later, Naruto and Konan! Naruto's anger at Sasuke isn't tempered by Itachi's presence or his own feelings, and people love the way I write him. You all understand, as a loving reviewer put it, that this is a world of kill or be killed, and it has toughened most of its survivors.

Itachi knows now just how deep his feelings for Naruto are beginning to run, but this was never a problem! The problem is how much Naruto will expose himself to Itachi – he doesn't have enough love to give anymore, and it shows. I hope you all like Sai, because he's a key character that helps Naruto greatly.

Gai and Anko are dead before the story even starts? Anko was a Healer? Shino and Kurenai are in Neji's gang? What of the rest of Hinagiku? Does Kisame know Itachi is alive and why do Akatsuki seek to destroy Bijuu?

Questions, questions, questions! All you ask is questions! Which I LOVE because it helps keep me in check – I already know everything that happens, sometimes I forget to tell you all! Yeah, the last chapter was angsty, but you all loved it, so thanks a bunch for the love!

ENOUGH ABOUT THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER. HERE'S MY COMMENTS ON THIS CHAPTER:

In this chapter we finish up with the grand ball room party, which had taken us 4 whole chapters, and been known to us for 5! That's half the goddamn story! Akane catches Naruto's earring and it is SO scandalous I could die. Tenzou appears – Don't worry about him that much, he doesn't have a star role and will probably be forgotten in the next few chapters.

The group decides to break apart and head to either their beds, a pub or, in Hinata's case, back to her father. Our lovely boys are too exhausted from the night to have any fun, I'm sorry. They haven't done the dirty deed yet, which is unto itself very surprising given their natures. But don't worry, for I release the count down. They WILL DO IT tomorrow night (story time) However, that could be two whole chapters away – it's not the next one, that's for sure. Unfortunately, shit will continue to hit the fan for the pair, but don't worry, I've pencilled out a very hot scene for you all. A warning, though, this will be the first time a lemon of my own writing will be released to the public – I'm worried!

As I've mentioned, this lemon (sexy time) COULD be skipped – but if you have trouble reading it, you WILL NOT be able to progress through the story, nor will you be able to even read the climax (pun unintended).

Anyway, blah, blah… Minato flies OFF the handle! Ah, it's gorgeous – how he just can't UNDERSTAND! I love him – he's such a prick, but would you believe he means well? He simply wants what is best for his son, and cannot understand homosexuality, but he does mean well. Don't worry, whether you like him or not, he hasn't committed his last fuck up of the story, not for a long shot! Do you all know that this story is COMPLETELY planned out, with not changes to be made? Start guessing in reviews, and be rewarded if correct!

Then – oh! How Sasuke met Naruto. And how Naruto took to the meeting. The first of many flashbacks to explain the tangled relationship that burst between them. Expect to see such flashbacks dappling through the next couple of chapters as consequences of their relationship are exposed to Itachi…

ENOUGH ABOUT THIS CHAPTER. HERE'S THE STATUS ON THE STORY ITSELF:

If you usually don't read the Author's notes, let me inform you that Possessive will have a sequel (Possessive 2: Strained Bonds) and a sidestory (Possessive Gaiden: Recurring love story) AND, as of late, I've been thinking of gracing you all with a prequel (Pre Posessive) which will actually detail every important moment in the main characters lives that leads up to the beginning of Possessive – meaning you'll get to read the struggle of the first Bijuu, more in depth stories about Itachi's time in slavery and what Akatsuki was like when they were first formed!

I hope you all are still enjoying my story, Because I'm still enjoying all of you. Read and Review!

~ Enna Scarlett Rose

Beta's Note:

So, hello again everyone. It's great to see you all again. It's been a while. Anyways, I loved this chapter and I hoped that you did too. Betaed while on a flight to and from Las Vegas. I can't gamble yet, so I get to buy movies off the TV at night. XD

Anyways, my Hetalia – Axis Powers/Bioshock story is coming along well. Chapter 12 was just posted and thirteen will be up on the 31st of Dec. I am also in the process of writing a Hetalia/Hogan's Heroes story. That's coming along. Lol

Check them out and don't forget to read and review! It means love!

~Lord Rebecca-Sama

Taka:
Leader – Uchiha Sasuke
Healer – Haruno Sakura
Houzuki Suigetsu, Tenpin Juugo, Kanchi Karin, Kaguya Kimimaro.

Original Bijuu: The colour is the tint on their trademark Beretta guns.
Leader – Yagura, Fuu's partner, Sanbi (Purple)
Healer – Haku, Gaara's partner, Juubi (White)
Namikaze Naruto, Yugito's partner, Kyuubi (Red)
Nii Yugito, Naruto's partner, Nibi (Blue)
Sabakuno Gaara, Haku's partner, Ichibi (Beige)
Killer Bee, Roushi's partner, Hachibi (Brown)
Roushi, Killer Bee's partner, Tonbi (Orange)
Han, Utakata's partner, Gobi (Black)
Utakata,Han's partner, Rokubi (Pink)
Fuu, Yagura's partner, Shichibi (Green)

Bijuu II:
Leader – Sabakuno Gaara
Healer – Hyuuga Hinata
Namikaze Naruto, Nara Shikamaru (By proxy, Chouji), Inuzuka Kiba, Sabakuno Temari, Sabakuno Kankurou.

Kyouka:
Leader – Hyuuga Neji
Healer – Yuuhi Kurenai
Higurashi Tenten, Rock Lee, Aburame Shino, Gecko Hayate, Mizuki.

Hinagiku:
Leader – Maito Gai
Healer – Mitarashi Anko
Hatake Kakashi, Uchiha Obito, Kotetsu, Izumo, Sarutobi Asuma.

Akatsuki:
Leader – Uchiha Madara / Tobi
Healer – Konan, Fleur du mal, Nagato's partner
Nagato –Pein. Konan's Partner
Deidara – DaVinci. Sasori's partner
Sasori – Gepetto. Deidara's partner
Kisame – Sharkbait. Formerly Itachi's Partner
Zetsu – Unnamed. Unpaired
Hidan – Jack (The Ripper). Kakuzu's partner
Kakuzu's – Methuselah. Hidan's partner