Chapter 10: Confrontations
Pairings: Naru/Sasu
Rating: M - NC17
Disclaimer: 'Naruto', don't own it; not mine; I just borrow Masashi's characters and replace them in naughty positions.
Summary: Sequel to "Summer Camp". Let me assure you, your days will be long and your nights will be bitter, you will be fucked with, run ragged, razed and broken; I can also assure you that there are going to be times when you feel like it's too much but trust me, power through it and it will be the most rewarding thing you will ever achieve." That was the greeting Sasuke got. Trying to adjust to new friends and even newer enemies while dealing with Naruto two thousand miles away, the only option is to survive.
A/N: It was made known to me that 'Khayl' which I had translated as 'boyfriend' (by Google translate) was taken to mean 'horses' and various other things . SMH. Just take it as I meant it as, 'boyfriend'. The reason Naruto thinks it means 'friend' is because Daya just omitted the 'boy' part.
A/N2: All...well... most of the stuff in this chapter are completely bogus. Figments of my overactive imagination, but nevertheless some info is real...thanks to Wikipedia... research nazi remember...
And you might be wondering why Haku & Sasuke trained so late in the night. Honestly it was a total snafu, but it worked out, didn't it.
A/N3: Major COOKIES to everyone who reads this story. Your comments keep me going. No lie. And I promise to not get plot so complicated that you can't follow.
... And the tale continues...
...
CIA headquarters, Fairfax County Virginia. Phone convo.
"I looked at the headlines, didn't see much worth reading." Yuura spoke blandly thorough the secured connection.
"Really? " Nagato replied, putting a tone of mild surprise in his voice. " Not even the report of the one man that died after the cop arrested him for unregistered sniper rifle possession?"
Even though the line that they were using was programmed with secure infinity end-to-end encryption, they still were careful to talk in code.
"Hmmm, sniper rifle you say... didn't see that."
"Well yeah," the Uzumaki stated, phone balanced on his shoulder. "Rich kid too, son of some Japanese philanthropist that dropped out of college and went underground for some time, then resurfaced with a vengeance. He even got engaged."
"Really. To whom?"
"Some redhead that the family clearly didn't approve of."
"Oh... Okay...seems interesting. I'll read about it... by the way, have you heard about the massacre at the club downto-."
...
Yuura pensively looked at the notes he had just scribbled down.
The underlying meaning of the conversation he had with his long time associate was a commission to search for a son of an oriental multi-conglomerate head, was drafted in the military, spent time abroad, was entangled with a redheaded female that wasn't approved of by the family, most likely a daughter of one of the family's enemies, and was probably pregnant.
He traced the rim of glass before him thinking.
Nagato wouldn't have contacted him if this wasn't important, but important how? He idly wondered if it was professional interest or a personal one, but then didn't care.
He would do it either way, if only just for the challenge.
Shifting in his seat he mentally ran over the options available to him. Only one suitable settled in mind.
He would have to do a deep nine level Morpheus probe to hack into what the agency called the global 'invisible' records.
The fact was that every government, democratic or autocratic had records of every individual in their country, officially recorded or not.
It was even better if the military was involved.
Thank goodness for the Internet. Most people didn't know that the global network, simple known as the Internet, had multiple levels under the surface. Data was like one of those biological cells, the ones that regrow themselves after a period of dormancy. Even after some information was erased it still left what you'd call a digital fingerprint. There had to be traces of the info he needed somewhere.
And he was going to find it.
Turning to his modified computer he logged in and started to search...
Hokkaido Keys. Class time.
Entering the first class of the day Sasuke happened to glimpse the blaring bold headline of the newspaper on Ensign Takihiro Mason's desk.
"International Shipping Magnate Gato Files for Bankruptcy."
"Son of a bitch." Sasuke murmured to himself. So that's why Ryu was looking like the cat that got into the cream. Sasuke absently wondered how much money the Namikaze had fleeced from him to push the man to file a bankruptcy declaration.
Plopping himself down on the desk Sasuke assumed one of Shikamaru's favourite positions, face down in his arms, head slightly titled just to listen.
Operational tactics had become the easiest subject lately. He had developed a system. Unlike Gaara who had unorthodox training about tactical methods, he just listened to the information given and paired with his knowledge of psychology could acutely assess a situation in seconds and propose a fitting solution.
The room was filling in, Sasuke drolly lifted his head for a second to look at the boys entering. His dark orbs eyes briefly met Neji's half mast and guarded grey ones that instantly shifted away.
Sasuke's brows contracted. Why was Neji being shifty? What was he hiding?
Shifting sideways he glanced at Gaara, who aside from his usual blank stare, didn't give any indication of noticing him.
He then turned to Shikamaru, who while tugging at his earring with his standard bored-to-hell, get-me-the-shit-out-of-here, look on his face, seemed completely normal.
Sasuke blinked then returning his head back to his arms. It was decided. Something was definitely up.
Hokkaido Keys.. Break time…
He grabbed Shikamaru by the arm and without preamble shoved him into a empty classroom. Turning to face the Nara genius he grunted, "Would you care to enlighten me on what the hell is going on?"
Shikamaru looked at him steadily. "I should probably ask you the same question."
"What?"
The hacker perched in the edge of the nearest desk. "Is it something to do with Naruto?"
Sasuke's head tilted. "No and why are you asking me this?"
A shrug. "Well that's one mystery solved, but come on Uchiha, we have all noticed your behavior...especially around a certain Namikaze."
The raven went stiff.
Eerie memories of when Shikamaru and the whole crew had ganged up and confronted him before the breakout resurfaced in his mind like smoke from a smoldering fire.
"So...what exactly is he threatening you with?"
He stifled the urge to snort. Of course it would take Shikamaru to figure that out. Even knowing that the other boy was expecting some reply, it nevertheless, took him a solid minute to confess.
Slumping against the wall he rose two fingers to press against his left temple. "You."
Brown eyes widened. "Me?"
Sasuke gave a dismissive wave, "I meant all of you; including Gaara and Neji."
"Why? "
Thin lips tightened. "Because he wants something that I can't even dare to give."
Shikamaru took a quiet minute to think Sasuke's words over.
"Normally I would ask what that is but I'm thinking it's not good for my mental health. Whatever it is though you should have given us some kind of warning. What did he say he was going to do to us?"
A pale fist met the wall as Sasuke paced agitatedly. "That's the fucking problem! I don't know and I've been running my mind ragged thinking about it."
Spinning around to face the quiet Nara he said, "I've been expecting anything from an mysterious accident to some destruction of your family's lives. He's powerful and easily gets what he wants, one way or another."
Shikamaru turned to look out the nearest window, expression pensive. "It's a waiting game, Uchiha. He wants you to crack first."
Getting up he walked over to Sasuke and with both hands shoved into his pockets he advised. "Don't give him the satisfaction of seeing you break."
Looking in the other boys steady eyes Sasuke gently shrugged and wryly said, "I'll do my damn best."
Mt. Fuji.. The next night. Boys dorm. About 9: 36 pm..
Kiba stood dumbstruck, mouth open, jaw dropped to the figurative floor in shock. He just couldn't believe what Naruto had just told him.
"A mine." he said slowly, trying to settle the words in his brain.
Naruto nodded.
"Like underground... "
A blond head nodded again.
Kiba's hands shot up into the air, gesturing widely. "With creepy crawlers and vampire bats and snakes an-"
Naruto's flat palm met Kiba's face in annoyance.
"Mutt face please, shut up." he waited until the amber eyes before him went placid before he released his grasp.
"And you're not going to report it?"
Naruto flopped on the bed under him. "Nope."
"Are you crazy dude?" The Inuzuka half shouted. "You've been the victim of a crime!"
Blue eyes rolled in exasperation. "I've been through worse than chloroform, kidnapping and a seven mile hike in dark. So no. I'm not going to complain like some sorry bitch."
Kiba cursed. "Then what the hell are you trying to prove here?
Naruto sat up. "What we all should. Make it damn clear that we're not going to turn tails and run with anything they want to throw at us."
Kiba shifted uncomfortably."Dude. I don't know if I ca-"
A tan hand grasped the Inuzuka's neck, just as deep cobalt eyes pinned amber ones. "Yes. You. Can. The first damn moment we cave, it'll be like a neon sign that we are proving to be the fuck-ups they take us for. Don't be a punk, man."
Kiba sighed and after a minute nodded. "Sure... I'll play it your way for now... But if it gets out of hand there is nothing to stop me from telling."
Naruto removed his hand. "That's if it gets out of hand, and I'm damn sure not going to allow that."
Kiba's eyes took on inquisitive look. "Whatcha gonna do, bro?"
He was met with a cheshire style grin, eyes alive with mischief. "Just watch me."
Hokkaido Keys. Saturday Free Time. 1:00 pm
"Aaaarrrghh!"
Sasuke blearily looked up to see Jason scrubbing his hands over his face with a tormented look in his dull blue eyes.
He debated with himself to ask the other boy what was bothering him then decided it really wasn't any of his business. Returning to the book before him he started to reread the passage that he'd had been in the middle of until another aggravated sound came from the Conner boy.
Sighing Sasuke looked up, "What's wrong?"
A book was shoved at him.
Sasuke glanced down at the mess of mathematical figures that, he suspected, were turning the grey matter between Jason's ears into unrecognizable mush.
"That!" He huffed, "I mean it's harder than the Kobayashi fucking Maru."
Sasuke was confused. "What does this have to do with the city in the Miyazaki Prefecture?"
Jason looked at him like he'd just grown two heads. "What?"
Sasuke calmly closed his book. "I could only assume that you were talking about the forest in the Miyazaki Prefecture. "
Jason looked even more confused until he slapped a hand over his forehead."Dude, don't tell me that you haven't ever watched Star Trek."
"Umm no. Why?"
Jason's watery blue eyes widened. "What the hell do you guys watch down here? Star Trek is like the most epic show in the earth."
Sasuke had to seriously refrain from critiquing Jason's absurd hyperbole.
Returning to his book Sasuke idly snorted, "I highly doubt that. "
Jason shook his head. "You have a laptop right. Please get it. I need to give you a clue of what you're missing."
Sasuke paused, then shrugged. What could it hurt? "Sure. Give me a minute."
...
Seventy-five minutes later.. "The Wrath of Khan."
"So after two failed attempts, Kirk reprogrammed the thing, cheated and gets awarded for 'original thinking'. " Sasuke said blankly.
"Well yeah." Jason stated. "I mean how would you beat a no-win scenario? "
"I don't believe in a no-win scenario." Sasuke snorted, "There is always a way out."
Jason kicked back, hands behind his head, eyes closed. "That's what Kirk said too."
"And look what it got him." Sasuke snorted, "His first officer and best friend, dead."
Jason shot up, "Hold on! Spock's death was a sacrifice. He said it himself."
Rolling his eyes Sasuke sneered sarcastically. "Yes. The benevolent price that you pay for a do-or-die situation. Personally I think it was pathetic. He was a science officer and if what you said about Vulcans IQ was true, he should have figured out another way. "
Broad shoulders rose an inch. "Well you do have a point...but then again you could do what Chekov did."
One black eye squinted, "And that was?"
Jason grinned. "When he was faced with the problem, he evacuated the ship and then crashed it into the three Klingon cruisers, destroying every freakin one."
Sasuke chuckled while shutting off the laptop. "Now that's what you'd call a suicidal sociopath."
"No," Jason refuted, "that's what you'd call a fairy fruitcake."
A pause. "What?"
"Chekov, the Russian guy who literally worships Kirk. Fucking homo."
Sasuke went still. "You have a problem with gays?"
"Well yeah." he replied getting up to stretch, "It's goddammn unnatural. Women were made for men. "
'Seems like Haku was right.' Sasuke thought. "You do know that if deployed you are going to have contact with gays, right?"
A shrug. "I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. Speaking of bridge, Bryce asked me to go over a Titan schematic with him." He slapped Sasuke in the back. "It was good to share some American tradition with y'all orientals. See ya."
Allowing his eyes to trace of departing form of the American he wondered what Jason was going to do if he found out that two of his teammates were gay.
He dimly recognized Haku replacing Jason in the seat. "I'm guessing you heard that. "
"Uh huh." Haku murmured. "Told you."
"I wonder what level of heart attack he would get if he knows about us." Sasuke mused.
Haku's eyebrows rose just as his lips twitched in amusement. Turning to watch Jason completely disappear he replied, "I wouldn't want to know."
Mt. Fuji. Sunday 2:17 p.m.
"ATTENTION CADETS!" came the tight voice through the comprehensive PA system. "Everyone cadet please assemble on the front quad immediately! "
TenTen's head shot up, scanning the room. "What's going on?"
Shion shrugged while putting her hair brush down and swiftly putting her platinum hair in a bun.
"No idea." She murmured pursing her lips in the nearest mirror. "Maybe they finally got some boys from the local school to visit."
Karin snorted while getting up and stretching. "You'd love that wouldn't you?"
"Duhh." the Moyru replied. "Who wouldn't?"
"I can think of a couple."
TenTen turned to see Emi walking towards them. She hadn't seen the girl much since the hike up and she felt slightly ashamed of it.
"Emi." She smiled slightly embarrassed. "How are you? I'm sorry about well..you know after everything I really wanted to-..I.. I just got caught up.."
The Nakamura waved her apology off, "It's okay. I've been busy too. In fact we all have been."
Traipsing with the band of girls towards the front quad she asked, "Does anyone know what's going on?"
Her question was met with bland looks and shrugs.
"Okay then." She concluded, "I guess we'll see when we get there."
The front quad was filling in with every student. Slowly but surely the level of tension was rising.
'Were they in some kind of trouble?' the acrobat wondered to herself.
It wasn't until a lieutenant stepped in the podium and tapped the mike she understood.
"There has been an accident in the private dorm rooms. The row of rooms from seven to twelve have been flooded out by a erupted water main in the building. Currently the inhabitants of those rooms are on a field trip in town and have not been notified yet. We are concluding that this was just a problem of a faulty plumbing but if there is any hint of foul play it will be discovered."
'Oh.' she relaxed. 'Just a maintenance problem.'
The man's eyes scanned the crowd, "If anyone knows anything about this, like a prank gone wrong or a deliberate attempt of sabotage please report it to admin."
TenTen heard the Uzumaki girl snort, hands akimbo. "Really now. Good fucking luck with that."
She silently agreed.
"That's all. You may return to your recess."
Walking back to the public dorm TenTen's mind was absently thinking of what could have happened to the water system.
Reaching her bunk in the dorm her eyes lighted on Daya who was, from the time she had spoken to her, had adopted a quiet pensive attitude.
TenTen bit her lip. She really liked the Jewish girl but she had a stronger bond, an obligation to defend what she thought was right and she had been deeply disturbed to know that Daya could be a wedge between Naruto and Sasuke.
Her moral consciousness was telling her that what she had done was right but the guilty feeling in her gut felt like bile. She didn't want to crush the other girls spirit but she had to.
Breathing slowly she opened her eyes with a steely determination. She did the right thing and no one could blame her for it.
Hokkaido Keys... Library. After evening athletics.
"So how much?" Sasuke inquired not even deigning to look up at Ryu while flipping a page of the artillery magazine before him.
He was surprised when Ryu actually pulled out the chair across his and sat down.
Sasuke looked up and met the haunting blue eyes with a level stare.
Silence.
Silence; paired with pulses of static energy rippling over Sasuke's skin.
It stretched...and stretched...and stretched. The tension was nearing breaking point until Ryu smirked and leaned forward. "Trust me, you don't want to know."
Sasuke made sure that not alter his expression even though his entire body had gone stiff and numb just from the sheer current between them.
Crossing just arms on the table between them he steadily asked. "Tell me Namikaze...what does this do for you?"
Ryu leaned back, head titled in thought, elbow cocked across the chair's crest, fingers drumming in the air slowly. The relaxed motion allowed a adroit stretching of his torso to hint of every facet of his toned body.
"Idle amusement." he eventually replied, a lock of blue haired falling over one eye.
Sasuke kept his eyes on the ones before his but that didn't stop his brain from noticing the other parts of the boys body. Like his toned thighs, muscled arms and defined facial features, sculpted cheeks, a patrician nose, sky blue eyes and thick lashes to accent them.
"Doesn't it get old sometimes?"
Ryu leaved forward again, barely an inch away from Sasuke's stoic face and his breath flitted over the ravens face. "That's when people like you come in. You're a breath of fresh air."
Sasuke barely shifted his head. "Get your fucking face out of mine or I'll break it."
The smirk he was granted with made something, unidentified but intense crawl in the depths of Sasuke's gut.
"That's exactly what I'm talking about. I like your resistance Uchiha but one of these days I'm going to break you."
Sasuke pinned him with a empty look. "Many have tried. None have succeeded."
Ryu, while getting up, lifted a hand up and brushed a fingertip across Sasuke's cold cheek. "Then give me the chance of being the first."
Hokkaido Keys. Library…9:30 p.m
Something was wrong. Again.
"Naruto..." Sasuke asked lowly. "What happened?"
Blue eyes widened for a moment before resuming the normal size. "Why do you think something's wrong?"
Sasuke considered his next words for a moment before answering, "Just a feeling."
Shoulders clad in a full black shirt rose slightly. "Well its nothing, really."
"Is it?" Sasuke sighed. He wasn't up for any merry-go-round tonight. Especially after that nerves riddled meeting with Ryu. "There is something... Just tell me."
Blue eyes dimmed before two fingers rose up to massage the bridge of a freckled nose. "It's really not-"
"Do. Not. Lie. To. Me." Sasuke said, stressing each word clearly. "... Please."
Then his boyfriend's eyes met his. "It's just Daya..."
Sasuke went stiff. That girl, a-freakin'-gain. He struggled to force calm in his voice. "What has she done now?"
Cobalt orbs looked at him apprehensively. "She... asked me about my... relationships."
Trying to not to overreact, Sasuke as steadily as possible then asked, "What did you tell her?"
"Nothing..." he replied, "…well nothing that mattered anyways."
Sasuke froze. 'Nothing that... mattered?'
What the hell was Naruto saying ? Sasuke swallowed. Was he calling him, them, this thing they had, 'nothing'?
The words resounded in his mind like a banging gong. He breathed hard, trying to displace that crippling thought.
Nevertheless his breath kicked up a notch, mind reeling.
"Nothing that mattered..." "Nothing that mattered... ""Nothing that mattered..."
The tension that had been coiling in his gut for the past days, the apprehension, the latent jealously the frustration, the indecision, everything contracted into ball of fury and before he thought of what he was doing, he blindly struck.
"Nothing?" he growled, eyes narrowed to slits. "Are you saying we are nothing?"
Blue eyes popped open then contracted. "Sasu-"
"Is this a joke to you?" he railroaded, "What ever we are, is 'nothing' to you? What we went through is 'nothing'? What we did to each other, is 'nothing'?"
This time Naruto's eyes mirrored Sasukes. "What the fuck are you talking about Uchiha? Have you lost your goddammn mind? Were you even listeni-"
"NO!" Sasuke snarled. "I've listened enough! I heard you clearly! And to think I thought this could work. I'm a fucking idiot. Go to your precious Daya. Fuck her for all I care. Just leave me alone! "
He slammed the laptop screen down effectively cutting off the connection.
Breathing hard his head dropped backwards to glare at the beige ceiling.
He felt like he was about to throw up. The edges of his vision were going black. Bringing his knees up to his chin he buried his head in the space between them and gasped in air.
Something in the back of his mind slapped him. What the hell had he just done?
Hokkaido Keys. A day after…Gym .
His knuckles were throbbing with pain but Sasuke still punched. The 'conversation' with Naruto had not only gone downhill, it had plummeted to the center of the sulfuric earth.
In the back of his mind where that devious voice called a conscience was reigning, he knew he had been unreasonable. Flying off the handle after just simple misplaced words made him feel disgusted with himself. He had been scared.
Period.
The increasing stress with Ryu, his blind floundering, the lack of knowing what was coming next, the lack of control and the creeping, crippling fear that he was being slowly replaced by this girl; it all condensed into acidic mix that poisoned his entire system.
Pausing to wipe that sweat off his brow, Sasuke grasped the vinyl bag before him and stared at his distorted reflection.
"What the fucking hell is wrong with you?" he snarled to himself.
Stepping back he landed a solid punch in the center of his reflection. "You fucking idiot."
Standing stock still, shoulders stiff he finally acknowledged the other presence in the room. "What can I help you with, Shikamaru?"
The lazy genius stepped forward, brown eyes placid but Sasuke would be completely stupid to not realize the swirling vortex of complex mental processes behind those orbs.
"Well you can first tell me why you're mimicking nine eleven."
Sasuke snorted while flexing his aching wrists. "I'm not that destructive."
"Really?" the Nara asked lowly, tone saturated with bland sarcasm.
Sasuke dared to meet the hackers eyes and forced out a strangled, "Yes."
Shikamaru stuck his hands into his pockets. "Come on Uchiha. You of all people should know what pathological denial is. Be honest."
Sasuke snarled and turned away. "Shikamaru, I'm really not in the mood for any fucking intervention you people think I need. Go away! I'm fine dammit!"
Then Shikamaru did something most people would say suicidal. He stepped up and grabbed Sasuke by his wet shoulders, fingers digging into slick skin, and spun him around to face one of the floor length mirrors in the room.
"Stop being an idiot, Uchiha! " Shikamaru snarled out, "You are NOT fine! Look at yourself!"
Sasuke, standing rigidly under the hold the Nara had on him, looked up at his reflection and secretly sunk a canine in the inner cheek.
The pale, gaunt, sickly flushed visage before him immediately made him recoil.
Slowly he reached up and softly removed Shikamaru's damp palms from his person. Turning away he swallowed hard and ran a cramping hand through his hair.
Silence.
Awkward silence.
Sasuke couldn't muster the strength to face the quiet Nara.
"I could help you, you know." Shikamaru said calmly.
Sasuke turned to him and depreciatingly said, "Really now... How?"
The brown haired gestured to the floor. "Sit."
Slightly suspicious the agitated raven sat down on the padded mat below his feet to face a similar pose assuming Shikamaru.
"So what's this about? " Sasuke asked quietly.
"Do you know how to meditate? "
Sasuke immediately pushed off the floor just to get dragged back down.
"I am not going to go into some Buddhist bullshit by trying to tap into my inner soul." Sasuke sniped. "Which according to majority, I don't have."
"No one said that you should." the genius returned, "Meditation isn't the humming or chanting propagated by pop culture and psycho babble media. It's just intense thinking."
Sasuke huffed in irritation but allowed Shikamaru to continue. "We all have problems Uchiha. I myself had to deal with a father who was more married to his work than his family and my mother who prised her gardenias more than her own son. You know why I got into hacking Uchiha, I felt like I needed to control something. I felt like I needed to prove myself somehow, someway."
Sasuke just listened to the voice talking to him.
"I got so caught up in my mission to prove myself I forgot the outside world. That I had people, friends, family, people I could count on to help me. Unfortunately I didn't come to the revelation until it was too late. My mind got away from me. I was so caught up in my head that I didn't realize I was out the verge of a complete mental breakdown. It was only when a cousin of mine dragged me out into the outside world that I realized it was spinning. Literally.
I had to undergo intensive mental rehabilitation. I had to learn how to meditate and face my problems."
Sasuke shifted and softly whispered, "What's your point here, Nara?"
Shikamaru faced him. "I want to help you.. Just...trust me. Close your eyes and breathe..."
Still skeptical Sasuke obeyed, taking in deep breaths and feeling the tense feeling in his gut slightly decreasing.
"Now tell me, where is your anger centered?"
Sasuke's brows contracted for a moment, all his mental energy trying to seek out where the epicenter of the rage was and, after a minute, unconsciously raised a hand to brush fingertips over his chest where felt extremely tight.
"Here." Sasuke said lowly.
"Okay." Shikamaru replied in the same tone of voice. "Now think... who are you really angry at, someone else or yourself?"
Good fucking question.
The crease in his forehead deepened. Sasuke sighed, "Both. Mainly me though."
Shikamaru hummed. "Why?"
A twinge of irritation surged up in Sasuke's throat but he smashed it down. "I just was."
"Again...why?"
Sasuke sighed, a hand raised to press at his ticking right temple. Yes, there was more but he couldn't, didn't want to admit it.
Silence.
Shikamaru sighed, "Sasuke, you have to give me more than that. What did Naruto do?"
He snapped, fist striking at the floor. "He went and screwed everything up... He denied everything we had."
"How?"
"This girl up there, asked him about his relationships. He said that he told her 'nothing' ."
Shikamaru's eyes narrowed. "Did he say nothing happened between you two or just nothing in general?"
Sasuke froze. "When I asked him what he told her, he said nothing..." he paused biting his lip and mentally reviewing the actual words Naruto had uttered. "He said 'well nothing that mattered anyways'."
The Nara had to seriously hold back a disparaging roll of eyes. "Sasuke have you ever thought that maybe he didn't want to advertise your relationship with him? Think of it. He's hedging on the side of caution. Who knows what fucked up situation he's facing up there...just like the one that you're facing here. Don't even try to tell me that faced with a similar situation you'd do anything different. I mean it's not like you've painted a billboard advertising your preferences."
Sasuke felt like a barrel of ice freezing cold water had just been thrown into his face.
Slumping back he closed his eyes and went silent for a full five minutes. All of which Shikamaru patiently waited through.
"You're probably going to tell me what a fucking idiot I've been, aren't you?"
Shikamaru smiled while getting up. "No need Uchiha. You're going it all by yourself."
Same Day: Hokkaido Keys. 9:30pm
The entire body of the school population has been called to assemble at the auditorium. Sasuke wondered why there was such a late meeting. After inquiring about it seemed that everyone was just as clueless as he was.
The mike in the middle of the stage was tapped as a senior cadet stepped up with a clipboard in his hands.
Sasuke glanced around for any sign of an authoritative presence but found none. Was this a student only meeting or what? The auditorium was packed with the entire population of the school, the older cadets on one half and the newest on the other half, a wide space dividing them.
The skin on the back of Sasuke's neck was rippling with tension.
"Greetings cadets." the senior said. "It's time to get you familiar with another tradition of ours. It's called Brackets."
He was confused. What now?
"You see, we have this belief that no man is an island, so years ago Big Brother introduced an accurately termed, " he grinned, "Big Brother program where all the newbies get a senior to assist them in everything.."
Sasuke couldn't decide if the smile on the senior's face was sadistic or what.
"... These senior are the ones who choose their juniors... so newbies... gear up to meet your big brother... "
Sasuke entire body had gone ice cold. If he knew anything it was that he was about to be screwed over, big time.
Even though his pulse rate was hammering away under the influence of adrenaline he calmly knew exactly who he was going to be paired with. He fervently hoped it wouldn't materialize even though that hope was futile.
"Sasuke Uchiha i-"
He stiffened intensely; fingers clenching so hard his nails drew blood.
" - paired with Ryu Namikaze."
Please don't kill me... #fingerscrossed & #runsaway
TBC...