Chapter 10.

You say you've seen the bottom of the Sky.

Sasuke was pleasantly surprised as he felt Naruto's gesture when the phone rung. He cursed under his breath and picked up the receiver.

The female voice on the other end informed him that since Sai what-ever-his-surname-is has refused to tell the personnel of the Queen Mary's Hospital any contact numbers of his relatives, the nurses had been forced to have dug in his pockets and found this very number. Incidentally, the female voice had addressed Sasuke as Sharingan which made the later cringe.

'So what do you want me to do?'-he asked, annoyed at the disturbance. The woman suggested he come sign some forms and collect the patient.

Naruto sat still, he couldn't hear the woman but by Sasuke's suddenly animated face he could tell that they weren't going to get hot and heavy tonight. He paused…this was Sasuke…hot and...

'Right.'-finished the afore-mentioned boy and hung up, his left eye twitching ever so slightly.-'No need to blame Sai, I don't think he's the leader either.'

Naruto looked at him, erasing the image of the bed that stood in the next room…so close yet so far away.

'And you came to this conclusion how?'-he forced, his throat suddenly dry.

'As it turns out, on the day of the incident,'-he ran his hand through his hair, Naruto following every motion,-'Sai got stomach poisoning, ironic, since he's the one and only person who likes the French food…it's not really French is it?'

'No, I doubt that French people have dishes like Mort aux Chats which I think means death to cats and happens to be a poem by Peter Porter which is a satire and mocks all prejudice by taking up the form of cats and dogs.'

Sasuke stared in utter amazement at Shikamaru who had appeared at the door behind them.

'And you are inside this fortified mansion because and how?'

'Because I have an IQ higher than yours and your bum buddy over there put together. Besides, ain't it time the RunAway took action against those bastards and I joined this troublesome freak-fest.'

Sasuke wondered if Neji had told everyone about the idiotic Buddy Program while contemplating the insult thrown at him by the boy-genius-soon-to-be-murdered.

'Naruto, I guess you know who this is…Shikamaru…this is my bum buddy.'-he said, making sure to stress the last words. This earned him a kick in the shin but he had deserved it so he refrained from any glares or assaults.

'But either way, whether Orochimaru is French or not, that's for the authorities to decide. The actual problem at hand is that Sai can't be ruled out as a possibility.'-continued Shikamaru.

'What is he, a murder suspect, aren't you guys making this out to be a little too serious?'-muttered Sasuke. At this, Naruto stood up, completely outraged, his irises narrowing to slits, making him look very feline and vicious.

'Too serious, man, I would hate to piss all over your parade Sharingan, but you helped seven people meet untimely death just the other night and if I had understood Kakashi-'

'And no one understands Kakashi!'-injected Shikamaru, his tone suddenly exited.

'Then this wasn't your first time either! And the whole deal with Neji, you know those cuts on his back aren't some awesome joke that he's trying to play on you, this IS serious and we aren't escalating it, if anything, the way we deliver it puts down the importance.'

He really didn't know what to do now, it seemed like the whole universe aspired to make matters worse and Naruto wasn't about to give him a break.

'Alright, so assuming Sai isn't the leader,'-stated the unofficial member of RunAway who's IQ rivaled that of all the members put together,-'Why would have Neji led you to believe so. Because alternatively, this seems to be some plan to make each member turn on the other, break up the communication between each person, isolate the leader from all support and so create an opening for…I can't say for sure for what.'

Sasuke shook his head.

'I don't think that Kakashi would have emphasised it so much about me being able to figure out who the leader was unless the pearson was in my circle of trust.'

Shikamaru rolled his easy at this and seemed to enjoy some private joke.

Sasuke of course being gullible as hell demanded that he should spit it out.

'The thing is, your circle of trust means people that you could name. That makes about four people, give or take the odd characters like Sakura and Shino because they're constantly in your face.'

Naruto agreed to this since Sasuke couldn't name anyone in his own class, let alone a possible candidate for the Angels leader.

'I think Kakashi merely gave you too much credit, that's all.'


By the time they had gotten to the hospital, Shikamaru had a black eye, Naruto had scolded Sasuke for such display of 'affection', and they had been forced to take the pink DeTomaso since it was the only car Itachi had left the keys to.

At the reception, Sasuke got asked to confirm if he was a relative of Mr Sai…his surname? He gave the receptionist his name and for about twenty minutes the trio had to fight off the confusion until Naruto blurted out that perhaps Sai would have referred to the Uchiha as Sharingan. Only then did Sasuke remember the cringing as the nurse had mispronounced his title.

When they came into the room, Sai looked anything but sick, he was smiling and eating chocolate cake.

Sasuke approvingly smiled back, walked up and pushed Sai's face into the lovely desert.

TCB


OK, I know I haven't updated in AGES! But I have been sick with stomach poisoning…like Sai…

And then I had a biology test.

And then I was depressed over my own romantic situation or the lack of general sanity within my daily routine…uh…

I have such headaches, my two year old brother is a brat and screams his head off while I am supposed to sleep and my parents are on a brink of divorce…so I think that excuses the lateness and gloominess of this chapter, but in the nxt one, I PROMISE more humour and more development and just generally more text!

THANK YOU FOR READING AND PLEASE REVIEW!

And for people who think this plot is damaged…I will have to agree since it was supposed to go completely differently but then I felt like this and that and the other and it went OUT of control…