Placing a small plate of Gaara's freshly baked cookies, which much to Naruto's surprise were actually well baked, and a glass of warm milk on the coffee table, the blonde takes a seat on the love seat and watches as Sakura eyes the food with an empty look in her eyes.

"Are you alright?" Naruto asks gently.

She turns her head to face him, her eyes puffy and red from crying.

"How the hell am I supposed to be okay? My roommate is some lunatic murderer and you're this secret agent that's going to 'take him down.' None of this makes a lick of sense!" She argues, and the blonde sighs heavily.

This was going to be one long night.

"Just who exactly are you Naruto? Why is Sasuke even doing this? I'm so confused." She says, rubbing her temples as she closes her eyes.

She's completely shaken up, her whole entire life has just been flopped upside down, everything taking a drastic change for the worst.

Why her?

"I promise I'll explain everything, it might take a while though…" Naruto trails, scratching the back of his neck sheepishly.

Sakura only nods her head, feeling determined to get to the bottom of this.

"No, I want to hear everything."

The blonde nods.

"Well it all started…"

.

.

.

~FLASHBACK (Two years ago)~

It was a typical Friday.

The rain was coming down gently on the gloomy spring morning, small droplets echoing on the pavement and forming little puddles as Naruto Uzumaki was walking to school, well more like running for his life.

He was late, of course nothing new, and he had forgotten his umbrella at home. He even made himself place it by the door the night before, and it was neon orange; something that wasn't difficult to miss, but he had forgotten it and the second day in a row too.

But, some wet clothes and hair weren't going to bring down his spirits.

Because today his parents were finally coming home from a month long business trip out in Tokyo.

And boy had he missed them, especially his mom's cooking and his dad's lame jokes. The house felt extremely empty without them the only real company he got was from the nice old lady next door who brought over cookies from time to time.

"You're late Uzumaki." His professor snaps grumpily as Naruto bows slightly muttering a halfhearted apology and rushing to take his seat.

Throwing down his soaked bag, and running his hand through his damp locks, the blonde lifts up the bottom of his shirt to wipe his wet face.

A few girls turn his way and stare at him with heart eyes, running their eyes all over his toned body.

"You little attention whore." A classmate, also a close friend, teases, kicking the blonde on the leg playfully.

Naruto only smirks, taking out his notebook.

Class begins.


~xXx~


It happened so suddenly, the joy and anticipation of a cheerful family reunion suddenly gone in seconds.

It was like some dream, so far away he could barely even see it.

He didn't know what to do. He couldn't breathe.

Couldn't think.

Move.

"Sir, are you alright?" An employee at the ramen stand asks, his eyes fixated with concern as he stares at the blonde's shocked expression.

But, Naruto couldn't open his mouth, couldn't look away from the screen that presented him with images of his parents.

His dead parents.

The news reporter was talking rapidly about a car crash and behind the reporter he recognized his parent's cream white limousine blaring in a raging fire and medics were covering two bodies with sheer white blankets.

And when two names splattered across the screen he just wanted to puke up the delicious ramen he had downed not even seconds ago.

"Kushina and Minato Uzumaki dead in tragic car accident."

"Sir." The man says once again, his voice snapping the blonde out of his trance.

Naruto looks over at the man and finds that he is holding out a tissue. He brings a finger to his eyes finding his cheeks wet with tears.

He hadn't even realized he'd started crying.

Forcing a small smile he nods in gratitude and takes the tissue, wiping at his eyes as he stands. Slapping some money down on the table he walks slowly, as if in a daze, towards his car.

Stepping outside, the rain hits him hard dampening his spiky golden hair in seconds. He can't even feel the rain, it's as if his body is numb, his mind is numb.

The blonde can't wrap his mind around the idea that his parents, the two most important people in his life, were dead. Gone.

He'd never see his mom again; never see her smile towards him in that loving way that made him feel safe even in the worst situations. Or hear her laugh at one of his sorry excuses for a joke. He'd never be able to taste her cooking again, or go on long walks and just talk with her.

He'd never be able to tackle his dad at another mock football game they'd set up in their backyard, or watch soccer matches until the dead of night. He'd never be able to get his hair ruffled by the man he'd grown to respect the most or earn a heart warming pat on his back for a job well done.

And worst of all,

He would never be able to say goodbye.

Stepping into his car, soaking the seat in seconds, he slams the car door shut and stares blankly at the solid black steering wheel.

He wanted the pain gone, his heart felt as if it failed.

He felt a part of him die.

He drives back to his home, bitter thoughts accompanying him throughout the melancholy ride.


~xXx~


He tosses his keys on the kitchen counter, and looks around his large home.

He was wealthy, having a home that millions of kids dreamed of.

But now, he didn't even want to be inside of his house. Because he knew that his parents would never be able to walk through this door again.

He walks over to the stove, staring intently at the silver pan, his reflection staring back at him.

His mom would never use this pan again, she'd never stand in this exact spot and cook up pancakes for breakfast. His dad would never sit on one of the island stools, reading his paper while sipping on coffee, and he'd never hear their small playful bickering ever again.

Squeezing his eyes shut, Naruto leans his palms on the kitchen counter, biting his lip as fat tears roll down his pale cheeks.

Why his parents? They were good people, they didn't deserve to die. He didn't deserve to lose them.

"Why?" He whispers softly, his voice cracking as he slams his fist down on the counter.

"Why?" He says louder, turning on his heel and walking towards the large living room, right across from the kitchen.

He passes a picture of all three of them and stops in his tracks.

It was a large picture, blown up as his mother would like to say, of him as a baby. His mother was holding him; her smile radiant as she looked down at his sleeping form all bundled up in a blue cloth while his father hugged the two of them, laughing from pure joy.

He remembered just how happy she was when she explained that this was taken on the day he was born.

She said it was the greatest day of her life.

His parents bickered playfully afterwards, his father mocking hurt that their wedding came in second. Naruto couldn't help but find it funny.

At any other moment he'd feel completely embarrassed of the photo if he brought his friends over, or a girl, but right now he felt sad.

Without thinking he brushes his finger along his mother's long hair and feels tears roll down his cheeks.

"Why did you leave me?" He whispers softly.

Forcing himself to turn away, he heads up the grand spiral staircase and walks into his oversized bedroom. Immediately he collapses on the large king sized bed, rolling himself up in his neon orange sheets.

And cries himself to sleep.

~xXx~

He hated it.

The forced smiles, the meaningless condolences, the descent of the caskets.

It wouldn't bring his parents back.

Hundreds of people came to the funeral of his parents, and Naruto only really knew a few.

He forced himself to smile, to put on a "good show" for others and be polite. But, in reality all he wanted to do was runaway and hide out in his room with a box of tissues.

He didn't want people to feel sorry for him and he hated all of those pitiful eyes on him.

It made him feel like this was all really happening.

He didn't want to believe this was true.

That his parents were actually lifeless bodies buried six feet under the ground at some infamous cemetery.

After the funeral, Naruto fell into depression.

Alcohol became his best friend.

It weakened the pain, numbed his mind from torturous thoughts, it made him feel alive if even only for a moment.

His godfather paid him a few visits, really only slapping some money down on the table and giving him a half hearted lecture on alcohol abuse.

Naruto never listened.

In a sense the blonde was thankful for his godfather's lack of care, but when he heard the door slam shut a part of him shattered.

No one cared anymore.

He could probably go jump out of a window and no one would care.

That is until one snowy evening later that year in mid December.

Naruto was sober for a change, flipping through movies on his large plasma screen T.V when the loud ring of his doorbell caused him to jump on his place in the couch.

It was already past eight, and his first instinct was to not answer the door. So he just shrugged and continued surfing through the channels.

But, the doorbell rang again.

He furrows his brows before reluctantly getting up and heading over to the front door.

"Who is it?" He asks, grabbing a broomstick leaning up against the wall near the coat closet just in case he'd have to take down some stalker or whatever.

A low and husky voice comes from the other side.

"I'm a friend of your parents, I mean no harm." He replies smoothly, and the blonde swears the voice is somewhat familiar.

After a small debate in his sub consciousness, the blonde decides to open the door.

He takes a good look at his unexpected visitor.

He's wearing a slick, custom designed fitted black suit with a blood red tie, which matches his blood red hair. His bangs hang a little low, and his hands are shoved in his pockets.

His eyes are a sharp teal color, and if Naruto didn't know any better he'd say the guy has a rim of eyeliner circling around his eyes. Not to mention he was missing a pair of eyebrows.

He looks intimidating and the blonde suddenly has second thoughts about opening the door.

He extends a deathly white pale hand.

"Gaara."


~xXx~


Seated at the kitchen counter with the lights dimmed Naruto gaped at the redhead seated across from him.

"You're telling me my parent's death was a set up?" He asks, his blue eyes widened and his mouth hanging open from disbelief.

So his parents were…murdered?

"From our Intel, yes." He responds, a tight grim line forming on his lips.

Naruto shakes his head in denial.

"No that can't be true. My parents didn't have any enemies." He argues, feeling his mind swirling and his dry throat suddenly begging for some alcohol.

He wanted the pain gone.

Now.

"We don't have any definite answers yet, but we founds some clues that indicate this was set up."

A sharp glint flashes through his teal eyes.

"And your parents didn't have enemies,"

Naruto's shoulders relax, exhaling a breath he'd been holding.

He knew it, his parents were good people.

"They had an enemy."

His body tenses immediately, a shiver running down his spine.

"Who?" He asks quietly, feeling his bones shaking and a trail of goose bumps sprouting on his arms.

"Uchiha Corporations. Another large business corporation here in the states that's been rivaling with your parent's company for years now." He states simply, watching as Naruto takes in the information slowly.

"So they died all because of some rivalry?" He asks loudly, his voice tinged with spite.

His parents, the two kindest people to walk this earth, died because of some stupid rivalry over money?

Was this some kind of sick delusional joke?

Gaara hesitates before nodding his head slowly.

"Seems like it." He responds calmly, his cool composure remaining stoic.

Something in the blonde snaps, and without thinking rationally he stands up sharply, storming over to the other side of the counter and grabbing Gaara tightly by the collar.

The redhead remains unfazed.

"Aren't you their bodyguard or something? Why didn't you stop this attack? You just liked to watch them die? Huh?" He shouts, spitting in Gaara's face as his icy blue eyes bore into his. His grip on his collar tightens and any other man would be choking, suffocating perhaps, but not Gaara.

His features remain completely passive, but when he speaks his voice is hard, tinged with hurt.

He effortlessly grabs the blonde's wrist shoving him off of him. Naruto stumbles back a little.

"You really think I would just watch them die? Don't you dare mock me, brat. Don't think that you're the only one that cared about them." He spits, his words coming out like fire.

Naruto's eyes widen significantly and he scoffs, trying to play it off.

So, he was just as hurt over his parent's death as him. He can see it in his eyes, as hard as Gaara tries to hide it.

Gaara exhales loudly, straightening his collar with his hands before taking a seat back on the stool.

"Sit down and listen I don't have the patience right now to deal with a rich spoiled imp." He snaps, agitation evident in his voice.

"I-"

"Sit." He commands deathly, leaving no room for argument.

Naruto swallows hard, following his orders and taking a seat across from him.

"Because your parents are now gone, and from what I know, you've been wasting the little money your godfather has been giving you on alcohol and instant ramen,"

Naruto opens his mouth to argue, but the threatening look in Gaara's eyes causes him to shut up.

"And you've dropped out of college, there is no future for you, correct?" He asks, not really like a question but more like a statement.

Naruto nods slowly, realizing that he's an utter disappointment.

How would his parents react if they found out what he's been doing? Using their money to live such a miserable life.

He feels his stomach churn violently.

He's pathetic.

"Yeah…" He agrees quietly, suddenly feeling ashamed.

Gaara nods.

"Do you plan to carry on your parent's legacy? In the next few months I can be your superior, teaching you exactly what your parents would want you to be doing."

The blonde tilts his head, unsure of what Gaara is getting at.

"What do you mean?"

The redhead smirks.

"We want you in the Alliance."

.

.

.

"The what?"

~xXx~

~PRESENT TIME~ (2 AM)

"And from then on I've been working as a member of this organization for my parent's company." Naruto says quietly, his heart slowly sinking as the memories of that day flood back in.

Sakura stays quiet for what seems like an eternity, her eyes becoming wet.

"I'm so sorry Naruto, that must have been so hard for you." She sympathizes, her eyes turning warm and soft.

Naruto swallows thickly, forcing a small smile.

For anyone else he'd probably just avoid the topic, to be honest, he hadn't spoken of his parent's death to anyone for years. Bringing it back up made him feel unbearably sad and broken but for some reason he wanted to be strong for Sakura, he wanted to show her that he was a better man.

"It's okay, it was a long time ago." He brushes it off, not wanting to stay on the subject any longer.

Sakura nods.

"I still don't understand one thing."

She purses her lips, waiting a little before speaking.

"I know that the Uchiha Corporation killed your parents and that's absolutely unacceptable and horrible but…why do you have to you know take them down? Why are the two of you such rivals?" Sakura asks hesitantly.

Naruto licks his lips in thought.

"Well killing my parents really set me off for hating them, but even before that they had a fortune and they make so much money because deep down hidden in the roots of their corporation lie a secret group of agents, much like us but darker, called the Akatsuki. They work in the black market, smuggling drugs from other countries in order to make and boost partnerships amongst other corporations, allowing them to make a larger profit through networking. In simpler terms, this means that Akatsuki has a lot of backup.

What they're doing is illegal, and once my parents noticed this…well they took matters in their own hands by hiring professionals, like Gaara and I, to try and stop them. They're hindering the country with this work, and now their expanding their empire throughout the world, meaning that they'll not only worsen the economy in this country, but other's as well. We've been trying to stop them for the greater good, but it's been rough."

Sakura's eyes widen, feeling a trail of goose bumps running down her arms. She pulls the blanket tighter around herself.

"And Sasuke is a part of this group…" She trails, inhaling deeply to try and calm down.

Naruto nods, biting his lip.

"At first we though Itachi, Sasuke's brother, might be the leader…but Sasuke killed him. Ever since the scene, we kept a close eye on Sasuke and recorded his actions and partaking's, all this data accumulated proved to us that, well…we believe he might be their leader."

And it's like a bomb has been dropped in the room.

"So he's the leader of illegal drug smugglers?" Sakura asks, the whole sentence giving her some sort of hysteria as she begins to laugh a little mad like.

Naruto looks at her with concern.

"Yes Sakura, I'm telling you the truth and you need to know that he's dangerous. I don't want you to get hurt." He says firmly, staring at her with concerned blue eyes.

Sakura stops laughing and swallows hard as realization hits her.

Sasuke really is a bad guy… no, he's the bad guy.

"What are you going to do to him?" She asks softly, her voice coming out a little shaky.

"Imprison him most likely." Naruto answers, although he's not entirely sure if Gaara would rather kill him on the spot.

But, rather not stress Sakura out, she's had enough for one day.

Sakura nods slowly, taking in the information.

"We still need to figure out what he's doing here though, that's why I was kind of wondering if you know anything…I mean you've been living with him."

Sakura thinks about it, tilting her head to try and figure out if she's seen anything suspicious.

When something clicks.

"Well there was one thing…" She begins and Naruto's eyes widen in eagerness.

"Seriously? What is it?" He asks, clearly a tad giddy. It's been so long since he got any leads.

And then before Sakura can hesitate and think about if she should really be getting involved in all of this she spills the information.

"I sneaked a glance at his laptop screen while he was cooking breakfast and saw an email with the title of an import of Vertigo." She says, biting her lip as she watches Naruto's face fall significantly.

"He must be meeting with some members from other countries to try and get an import of Vertigo to the states." Naruto murmurs under his breath, rubbing his temples.

"What is Vertigo?" Sakura asks.

"An illegal drug, it's addictive and it makes you have hallucinations. Really bad." Naruto summarizes.

The rosette nods.

She sucks in breath hoping that she can suck up her tears. Knowing that Sasuke was part of some weird ghetto organization was a huge shock but now that he's the leader and worst of all smuggling drugs? It was just…too much.

"I think I need a break, from all of this." Sakura says suddenly, her mind swirling yet again.

Naruto snaps out of his trance of trying to figure out the situation of Sasuke and suddenly his eyes soften.

"Of course, you can stay the night. Sleep up in the loft, the bed is super comfy." He says, smiling towards her warmly.

Sakura nods, returning the smile.

"Thank you Naruto, for everything." She says, and it causes the blonde's heart to flutter.

"Of course." He says standing, and before Sakura can stand up as well, she's scooped off of the couch by two strong arms and her face is pressed against a warm chest.

"Naruto, what are you doing..?" She whispers, eyes widening as she realizes he just picked her up and is now carrying her up the glass stairs.

"Carrying you up the stairs…what does it look like?" He jokes, a boyish grin spreading on his lips and Sakura can't help but laugh.

"Idiot…" She murmurs, but smiles nonetheless.

Smile, that was the last thing she thought she'd be doing after this crazy day.

And yet somehow, this weird, handsome, blonde secret agent was able to make her do just that.

Placing her gently on the bed, Naruto heads over to his dresser and picks out some boxers and an oversized black tshirt.

He tosses them to her.

"You can wear this if you want, it'll be comfier than what you're wearing."

Sakura eyes his clothes, feeling her cheeks flare up.

"T-Thanks." She stammers, retreating to the bathroom and feeling Naruto's gaze on her up until the door shuts.

After changing and finding out that indeed these clothes were far comfier than anything she's ever worn, the rosette steps out of the bathroom and finds Naruto sitting in the desk chair, typing away on the laptop.

He stops typing and spins around in his chair once he hears the door open.

And when he does he can't help but widen his blue eyes.

Sakura, he had to admit, looked hot in his clothes. Just seeing her wear them caused a weird feeling to explode in the pit of his stomach.

What am I thinking? This is not the time.

"Um, well this is awkward." Sakura retorts lamely, scurrying to the bed before hopping in and pulling the covers all the way to her chin.

Naruto laughs sheepishly.

"You look fine, just a tad baggy, but fine." He assures her, shutting his laptop and walking over to where she was lying on the bed.

He looks down at her, unable to unglue his eyes from her flawless face.

She was one adorable woman.

Probably the prettiest he's ever seen.

And he felt terrible for dragging her into this mess, like he'd committed some sort of crime.

"Hey, don't give me that look. I'll be okay, I just need…time." She assures him softly.

Naruto nods.

"Get some rest." The blonde tells her, a small smile on his lips.

Sakura nods.

"Goodnight Naruto."

The blonde claps twice, the lights shut off.

"Goodnight Sakura."

And the last thing she feels are a pair of warm lips on her forehead and the soft sound of footsteps descending down the stairs.


~xXx~


A / N: I hope you guys enjoy this lengthy chapter 'cause holy moly I worked my butt off for it! I'm in a rush, uploading this before class starts any minute so I can't say much.

BUT I DO WANT TO THANK EVERYONE FOR THE SUPPORT ON THIS STORY! THANK YOU!

Let me know what you think of this chapter. :D

Until next chapter, toodles~