Okay, I'm trying to do a quick update before work, so sorry for any mistakes in the chapter.
For any of those who don't have me on author alert, but wanted to know about the new story, Life Starts Now is now posted, like this story it will be 26 chapters and I have an outline for both so I should be able to update both regularly
As always, I own nothing, enjoy and please review
Chapter 14: Rumor
We choose those we like; with those we love, we have no say in the matter. ~Mignon McLaughlin
Orochimaru sat in his office, waiting for Kabuto. He knew the man was supposed to be bringing him the pictures from his "research" and that made the dark haired man filled with excitement. He knew that it could be his chance to finally take down both Minato and the Uchihas. He remembered the phone call he had with Kabuto, which just made him grin.
Flashback
"I'll be coming to see you tomorrow," Kabuto said from the other end. He sounded confident, not nervous as he had the previous years that they had tried to take down Minato.
"You sound like you have something good for me," Orochimaru said, hoping he was right. He began tapping his pen, waiting for the news, "Good news I hope."
"I have to show you," Kabuto told him. "Just telling won't do it justice," he tried to explained. "But I did get some information out of a waiter that we may be able to use if you don't like any of the pictures," he added.
"I can't wait to see tomorrow," Orochimaru replied. "This better be as good as you are making it out to be," he warned. "Or else I may have to find someone else to do this job," he added. He finished the conversation by saying, "This is your last chance. You're lucky I didn't find someone else after you failed last year."
"I understand sir," Kabuto said, confident that he'd be going nowhere. "You won't be disappointed, I promise," he assured him.
End Flashback
Orochimaru was pulled from his thoughts at the sound of a knock and the opening of his office door. "Ah, Kabuto, come in," he said as the light haired man walked into the room. "Please sit," he instructed. "I'd like to get started on the information that you have for me," he said with a sinister grin.
Kabuto put the folder on the older man's desk, "I think you'll find the pictures to your liking." He watched as the man's expressions changed from skepticism to sheer pleasure. "I'm sure you can make something out of those," he added, knowing that he'd gotten good shots for the man to use.
"Of course I could," Orochimaru said as he put the pictures back down. "But, I'd rather see what the media could make out of them," his sinister grin reappeared. "You know how they love to twist things," he said in his twisted sense of happiness. "Submit them as being from an unknown source, but keep a copy," he instructed the younger man. "We'll just sit back and watch their downfall," he laughed. 'This time I'm taking them down for good,' he thought with a grin.
Kabuto just nodded and quickly left. 'I'm glad he liked them, after being his assistant I'm not sure I could have found another job,' he thought as he went to do what he was told. He looked down at the pile of pictures in his hands, 'This is going to bury them.'
NS
Sasuke sat at home flipping through channels, bored. 'There's nothing on,' he thought as he let out a small breath of air. 'Maybe I should call Naruto,' his eyes widened at the thought. 'Damn it, he has become my friend,' he thought, giving himself an excuse as to why he thought to call him and not one of the other people on his short list that he called friends.
Itachi walked into the room, obviously angry, though Sasuke didn't know why. Before he could ask what was wrong, Itachi ripped the control from his hand and turned the channel to the nearest gossip news program. "What are you doing?" Sasuke asked, knowing Itachi didn't care for those.
"Shut up," Itachi said as he stared at the screen, causing Sasuke to do the same.
"And now we have pictures from an unnamed source containing the Uchihas and Namikazes and not in a way you'd think. It seems the youngest of each family have taken quite a liking to each other. Uchiha Sasuke and Namikaze Naruto were caught multiple times looking rather comfortable together. As seen in this photo, the two went to a club together and also danced with each other. There are rumors that the two are dating and that this picture at a popular café was actually a date. While they do look rather happy, neither camp has confirmed nor denied the statements. But we want to hear what you think, go to our online poll and vote if you think the two are an item. Tune into our later program for more on this story and more pictures."
Itachi looked at Sasuke, "How did you not know there were cameras following you, especially at the coffee shop? I must say you two do look rather happy, if I didn't know any better I'd say you were a couple."
Sasuke just continued to stare at the screen. He knew they were drunk in the first picture; it was from the night they almost took things to far. They had been grinding on each other that entire night; it didn't surprise him that someone got a picture of it. The coffee shop picture was the one that surprised him. It was true; they did look like a couple just leaving each other after a date. The photographer had even caught Sasuke smiling as he said goodbye to Naruto. "I'm sorry," was all he could say. "I was drunk and the second one was just two friends saying goodbye," he tried to defend himself.
"It didn't look very friendly to me," Itachi said. "And it sure as hell won't look very friendly to anyone else," he added. He took a deep breath as he looked at his brother, "If you want to be with him, I'm okay with that. But I can't have you getting drunk and being all over him when you're not with him, it looks bad for the company. Frankly it makes you look like a slut."
"I know, I know, I'll fix it," Sasuke said, trying to think about how he'd work it out. 'I can't like him,' he told himself. "I won't go out with him and Kiba anymore," he said. "I promise," he looked down, not wanting to get scolded by his brother any more than necessary that day.
"I'm not saying that you have to stop going out with them," Itachi said as he saw the look on Sasuke's face. "I'm just saying you have to either stop shoving your tongue down Naruto's throat or you have to start dating him. I really don't care which," he said, remembering Kakashi's words and trying to take his brother's feelings into consideration.
"No, really it's for the best," Sasuke said as he stood up. "I hardly know Naruto anyway," he shrugged. "It'll just be bad press if I keep going out with him," he told his brother. "I'm just going to go relax in my room," he walked away.
Itachi frowned as he watched his brother walk away. 'Perhaps I shouldn't have said anything,' he thought, wondering how he'd make his brother feel better again. He looked back at the television, knowing that it was just the beginning of the battle with the press. They were going to take the story and run with it, there was no doubt in his mind on that.
NS
"What the hell is this?" Minato asked as he barged into Naruto's room. He was angry to the point that livid would be a better word to describe him. He looked as if he was ready to kill, perhaps not literally but Naruto had a feeling he was going to get an ear full. He didn't know what he did and he wasn't sure that he wanted to find out.
"What's what?" he asked nervously as he turned toward his father. He looked at what he was holding and all he could think was, 'Oh shit.' He swallowed the lump in his throat and tried to calm his breathing as he looked at a picture of him and Sasuke on the dance floor. "A picture," was his only answer.
"Naruto," his father said with a warning tone. "I know what it is," he said angrily. "I want to hear that someone cropped it or that it's all just a big misunderstanding," he said, looking at his son for some sort of explanation. He didn't mean to be so hard on his son, but he knew that even the smallest of pictures could ruin a campaign.
"I'm sorry," he said. He was getting nervous, which wasn't good for him because he tended to talk more than he should when he was really nervous, "Trust me I wish I could say it was fake too because the morning after that was the most awkward morning of my life." He looked at his father, who was giving him an annoyed look, he nervously rubbed the back of his neck and said, "You probably don't want to hear about that."
"No, I really don't," he replied. "Look, I'm fine with you being bisexual," he started, not wanting to make his son feel bad about his sexuality. "But I can't have pictures like this floating around during election time," he told him. "You're not even dating the boy, you shouldn't be dancing like that with him," he said. He that he was liberal on some things, but the way the two had been dancing was nowhere near what he thought was appropriate.
"I'm sorry dad, I was drunk," he said. "I mean it could have been worse, they could have got a picture of us practically ripping each others clothes off when we got to Sasuke's house," he told him, though after he said it he knew that he probably only made things worse.
"I better not see those pictures surface later," he said as he walked out of his son's room. 'Why did I pick such a stressful profession?' he asked himself. 'Or couldn't I just have had the shy boys to go along with the profession? Then I wouldn't have to worry so much,' he thought. While Minato loved his sons deeply, they tended to cause a bit of trouble at times, even when they didn't mean to. 'Maybe I shouldn't have been so hard on him,' he realized as he started to walk down the hall.
NS
Sasuke looked at his phone, 'What should I do?' He knew what the right thing to do would be, or at least what the right thing for the company would be. He flipped through his contacts until he got to Naruto's name. After staring at it for a while he thought, 'Just do it.' He pressed the call button, knowing he'd have to do it sooner or later.
"Hello?" Naruto said cheerfully. It was truly a call he was dreading. After everything that had happened between them and then the pictures surfacing, he had a feeling it wasn't going to be a good call from Sasuke. He knew for a fact that it wasn't going to be Sasuke calling just to hang out.
Sasuke was silent for a moment, though Naruto knew that he was there. "Hey," he finally said. "So, I figure since it's everywhere you've probably heard the rumors," Sasuke said, not knowing how else to start the conversation. He knew it was going to be awkward, he didn't know how to make it not be.
"Uh, yeah," Naruto said. "Pretty funny huh?" he asked. "I mean it was just a night out," he added, trying to relieve some of the tension. Naruto shifted on his bed, trying to make himself comfortable, since the conversation was already making him the complete opposite of that.
"Right," Sasuke said, his voice sounding more lifeless than usual. "Though I don't know that funny is the word I'd use," he argued. Before Naruto could say anything, Sasuke said, "Look, Naruto, I called because I had to tell you that I can't go out with you and Kiba anymore."
"What do you mean can't? I mean we can still go out we just won't drink. This will all blow over Sasuke. If nothing else we can at least hang out, right?" Naruto asked, hoping the answer would be yes. He thought the dark haired man was being completely unreasonable. 'All of this just because of one stupid rumor?' the blond thought angrily.
"Actually, I think it'd be best if we didn't," Sasuke said. He felt bad saying it, but he knew that he had to; it was for the good of the company. "Us hanging out together will only fuel the rumors and it's bad publicity for both my company and your father," he pointed out. "I just think it'd be best for everyone if we stopped," he said, feeling as if he were breaking up with someone.
"But Sasuke, don't you think you're being a little unreasonable?" he asked. Naruto felt his heart break a little and he wasn't sure why. They weren't that good of friends, he shouldn't be that disappointed, so he wasn't sure why he was. "Can't we just talk about this?" he asked, thinking that they could still be friends if they just deny the rumor.
"No," Sasuke simply said. "Goodbye Naruto," he said, knowing if he stayed on the phone any longer he may be convinced otherwise. He hung up before the blond could get another word in. Sasuke lied back on his bed, looking up at his ceiling, 'I hope I made the right choice.'
TBC…
Sorry, another short chapter, but shorter chapters mean faster updates – it was going to be longer but I took out a scene because I liked ending it here and I thought the scene would start next chapter better than ending this chapter with it
Let me know what you think though…like it, love it, hate it?