AlexandriteSky: Here is the belated chapter at last, I'm so very sorry for the delay!
Many thanks to all those who have reviewed, you are all wonderful and inspire me to write more!
"Guys. We have a serious fucking problem on our hands." Temari dashed into the room, blonde hair plastered against her face with perspiration as she panted heavily for breath.
"What, yer time of month come or something? Girls and their bloody periods –pun intended." Kankuro cackled, only to narrowly dodge a cinderblock thrown in his direction by his seething sister.
"This ain't time to be jacking off, dipshit – the police are on their way!" The blonde teen hissed venomously. She whirled around, hands wringing at her side in an anxious motion. "Naru, what do we do?" she asked pleadingly, addressing one of the two boys standing in the back.
"Calm down, Temari – we won't get caught." The sapphire-eyed boy soothed before nudging his companion. "Gaara? Any bright ideas?"
"Yes." Gaara's voice was both dry and thin, yet it sliced cleanly through the air like an expertly sharpened dagger. "Let's gut Kankuro and leave his corpse behind as a distraction while we escape."
"Da fuck!?" Kankuro cursed, dropping the bag in his hands onto the floor indignantly. "Why are ya trying to put this on me, bro? You're the one who said the police wouldn't be here until another twenty minutes!"
"That's because I failed to add extra time to compensate for your incompetence." Gaara hissed, impassive emerald eyes narrowing into an icy glare.
"Huhh!?" The taller male drew backwards. "Yo Gaara, I more than pulled my own weight today-"
"Impossible. I doubt that the four of combined could budge your fat ass, much less you on your own-"
"-and stop calling me fat!" Kankuro exclaimed. "This beauty is all muscle-"
"Okay, okay." Naruto rose to his feet with a sigh. "Gaara, you and Tem take the goods and go out the back window. Kankuro and I will take the bikes and lead 'em south with decoy bags – we'll meet up at the hideout."
"Why do I always have to be one of the decoys?" Kankuro scowled.
"Because your fat ass would have to be on a different continent for them not to spot it-."
"Temari? Would you please handle this?" Naruto rubbed his forehead in exasperation.
"On it." The blonde girl swiftly gripped the red head's collar and pulled him with her as she bee-lined for the window, all the while ignoring Gaara's promises to orchestrate a gruesome death for each and every one of them.
Sasuke watched as Naruto tackled yet another lock, the blonde's brows furrowed together while he smoothly disabled yet another part of Konoha Academy's prided security system. With Shikamaru commandeering the security cameras and Naruto leading their careful infiltration, the raven-haired male was finding his late-night expedition less eventful than expected. The anticlimactic atmosphere caused anxiety to eventually give way to boredom, and soon his mind took the liberty to freely wander.
"Why are you so good at this?" he asked as Naruto released a soft grunt of triumph before standing back to examine his work. The blonde turned to him with a cheeky grin pulling at whiskered cheeks.
"I'm a man of many talents." He boasted, sticking out his chest.
Sasuke sighed before he reached over and pinched the blonde's ear, pulling it upwards until the smaller male released a muffled yelp.
"Let go, asshole!" Naruto exclaimed, flailing helplessly and wincing at the same time.
"Don't want to."
The blonde gaped openly at the other male. "What are you, a three-year old?!"
Sasuke's brow rose in response. "Do you really think you're qualified enough to judge my level of maturity?"
"…Are you calling me immature?"
"I don't know. Am I?"
"Ughhhhhh!" Naruto groaned, wringing his hands in exasperation. "Fine, I'll tell you! Just stop being such a difficult ass!" he whispered furiously. Sasuke relaxed his grip, and the blonde instantly rubbed the tender area with a look of relief. "I hope you're not expecting anything grand, though." He stated with a pointed gaze
"From you? Never."
The blonde scowled. "You're such an ass."
"Bite me." Sasuke countered.
Naruto observed him for a moment in the dim lighting of their flashlights before shrugging. "I don't like being constrained." He replied shortly. "It bothers me when I see locks; it's like people are trying to chain me up, telling me where I can or can't go. One day an ol' buddy of mine taught me a few tricks and it was like poof – I don't ever gotta worry ever again."
"So that's your reason for becoming a menace to society?" Sasuke snorted. "It's less dramatic than I was expecting."
The blonde's laugh was quiet yet full of good humor. "You make it sound like I'm a threat to national security!"
"The way I see it, we're lucky that you're too pea-brained to try anything bigger than the dumbass antics you usually pull." The raven-haired male retorted.
Naruto shrugged. "I wasn't always like this. I used to raise a lot of mayhem back in the day; caused some people a lot of grief."
The other male's tone was flippant as he muttered this admission, grabbing Sasuke's attention. He had known the rumors about Naruto since the first day they had met, but had never given them much thought after being (unwillingly) swayed by the blonde's bright and idiotic nature. The Naruto that he knew was quick-tempered and tactless, yet not lacking in control or moral integrity. Sasuke could hardly imagine the blonde trying to hurt anybody undeserving of such treatment.
"What kind of things?"
Sapphire eyes gazed at him with a puzzled expression. "What is this, twenty questions?" the blonde replied, his head cocking to the side. "You chose a really weird time to get interested in my past, Sasuke. We've got bigger things to worry about than boring stories from boring times."
Sasuke's eyes narrowed. The blonde was attempting to redirect his attention by subtly deflecting his question, and he did so with uncharacteristic fluency. Once again, the raven-haired was struck by the same realization he had had several weeks before.
He knew absolutely nothing about the boy named Naruto Uzumaki.
"You didn't answer me." Sasuke stated with a low yet accusatory tone.
Naruto stiffened. "…Is it that important?"
"Not really. But now you've made me interested by dodging the question." Obsidian eyes glinted.
"Seriously, we're wasting time here." The blonde attempted to pull away.
Sasuke was unyielding "I won't judge."
"Really?" Naruto snorted. "Sorry if it takes me a while to process this dramatic character development – this is, after all, coming from the guy that made it a point to ignore my existence after learning my last name."
"Things change." Sasuke's hands went into his pockets unapologetically.
"I can't believe this." The shorter male muttered to himself while his head shook in disbelief. "Fine." He continued curtly. "Due to high demand, here is Naruto Uzumaki's Life: The Abridged Series. I stole shit. Sold some crank. Got into fights. Punched a few deserving and not so deserving assholes in the face. The end."
Sasuke's eyebrows had disappeared underneath his bangs. "And you still got into this school?"
"…Can we go now?" the blonde looked genuinely upset, and the other male reluctantly allowed the topic to drop.
However, Sasuke Uchiha was a man who got what he wanted - sooner or later, he would get Naruto to tell him the truth.
Tsunade was a woman who treasured her sleep above all else. During the day she was willing to adopt the stern, hard-working (this characteristic was self-proclaimed, and might be argued against by her diligent secretary) persona of Headmaster of the country's most prestigious academy, but the hours of the night were her time, and she despised being disturbed.
Thus, when her phone rang at two am in the morning, the blonde head master was ready to take heads as she answered the incessant ringing.
"Somebody better be dying." She snapped.
"Er…no." Ibiki, the head of her security replied with a touch of nervousness at the venom in her tone.
Tsunade was tempted to hang up then and there, but she held on out of respect for her the man on the other end of the line. Ibiki was a quiet but sensible man who performed his job to perfection and knew better than to disturb her with insignificant details; if he was willing to risk his life to make the call, chances were that he had something pretty damn important to say.
"Fine." She sighed, groaning as she glanced over at the clock perched on top of her nightstand. "Continue."
"Right." The man responded. "We received an anonymous tip that a few students are planning to break into your office tonight. I wanted to confer with you about the appropriate actions to take."
"…What?" the blonde woman exclaimed, sitting up "Well, what are you waiting for?" she questioned with more than a touch of impatience. "Go catch the brats so I can skin them and string them by their pudgy, entitled toes!"
"Yes." The man paused hesitantly. "However…"
"Spit it out, Ibiki." Tsunade scowled. Why was the man choosing this time of all others to reveal his humanity? Usually he stood as solid as a rock, immovable even by the most extreme cases.
"…Well, our anonymous caller was pretty certain about one detail." The man explained. "He identified one of the students as Naruto Uzumaki."
"…"
"…"
"…"
"Hello?" Ibiki questioned as the other end remained silent. "Headmaster?"
"…I'M GOING TO KILL THAT BRAT."
The man drew back, ear ringing from Tsunade's shrill declaration.
"Ibiki, wait for me." The blonde woman instructed, voice as cold as ice. "I'm coming with you. Let's catch them in the act – I want to be there when the punk tries to talk himself out of this one."
"Understood. I will be over shortly to escort you across campus." Ibiki stated before hanging up.
Tsunade remained in her bed for a few more moments afterwards, face flushed with anger as she resisted the urge to throw her phone across the room.
"Fucking idiot." She cursed before rising to her feet and striding over to her closet for a change of clothes.
Kabuto leaned back, satisfied with his work as the head of security quickly hung up to call the headmaster about what the silver-haired male had just imparted. It had been much too easy to spot the males sneaking out of the dorm, and though Kabuto had been surprised by the presence of a third accomplice his scheme remained undeterred.
He reached for the walkie talkie in front of him and pressed the button on the side before speaking.
"Those two are still there, right?"
It took a second before the device crackled to life.
"Yes boss. They're taking their time."
Kabuto smiled before leaning back. "Good. Keep an eye on them, and inform me if they do anything unexpected."
"Understood."
The silver-haired male's smile grew with satisfaction. He could already see the end of the line for his rival, and it was a sweet sight to witness; then, there was the added bonus of putting the blonde nuisance in his place, where he belonged. With an offense like this, there was no possible way that a person of his status could remain at the school – even Sasuke's influence wasn't great enough to protect him from the expulsion that would inevitably occur.
"Boss."
Kabuto glanced up to see one of his subordinates at the door, head lowered.
"Enter." He spoke impatiently, wondering what the goon possibly had to say at such a godforsaken time of the day.
"We've…um…finished our investigation that you requested on the assigned subject." The man said hesitantly, entering the dark room.
The other male grimaced. "Even though I said it was urgent, did your pea-brain really think I wanted it at two in the fucking morning?"
"N-No." the man stammered. "I was going to hand it to you tomorrow, b-but the nature of the results made us think that you might want to see it now."
"…Fine." Kabuto sighed, holding out his hand for the file tucked under the male's arm. The folder was handed to him begrudgingly, and the subordinate shifted uncomfortably as the silver-haired male scanned the papers he had just been given, eyes growing larger and larger as he did.
A few moments later the folder was thrown angrily across the room, littering the floor with the sheets of information that had previously been kept within.
"What. The. Fuck. Is. This?" Kabuto hissed, eyes burning with such fury that they threatened to scald the man cowering under his gaze.
"I sure hope Kiba's doing alright." Naruto murmured as he and Sasuke together navigated the dark, winding corridors of the building. Their surroundings were saturated with shadows, with only the thin beam of light from Sasuke's flashlight illuminating their way; they couldn't risk shining more, as it could possibly attract attention from the outside.
"He's fine." Sasuke replied curtly. "Shikamaru would have given us the signal if he wasn't."
"Right." The blonde scratched behind his head with a sheepish smile. "…What was that signal again?"
His companion heaved a great sigh before obsidian orbs targeted the other male with a pointed gaze.
"D-Don't give me that super disappointed look!" Naruto protested. "It's not my fault I had to go take a shit during that part!"
"…Dumbass."
"Asshole!" Naruto scowled before immediately being shushed by a sharp glance. The blonde stuck out his tongue indignantly in reply, only to yelp in pain as Sasuke neatly brought the side of his hand down onto the top of his skull.
"Let's just get this over with." Sasuke sighed as the two came to a stop before the final door. There was no mistaking it for the one that would lead into their targeted designation, as the headmaster's name was neatly labeled on the glass window in black ink. The raven-haired male stepped out of the way as Naruto bent down, and in his usual fashion he worked on the lock until the door swung open under his encouraging touch.
The two fanned out upon entering the room, with Naruto heading to the left and Sasuke to the right. Each male quickly went to the closet file cabinet they could find, but it took only seconds for both of them to arrive at a stomach-dropping realization.
"Sasuke." Naruto whispered, voice trembling. "There's too many files. This is going to take us all fucking night!"
The raven-haired male was already kneading his forehead in his hands. For once, the blonde was absolutely right. Each file cabinet was split into at least ten different levels, and each level was split into more than twenty categories – reading them with what dim lighting they had was difficult enough, and that was without considering the sheer volume of material that needed to be scanned. The feat wasn't impossible, but it was going to take time; unfortunately, time was something they were sorely lacking in.
He didn't know how much longer Kiba would be able to distract the guard, but he had a feeling it wasn't going to be more than the two plus hours they needed.
In addition, this time frame was being awfully generous. Sasuke had no idea how competent Naruto would be at reading such sensitive material, but he could only assume that an unaccustomed eye would experience difficulty scanning for what they needed.
Still, Sasuke knew that this was the only chance they had. Kiba's diversion wouldn't work on the guard a second night – that would be far too suspicious. No matter what, their best bet was still to complete the task tonight, and Sasuke would be damned if a few file cabinets prevented him from moving forward now that they had a promising lead for the first time.
"Sasuke?"
The raven-haired male clenched his jaw. "Just start looking, dope." He hissed, furiously going through his own load of folders.
"…Okay." The blonde replied uncertainly. The two slipped into silence, interrupted only by the shuffling of paper and squeaking of metal as they perused each level of the cabinets one by one. The air was thick with tension and the anticipation of being caught, and its oppressive nature made it almost hard to breathe. Sasuke didn't let it deter him, but out of the corner of his eye he could see the blonde struggling.
"…Hey, Sasuke?"
"What?" the raven-haired male snapped, irritation exuding from every pore on his body.
Naruto paused for a moment, obviously reluctant to speak. "So…we're looking for something with Akatsuki's name on it and a bunch of numbers?"
Sasuke had become accustomed to the blonde's blatant ignorance over the past few months of living with him, but under the stress of their current situation the raven-haired male had to muster all the self-restraint he possessed to prevent himself from strangling the naïve blonde.
"You fucking idiot¸ do you really have no idea what we're here for?" he demanded angrily.
Naruto recoiled at the venom in the others' voice. "Don't patronize me, asshole!" he hissed, sapphire eyes narrowing. "I know what we're looking for – I just don't know what looks like, okay? Fucking sue me!"
Sasuke could barely believe what he was hearing. "And you volunteered to do this alone!?"
"…" the blonde's shoulders squared. "I figured one of you would tell me before I came."
It was too late to be crying (or kill the stupid blonde) over spilt milk, Sasuke reminded himself as he exhaled deeply to regain his composure. Uchihas were able to obtain anything they desired regardless of what handicaps they were given; this was no different.
The greater the challenge, the better the view once he overcame it.
Besides, it wasn't as if the blonde was that off.
"For now, you can do that." He said at last. "I'll sort through them later."
Naruto huffed. "That's all you had to say from the beginning. Jerk." He glared before returning to the task at hand.
The two continued in this manner for the next half hour, both of them so entangled in their task that not a word was uttered between the two except for the occasional quiet curse. Sasuke was grateful for the silence; it strengthened his concentration and allowed him to quicken his pace once he became accustomed to flipping through the files.
Thus, the vibrations of Sasuke's phone were unmistakable when they occurred, causing both males to freeze in their tracks.
The raven-haired male's heart pumped violently against his chest as he stared down at his pocket.
Bzzzz. Bzzzzz. Bzzzzzz. Bzzzzz.
His phone turned off, signifying the end of messages received.
"Fuck." Sasuke dropped all papers in his hands and hastily closed the cabinet he had been searching for while Naruto watched with confusion.
"Sasuke, what's going on-"
"That was the warning signal, dumbass!" the raven-haired male hissed. "There are other people in the building!"
Naruto's eyes widened. "Oh, shit!" he hastily imitated Sasuke's actions.
Uncertain eyes turned to Sasuke, who was furiously evaluating their options. The office was set at the end of a long, isolated hallway – there was no way that they could escape unseen. The window was too high off the ground to jump, and would only result in broken legs.
With his heart sinking, the raven-haired male realized that there were no options, and fear consumed him once that understanding struck.
Sasuke Uchiha understood for the first time what it felt like to be scared for somebody other than himself as he slowly turned and stared into impossibly large sapphire orbs. He would be fine, there was no doubt of that – with the generous donations his company made to the Academy each year, Sasuke knew that he would escape the situation not unscathed, but not undone either.
Naruto, on the other hand, would be lucky if expulsion was his only punishment.
"Naruto…" the raven-haired male murmured, uncertain of what to say. Already, they could hear footsteps approaching, and both males knew it was only a matter of seconds before the door opened, revealing all.
The blonde looked a lot like a lost child as he remained in place, lips parted slightly as his eyes gazed helplessly back at Sasuke. The raven-haired male wanted nothing more than assure his roommate that things would be okay, and that he would protect him as promised – but Sasuke wasn't a liar, even if he now acknowledged his depraved nature for allowing Naruto to be put in this position for the first place.
This was the moment that the raven-haired male had both predicted and tried to avoid from the very beginning.
It was the moment where Naruto would fall.
"Hide." Was all Sasuke could say, and when the blonde remained still the raven-haired male crossed over and grabbed the other with one hand cupping each side of the other male's face. "Hide, you idiot!" the raven-haired male growled, shoving the blonde away.
As if breaking out of some spell, Naruto snapped to attention and looked around wildly. The only place in the room large enough to hide him from view was the table in the back, so the blonde quickly made his way over and crouched behind it. Once he was hidden Sasuke turned to face the intruders head on, face grim and hardened with resolve.
The door swung open, revealing Tsunade, the headmaster of the school, and a man that Sasuke could only presume to be part of security. The blonde woman gazed at him for a brief moment, expression indecipherable, before slowly sweeping the room with a cold glance.
"You!" the man barked. "How did you get in here?"
"…" Sasuke's lips stretched into a thin line. This proved to be a mistake, as he was struck seconds later by a blow that brought stars to his vision.
"Answer me, boy." The man warned, lips turned downwards in an impressive scowl.
"…Picked the locks." The raven-haired male replied, as blood trickled down from the corner of his mouth.
The man stared at him incredulously. "You?" he snorted, looking him up and down. "Why do I find that doubtful?"
"I don't know, sir." Sasuke drawled sarcastically, earning him another smack.
"Enough, Ibiki." The headmaster spoke up for the first time. "You may leave."
The man whirled around to face her, eyes wide with shock. "But headmaster-"
He was stopped by a glare that could stop even the greatest of men in their tracks with its intensity. "Leave, Ibiki." The blonde woman repeated, voice ringing with such authority that it commanded utmost obedience, leaving the large male no option but to obey.
"…" the male shot Sasuke another suspicious glare before making his exit, leaving Sasuke alone with the domineering woman who seemed to tower above him despite being of equal height.
"…" Tsunade expression remained incomprehensible as she met Sasuke's gaze, overwhelming the raven-haired male with the dominating nature of her aura. This was his first time meeting the headmaster face to face, and Sasuke found that her imposing presence on stage was only magnified with proximity.
At last the woman broke the apprehensive silence with a deep sigh.
"You're in here, aren't you…Naruto?"
Sasuke started, almost falling over as Tsunade targeted him with another deadpan gaze.
Don't come out. He silently willed to the blonde hiding in the back. No matter what you do, don't come out.
His urging went unheard. The ruffling of clothes and limbs were heard from the back before Naruto appeared, slowly making his way forward as Tsunade watched with unforgiving eyes.
Sasuke's gaze bore into the blonde's side.
Why? He wondered. Why would you come out, Naruto?
His roommate's gaze was trained in front of him unwaveringly as he reluctantly met the headmaster's eyes. They stared at each other in silence, and their gazes were filled with such intense concentration that Sasuke was left feeling like he was missing some vital piece of information that the other two shared.
Finally, the silence was broken as Naruto timidly scratched behind his neck.
"Hi…" the blonde spoke nervously. "…Mom."
AlexandriteSky: The truth is out at last! Did anybody see it coming? Thank you so much to all my readers, please leave a review on your way out!