Hey y'all! One very happy author has updated. MORE THAN TEN REVIEWS! (dances) yeah.
Oh very well, I shan't ransom any more...jeez,NS, are so goddamn stingy.
Oh yes, this will be the last update for about a week...I'm going on vacation.
Chapter 21: The Second Uchiha
In Hiashi's Study
Neji let himself in accompanied by the Uchiha, the Yakushi, the redhead (Gaara insisted on walking), and the blond. At first he eyed the man sitting serenely beside his father with disinterest, but quickly perked up when he felt Sasuke visibly stiffen beside him. The normally indifferent onyx eyes suddenly hardened, shooting livid chips of fiery ice at the man.
Sasuke unconsciously clutched at Hiashi's desk, nails raking painfully into the wood as he sat in one of the comfortable chintz armchairs made ready for the five of them. The Hyuuga could easily read the stiffness of his jaw and the tautness of his posture; the murderous aura permeating from the Uchiha also provided him with a not-so-subtle hint. The man at the desk caught sight of Sasuke, his gaze flicking amusedly over the Uchiha's granite countenance and steepled his fingers into a tent. When he spoke, his voice was sinuous and pleasant in a way that sickened the Uchiha.
"Ah, Sasuke-kun. I trust you are faring well." Sasuke snarled softly at the "kun", but managed to retain a few threads of composure. He lowered his eyes as if the reunion with his brother was the most mind-numbing thing in the world.
"I am well. And yourself?" Itachi smirked, catlike eyes glittering ominously.
"Never been better. Anyhow, this isn't the time for sappy reunions; I have some crucial news to report." He leaned forward, wine-hued eyes glinting gravely.
"Gaara, you fought your father, primary leader of an opium ring, correct?" The redhead nodded.
"Have you killed him?" Gaara thought back to the fight. He spoke, choosing his words carefully.
"I stabbed him in the chest and he fell, though as to his conditions, I do not know." Itachi nodded slowly, drinking in the information, oblivious to Sasuke's death-glares.
"I'm afraid to inform you that you did not kill him; rather he very much alive. However, your female captive managed to convey some valuable information regarding his whereabouts. The exact location, we do not know, but we know it is somewhere in Tokyo." Itachi rested his mouth on his folded hands, looking up at the redhead.
"We can find out, of course, if you truly wish to dispose of him once and for all, but it will require one last mission. Are you willing?" Gaara matched Itachi stare for frosty stare.
"It depends on who is going." Itachi smiled humorlessly.
"Each drug-ring involving opium is connected with the next; they have a computerized program which enables them to communicate and set up their meetings. This program is extremely detailed, giving information about their headquarters, the amount of drugs they're trading, etc. Since this program is highly informative, it is also under extremely tight and constant surveillance. We need someone remotely skilled in the ways of technology to download a virus onto the hard drive. This virus will give us access to all the headquarters of the drug-rings, enabling us to track them down and make a few choice arrests." Itachi leaned forward, boring holes into Gaara's eyes with his own.
"It benefits us both ways provided you come out alive. One, you will be able to dispose of your father once and for all, and two, we can stop the spread of opium across the country. What say you?" Gaara sat back, carefully analyzing his choices.
"How can I be sure I can trust you?" Itachi unclosed his lips to speak when he was interrupted by a voice.
"You can trust him." All heads turned to witness Sasuke. For once, Itachi's eyes showed surprise and shock. Sasuke stared determinedly at his brother before turning to the rest.
"I do hate to admit it, but you can trust Itachi's word. If there's anything I've observed about him over the years, it's that he's capable of trust when he wishes one to trust what he says." Sasuke's glare intensified.
"But that doesn't mean you should trust his being. No, his being is a different story altogether." The younger Uchiha dropped his voice to a soft, dangerous whisper.
"Believe me, I know." Itachi flashed a saccharine smile at his brother.
"Still bear a grudge, do we Otoutou?" He purred mockingly. Sasuke cringed slightly at the "Otoutou".
"You are no longer my Aniki, Itachi. We are related only by blood." Closing his lips with an air of finality, Sasuke slowly lowered himself back into his chair, a brooding look on his countenance.
"What are the risks that we take if we do not dispose of Gaara's father?" Neji spoke up. Gaara turned to the Hyuuga, a grave look carved into his features.
"Now that my father knows that I'm alive and possibly more skilled in combat than he is, he'll see me as a threat and dispose of me as soon as possible. This man is extremely competent in the ways of blackmail and manipulation, and he will recruit the most cold-blooded killers in all of Japan to come after my head. And given the numbers of enemies I have, I'm guessing they'll be more than willing, manipulation or not." Naruto frowned thoughtfully.
"You can't possibly go alone; there will be too many people to fight off. You need someone to back you up at least." Gaara smirked and ran a finger slowly from the blond's forehead down to his nose.
"And do you honestly think I could forgive myself if I let you die in the process, cygnet?" Naruto scowled.
"But it wouldn't be your fault; I agreed to come along of my own will. And besides, I can take care of myself and well you know it!" Gaara stood, eyes flashing furiously.
"Naruto, you have no idea how brutal these people can be. They're merciless, inhuman cold-hearted bastards with a lust for blood. They show no mercy, and they live for killing. You won't stand a chance."
Naruto stepped back and suddenly great pain and sadness flashed across his eyes. His beautiful sapphire-chipped orbs glistened with grief and sorrow, and for a moment, everyone in the room was hit by a vision of a small boy with a nest of frowzy wheat-bronze locks standing in the middle of a crowd, crying softly for acknowledgement. The boy reached out to the people standing around him, but none would return the gesture, instead moving away with disgusted looks on their faces, whispering in hushed tones.
Demon.
Monster.
Devil's spawn.
The insults circled the child and engulfed him completely, tainting the air around him a dark, ominous black. The black pulsed and roiled around the blond, whirling around the frightened child in a weird, chaotic manner. Slowly the child's clear blue eyes darkened, changing from a clear indigo the color of the sky into a black cobalt, tainted with evil. His brows knotted together and he clenched his fists, drawing blood so it ran down his forearms in rivulets of crimson.
He began to spasm, writhing back and forth as inch-long claws exploded from his nails. He opened his mouth to howl, a shrieking scream of bloodlust, and fangs sprouted from his yawing maw. His hair grew spikier still; veins snaked up the side of his neck, pulsing rapidly in his forehead. Each tendon and ligament stood out on his hands, snaking their way up his wrists to where they connected with his fingers. The child threw back his head and shrieked to the heavens, and when he opened his eyes, they were no longer blue but a demented, corrupted scarlet with a thin, deadly slit down the middle.
The small boy reared, uttering one more grating shriek before exploding into the air towards the figures surrounding him. Like the demon that he was, he thrust for one figure, talons extended and hungering for blood. The figure backed away, what looked like terror on its face. The child's claws collided with the figure's neck, embedding them deeply into the flesh and ripping it apart with a sickening ripping sound. The figure fell, dark red blood spewing from its neck. The carnage continued, the solitary child slashing and whirling in a mad frenzy of fangs, claws, and murder.
Single-handedly, the child felled figure after figure until the ground was stained red with blood and bodies, the figures no more. The child stood, panting heavily, and slowly his eyes turned back once more into a clear, innocent blue; his claws retracted and his fangs shrunk once more into normal teeth. The small boy staggered to his feet, confused at the sight that befell him. Eyes widened and pupils dilated in a show of utter desperation and shock. A single bead slipped from his lash and fell on the ground, immediately swallowed up by the redness. Sinking to his knees, the small boy reared and howled desperately to the heavens in a single tortured cry.
The vision faded, the screams of the child still ringing in everyone's ears. Each countenance in the room was contorted into shock, eyes wide, pupils dilated. Slowly, one by one, they recovered, all turning to look confusedly at Naruto's sad face. The blond looked weary, and suddenly he seemed ten years older than he really was. Neji saw something in his eyes that was so profoundly vulnerable and scarred that Naruto's defiance only made it more moving and distressing to him. Was he the only one who saw it? Was he imagining it? He found himself hoping with unfamiliar passion that Gaara would relent.
"I've gone through far more pain than you have ever imagined or experienced, Gaara. If there's one thing I've learned, mental agony is by far the worst pain a being can ever experience, and believe me, I've had more than my share in my lifetime." He leaned forward and gazed intensely into the redhead's shell-shocked eyes.
"I've been shunned most of my life, Gaara. To make a long story short, I've been alone for up until I was twelve, up until I met Iruka. But that has changed. I have friends, people who care about me, and if there's one thing I will give my life for, it is my friends. I will not let my cherished ones die, and certainly not you." The blond's stare intensified until Gaara could barely stand to hold the gaze, yet the redhead found it impossible to break it.
"Very well…you may join me." Naruto smirked triumphantly.
"That's better." He turned as Itachi spoke up. The older Uchiha was staring at Naruto with something not unlike admiration in his wine-hued eyes.
"You have talent indeed when involving the human mind. I applaud you; not many are able to manipulate that easily." The blond's eyes flashed fire.
"I wouldn't call it manipulation, Itachi. I'm serious." Itachi rested one hand lazily on the side of his cheek, supporting his head.
"Ah, but that's where you have talent. You mean what you say, and with that meaning, you are able to bend the will of even the strongest man." Sasuke stood abruptly and snarled at his brother.
"Don't you dare corrupt Naruto with your intentions, you lying bastard. I know your little ploys." Itachi looked up, mock surprise written across his face.
"It amuses me to know that you've thought of it that way. I was merely complimenting him." Sasuke opened his mouth to retort but was stopped by Naruto with a hand on his arm.
"It's alright. I'm okay. I can take care of myself; now sit down before you make a scene." Naruto's tone was sharp and chiding. With a last indignant huff, Sasuke sat back down in his chair though the scowl remained pasted on his features. Shooting one final glare at the Uchiha, Naruto addressed Itachi, carefully picking out his words.
"So what does this mission involve us doing?" Itachi smiled a mild half-smile.
"The first part of the mission is so incredibly easy, you'll be bored out of your wits. All you have to do is to download a virus onto the computer's hard drive. You can do this in the safety of your home right now if you so desire; you just have to transfer a file onto the destination of your choice, in this case, the opposing force's computer. This may take awhile though; the virus is huge, and will take at least an hour to transfer, depending on the speed of your computer." Itachi swallowed and cupped his chin in his hands, smirking devilishly at Naruto.
"When the download is complete, you will obtain access to a detailed map of all the headquarters of the drug-rings in Japan. Each will list the leader's name, in this case, the name of Gaara's father. Once you locate his headquarters, you must break into the location and eliminate the leader. That will be all; we'll take care of the rest." Naruto sighed.
"Another break-and-enter mission? I just went on two in the past week!" Gaara smiled dourly.
"Welcome to my life." Naruto grinned.
"Sorry; I forgot you were a seasoned agent for the moment." The redhead waved away Naruto's apologies.
"Don't bother. Only my enemies remember my status, which isn't exactly a good thing in retrospect." Naruto smiled wryly, then turned to Kabuto.
"After you." Kabuto chuckled pleasantly.
"We should use my desktop; after all, if this virus is as big as Itachi-san says it is, then we need a faster computer." Naruto frowned and held up the device he'd given the man earlier.
"You forgot about the three-hundred and fifty gigabyte external hard drive complete with an operating system containing boosted CPU usage and upgraded ram that I gave you in exchange for information, Kabuto." The man looked startled, then laughed.
"Oh very well, if you insist." Naruto rewarded him with a cheek-stretching grin.
"It just saves time; Sasuke's house isn't that close, you know." Kabuto smiled.
"We'll do it here then." Plugging in his laptop into a nearby socket, the silver-haired man typed in the password and logged on, opening the connection to the internet.
"Do you have the URL?" Itachi nodded and opened a slip of paper formerly stashed in his pocket.
"137.597.489. That will start off the transfer of the file." Kabuto nodded, his slender fingers already typing in the numbers at breakneck speeds. A popup window shot up with a bar monitoring the status. Naruto's jaw dropped at the time.
"IT WILL TAKE A FUCKING FOUR HOURS AND FIFTY-SIX MINUTES!" Itachi winced elegantly and covered his ears.
"Calm down. I told you this virus was large. If your little external hard drive truly lives up to what you say it does, then four hours and fifty six minutes is a treat. This virus normally takes three days to fully upload." Naruto frowned.
"Then we'll have to find something do to in four hours and fifty-six minutes." Itachi stood, sighing as he did.
"I must be on my way, for my services are done." With a last nod to Gaara, he turned and positively skated across the floor and out the double doors at the end of the hallway. Sasuke made a sound of disgust. Naruto turned and hugged him reassuringly.
"Don't worry about Itachi, Sasuke. I mean, who cares if he's older, smarter, more physically fit, and bears more elegance than you do? That and the fact that he's way more good looking, has eyelashes any girl—or guy—would kill for, and his lips are unrivaled, at least in this world." The Uchiha looked ready to kill, eyes flashing scenes of extremely painful deaths.
"Don't try my patience, Uzumaki."
Naruto grinned mischievously and tore away from the fist that shot out at him, snickering as he bounded off through the many corridors of the Hyuuga mansion. Sasuke sighed and rubbed his head as he heard the laughter reverberating from the hallways. He had to hand it to the blond; no one save for him would be brave enough to confront him when on the subject of his brother.
Four Hours, Fifty-five Minutes, and Fifty-nine Seconds Later
Naruto stared intensely at the screen fidgeting slightly as he eyeballed the status bar. Closer…closer….the blond let out a triumphant whoop as the screen blinked and the words "upload complete!" appeared on the popup. Yelling victoriously, Naruto turned and hollered for Kabuto.
"We're done, Kabuto!" The man smiled and canceled the popup, maneuvering to a file and opening it up. He scanned the map, obsidian eyes coming to rest on a dot not too far from Sasuke's mansion.
"This would be where Gaara's father holds his meetings." The redhead sidled up and peered over Naruto's shoulder with a condescending look.
"I see…" He suddenly winced and leaned heavily on a nearby chair, elegant features contorted into a scowl. Naruto sprung to help him.
"Maybe we should wait one day before we attack. You're wounds are still fresh." Gaara gasped, his eyes glazed over with agony.
"No…no, we have to do it tonight…." Naruto shook his head with an air of finality, scooped up the redhead effortlessly in his arms, and carried him bridal style back to Neji's room, unceremoniously depositing him on the bed.
"You will sleep now." It was more of a command than a question. Naruto fumbled inside his pockets and extracted a small vial of clear liquid. Before the redhead could react, the blond had slipped a spoonful of liquid in and out of his mouth; Gaara swallowed by reflex rather than will.
"Naruto…..you bastard….you don't understand…" The light went out from his eyes and he slumped back onto the pillows, his breathing evening out and slowing down. Naruto nodded tartly.
"It's for your own good." Re-corking his vial, the blond turned and whisked out of the room, joining the Hyuuga and the Uchiha waiting outside.
Oh yes, after their little encounter with Gaara's not-so-dead father, I shall be announcing the main/intended pairing for this fic. You shall see...it's only a few chapters away. NejiNaru, SasuNaru, or Share...the suspense...the suspense...Mehehehehe...but know this. There shall be alternate endings as well. I've already completed the story, and am now working on an alternate ending.
Bai for a week!
Silver-eyed Hyuuga