Drafted

by BlackProdigy

Sequel to 'Summer Camp' "Let me assure you, your days will be long and your nights will be bitter, you will be fucked with, run ragged, razed and broken but power through it and it will be the most rewarding thing you will ever achieve." Uchiha Sasuke drilled those words into his head. Dealing with new friends and newer enemies with Naruto miles away, the only option is to survive.

25. Suspended Animation

Drafted chap 25: Suspended Animation

Pairings: Naru/Sasu

Rating: M - NC17

Disclaimer: 'Naruto', don't own it; not mine; I just borrow Masashi's characters and replace them in naughty positions. I mean some really naughty positions.

Summary: Sequel to "Summer Camp". Let me assure you, your days will be long and your nights will be bitter, you will be fucked with, run ragged, razed and broken; I can also assure you that there are going to be times when you feel like it's too much but trust me, power through it and it will be the most rewarding thing you will ever achieve." That was the greeting Sasuke got. Trying to adjust to new friends and even newer enemies while dealing with Naruto miles away; the only option is to survive.

DISCLAIMERS

A/N 1 : Fictional assertions to CNN anchor Michael Holmes. I DO NOT KNOW him, I just like his work.

A/N 2: The assertion to illegal activities happening in/on/at the ports of entry/shipyards/ports I've written about are ABSOLUTELY FALSE. I really don't need any federal government people knocking at my door.

A/N 3: Legal terms are not accurate but they just sound right. Vague mentions of drug use...

A/N 4: Technique to make a personal unconscious is blatantly stolen from The Man From U.N.C.L.E, only slightly modified to fit my dastardly needs.

Ferry routes are also fictional, time and money prices are modified

ISSUE

REAL TALK GUYS: HOW MANY OF YOU want me to make an alternate universe where Sasuke and Ryu get together, like a one shot? If you do want it, start your review with "Hell Yes!" If a lot do want it, I'll see what I can do cause I don't know WHAT THE HELL I've done to make y'all love Ryu so much. SMH.

UN-BETA'D...for now..

Song: "Closer" by the Chainsmokers and Halsey.

KINDA VERY LATE BUT HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!

Previously...

"What's going on?" Naruto asked with trepidation lacing his voice.

In answer Nagato clicked the remote.

"-at's right Michael. A man hunt is now on the way in Krasnoyarsk and the nearby towns and cities for this man-"

A picture of an aggressive redhead filled the screen. Naruto's face went white and he stumbled backwards a step.

"Kyuubi Avilov, forty seven years old, a member of the Russian militia, is armed, dangerous and on the run."

Presently...

The second Kyuubi's picture filled the screen, Sasuke's eyes had immediately shot over to the frozen blond.

Naruto stood transfixed at the television, his blue orbs had gone wide and his lips slightly opened in shock for a few seconds before those eyes had narrowed and his mouth thinned into a tight line.

Sasuke had glanced down to see Naruto's tan left hand had started to spasmodically clench into a fist.

In the darkened room, silent as graveyard, Sasuke watched as the high definition images from the television reflected over Naruto's now severely tightened face.

"Do we know the cause for the man hunt?" The slightly British accented anchor asked the field reporter.

"At this time all we know that the Kremlin just ushered an arrest warrant for Mr. Avilov to give accounts for various situations that occurred during an international operation that occurred years ago when he was the leader of the security detail for Mr. Dojovic, the returning Finance minister."

"And he escaped from holding, right under their noses." Holmes reconfirmed.

"That's right Michael."

"But does the Kremlin have anything to go on? Do the police know the areas where he frequents, or if he has any close contacts or family, relationships even?" Michael inquired, his face showing slight concern.

The woman brushed a tendril of blowing dark hair from her face, "Again Michael, there's really not much information on Kyuubi Avilov. We do know that his mother died about fifteen years ago, her cause of death undetermined. He has no siblings or re-"

"Turn it off." Naruto interrupted his voice extremely low; each word uttered with a dark edge to it.

"-ight now Michael all we know is that the order has been g-"

"Turn it off." Naruto snarled loudly now, his tone extremely rigid as his body turned to the door.

Nagato seemed to pick up on the blonde's tensed demeanor but instead of turning the TV off he only pressed to mute button.

"Naruto, this isn't that -"

Sasuke tensed; wrong, fucking, move.

Naruto spun to face the agent, an indecipherable look on his face but didn't explode like his previous demeanor had been predicting.

His voice, paradoxical to the Uchiha's expectations, was deadly calm.

"You're wrong. It's worse than bad, " Naruto said simply, "He's coming here to kill Arashi and everyone who works with him."

Sasuke's eyes closed in a grimace. The "and me" wasn't said but it was as clear as day.

"Most likely, but we can't do all that much about it," Nagato said soberly, "With this man hunt on we do suspect that he's going to enter the country soon. A watch is going to be placed on every point of underground entry for the mainland."

Sasuke was about to speak when Naruto cut in.

"First of Mr. CIA, if you think Kyuubi is going to get into this country using known illegal ways, you're a goddamn idiot. That snake is going to find ways to get here you've never heard of."

Nagato took a moment to digest the information. He was about to say something when an unexpected voice chimed in.

"... Or he might just come through come through the ones we use every day, the legal ways." a still voice said from the doorway.

Sasuke turned in curiosity to look at the speaker, and it seemed like everyone else followed his move; the voice was Kin's.

"Huh?" Kiba asked, advertising the confusion of some.

Kin shifted on her legs, "Think of it. The cops are on the alert for him to be smuggled in some way or another... they're going to concentrate on the illegal ways. Hardly any are going to pay much attention to the normal routes; airports, ships, ferries...It's basic assassin code; hide in plain sight."

Silence for a moment.

"She's right, " Gaara concurred looking at them, "Do you know how many terrorists come through the legitimate ways? It's actually a very easy way."

Nagato looked troubled for a moment. "But we can't place the whole nation on alert for one man, it's just not feasible."

"Then we have to formulate a plan to catch him, in both ways, illegal and legal." Shikamaru suggested.

"I'll volunteer for the illegal parts. " TenTen offered sounding absurdly giddy.

"Me too, " Kin agreed, "I may not be an assassin anymore but I can still think like one."

Nagato's eyes ran over the entire gathering, "People, this is concerning, yes, I agree, but this is not your mission. Your priority is focusing on Hydra, not this."

"Maybe you don't understand Nagato..." Kin said stepping up gesturing to all of them. "...we ...we've been through hell and that hell has bonded us... made us a family... family doesn't let one of their people rough it alone. Whatever happens we will stick up for our own. Understand?"

"I understand that, " Nagato said solidly," You have camaraderie bonds, but still, this isn't your flight."

"He's right, " Naruto said from the doorway, "It's mine."

"No, " Nagato stressed, "It's the American and the Japanese Governments. Not. Yours."

"Nag-"

"Enough!" The elder Uzumaki shouted, "This is not up for discussion!"

Silence rang through the room like a living pulse.

Nagato breathed and pressed two fingers to his forehead. "... I cannot allow any of you to get involved with this. It will break protocol and jeopardize the entire operation. You cannot get involved."

"But I'm already involved." Naruto contested.

"And that just makes it worse." Ryuu inserted. "Family members, whatever the connection blood relationship or other, aren't allowed into any criminal investigation. It could cause perjury."

Naruto looked at the both of them with incredulity, "So the only thing we can do is... wait?"

Nagato faced Naruto straight in his eyes, "Yes. There will be no plans, no schemes to catch him from any of you, not now, not ever. Am I clear?"

Silence.

Naruto's jaw ticked during the long silence.

"Bro?" Kiba braved, "...you okay?"

Sasuke had to literally stop himself from tuning and punching the Inuzuka in his face for his blatant stupidity as Naruto turned to his friend.

"Yeah, Kiba... I'm just peachy." facing Nagato and after a stilted pause said, "... Well, all I can say is good luck."

He then immediately turned on his heels and strode out of the room. Sasuke ran a hand through his hair and without a word went after him.

He ran up the stairs to their room. Naruto was inside his T-shirt on the bed while he was tugging on a sweatshirt over his tank.

"Naruto, where are you going?" Sasuke asked from the doorway.

The blond didn't even look over his shoulder, "I'm going to take a run Sasuke... I need to... clear my head."

"Naruto, this is not your fault, " Sasuke said stepping one foot inside, "No one expected Kyuubi to escape."

"Sasuke, don't even try. Any other time I'd be happy to give you my head as your playground but not now. You're way of dealing with stuff is thinking and analysing everything to come to grips with it. I'm not you. I need to work it off. Get me?"

Sasuke paused and mentally bowed to his words, "Yes..alright ... just don't over think this, please. "

"There's no chance of that not happening but.. I'll be fine S'uke." Naruto said walking out. "Trust me."

Elgin. Before breakfast. 6:46 a.m.

The minute Sasuke stepped into the silent foyer, fully dressed in his usual entire black attire and ready to go to breakfast, Nagato himself had just exited from a nearby door.

A dark eyebrow ticked up.

The CIA agent looked haggard, his brow was creased and by the paleness of his face it looked like he hadn't slept the entire night.

Sasuke didn't really feel all that sympathetic. It had been a hard and long night for most of them.

Himself chiefly.

The night had passed in stifled silence between him and Naruto.

After the blond had returned from his run, he'd taken a shower and perched himself on the couch before the TV, staring stone-faced at the CNN rerun.

Sasuke, at the desk, going over Hydra file, hadn't even tried to interrupt him. After forty-five minutes in silence Sasuke, after casting an tired eye over the motionless blond, had just changed into pajamas and went to bed.

He'd woken up a little after one in the morning after the bed had dipped slightly while Naruto was slipping in.

Sasuke, awake but showing no indications of his state at all, was just waiting for Naruto's next move.

For some reason Sasuke had really wanted Naruto to do his normal thing, that was to wrap his arm around him and pull him closer, but after ten minutes without the move, he was sorely disappointed.

Sasuke, then, had stayed awake, measuring Naruto's breaths until the smooth and even repetition signaled the Uzumaki's entrance into REM sleep.

Sasuke had then opened his eyes to fully look at Naruto's face.

It was troubled as expected; a small line was in the middle of his tan forehead and his jaw was set in a grimace. Oddly through, he didn't shift like he was having nightmares, so Sasuke wondered what was really going on in his head.

Knowing there was nothing much he could do about it now, Sasuke had turned away and tried to go back to sleep.

He'd failed and had spent the rest of the dark morning hours, head twisted to the side and staring at the wall.

Now, in the weak daylight and facing the older Uzumaki, Sasuke just gave a curt but civil greeting and made his way to the door, about to walk out when Nagato called at his back.

"Uchiha, please understand, I know I didn't give much leeway last night but I just couldn't. It wouldn't be right for me to endanger you any more than I am already doing."

Back turned towards the agent and hand on the doorknob, after a few seconds Sasuke sighed and looked over his shoulder.

"I understand, you have a prime mission with objectives needed to get done. But honestly Nagato, you have some blame in this too. If it wasn't for your investigation into the Naruto's history this can of worms wouldn't have been opened."

He paused for a moment, "Don't misunderstand me, I'm glad that you did it because the mystery of his family would have haunted him his whole life, but it just came at the worst goddamn time."

Looking outside Sasuke glanced up to the sky, "I guess it's just a waiting game now."

Sasuke heard Nagato breathe deeply.

"After breakfast your new identities will be on the table in the meeting room. We don't have much time. So cram hard and all this evening we will have a briefing session."

Sasuke nodded and walked out and up to the mess hall. Inside the huge room , he caught Kin's eyes and the both of them met at the breakfast buffet, picked out their meals and found a place to sit.

"Where's Naruto?" Kin asked softly sprinkling her toast with cinnamon and crumbed cheese.

Sasuke, even though hearing and understanding her question was slightly balking at what she was preparing to eat.

Kin seemed to pick up on it, "I have weird tastes Uchiha, get over it. So?"

Sipping his tea Sasuke hummed. "I left him in bed this morning, he didn't...have a good night."

She snorted, "Who would? I mean if you knew there was someone out there planning to murder you, would you sleep?"

The raven grunted into his warm beverage; she had a fair point.

"Just give him time Sasuke," Kin consoled softly, "He needs time to adjust..he'll come around."

He didn't say it but his eyes had a "I sincerely hope so," look to them.

"I was told that our new lives are ready..." Sasuke said needing to change the subject. "What do you think yours is going to be?"

She shrugged, "Anything but a prima-donna. For some reason almost everyone I meet thinks I'm some kind of beauty queen. What about you?"

"I just hope they don't make me some kind of sociopath..." He drawled. "...which would actually make sense, if you think about it. "

Kin just snorted.

Vacillating between small talk and silent thinking, during the course of the meal, most of their housemates had gradually filtered into the room; everyone was there with two exceptions; Gaara and Naruto.

Sasuke was immediately concerned; Gaara he could understand, the redhead wasn't that sociable in the early hours, but the absence of Naruto was slightly troubling.

As the minute ticked by, he constantly shifted on his seat, eyes glancing at the door every few minutes until Kin looked at him blankly.

"Just go. I'll take care of your tray. "

Sasuke looked at her for a moment in gracefulness before nodding and excusing himself from the table, left and went back to Elgin.

Entering the foyer he remembered about the profiles but chose to go to his room first.

He pushed in the room to see it empty.

Naruto was gone. In apprehension, he scanned the room and saw that Naruto's sneakers were missing and his sweatshirt from last night also.

He then relaxed. It was clear that Naruto was running again.

Breathing, Sasuke went back downstairs to the meeting room to grab both his and Naruto's profile.

Inside, sitting in one of the armchairs was Gaara, unusually wearing a light green polo shirt and tan cargo pants, his manila folder on his knees and a sheet of paper to his eyes.

Sasuke, after taking up his and Naruto's differed for a long moment before looking at the other treen.

"So, who are you?"

"A mass murderer." Gaara deadpanned not even looking up. "With all the particulars; a ski mask, a hacksaw blade and a cabin in the woods."

A dark brow arched . "And how many victims are buried under that cabin?"

Gaara snorted, "Why would I be stupid enough to bury my victims? They're burnt and then the remains ground to dust."

Sasuke just shook his head. "Always a pleasure talking to you Gaara."

"...If it's any consolation," Gaara spoke to his back, "...What the Tsuchi said is true...if allowed we would have helped."

Sasuke paused. "...I know...thank you."

He didn't need to see Gaara nod at his back.

Back in the room Sasuke took up his folder and placed Naruto's a little further on the desk.

He opened his and started to read.

Namikaze Estate. Kohonagakure. 9:34 a.m. During Breakfast.

Arashi's personal cellphone rang while he was half way through his continental breakfast. Placing his fork down he picked up the device and answered.

"Master." It was Baji.

"Yes Baji," Arashi asked taking another sip of his coffee."What is it? "

"Sir," Baji said with a tone of foreboding apprehension, "You should probably turn on the TV."

Slowly, Arashi placed the hot cup down and after a moment got up from the table and moved from the dining hall to the main living room.

He approached the large entertainment center and the fifty inch Samsung television nestled within.

Picking up the remote to the smart device, phone still at his ear he carefully asked, "Care to enlighten me, Baji?"

"Sir, please, go to any news channel. We have a huge problem."

The TV turned on to the last channel it had been on. Fortunately the last channel it had been on was the CNN.

Arashi took one look at the ribbon scrolling at the bottom and froze.

"Sir, the Kremlin has issued a-"

"I can see that Baji." Arashi said in the calmest voice he could produce while looking at the now blown up picture of the one person on earth that he didn't want to see above it.

"You're right Baji, this is a problem." Arashi said stonily. "... He's escaped... and I'll bet half of my fortune that's he's coming here."

"I assume the same, Master, " Baji replied, "I've already notified my contacts at the smuggling routes, borderlines and the tunnels; if there is any word or sight of him, I'll...we will know."

Feeling slightly impressed Arashi nodded, "Good work Baji, that's very thoughtful, but I doubt he's coming that way, nevertheless, it's a good move. We can't be too careful."

"Sir, should I beef up security on the estate?" The older man asked.

Arashi shook his head, "No. That would just give a wrong signal. There will be no changes to our routine at all. None whatsoever Baji... We'll just wait."

"As you wish Master. I'll give you any information I get." The loyal servant replied.

"Very good." Arashi said before hanging up.

After calling for a maid to clean his plates and left to this study, Arashi abandoned his meal and went to his office.

He stood and looked at the bookcase for a moment before he removed a thick leather bound book and pressed a recessed button behind it. A slot slid open in the wood and Arashi reached in to pull out a silver nine millimeter gun.

He hadn't had touched this weapon in years. A few years ago before hiding it, he had debated on disposing of it, but now he felt pleased that he hadn't gotten rid of it.

"Hello, old friend." Arashi said softly while releasing the magazine and checking the inside. The ominous dark gleam of lead bullets met his eyes. Replacing the barrel he heard the satisfying click of the magazine in place.

"Looks like you're soon to be back in business."

Academy front quad, 11:55 a.m. Nearing the Mess Hall...

"Whoa," Shikamaru said, his green clothed arm up to block Sasuke from walking further. "Holy shit. I think I'm hallucinating..."

The Uchiha took in Shikamaru's widened eyes and traced his line of sight to what he was looking at. When he saw what the hacker was gawking at he couldn't believe his own eyes either.

Naruto and Jason, about fifty feet away from them on the green just above the basketball court, both dressed in camouflage combat sweats bottoms with sweat stained blue and grey shirts respectively, were playfully shoving each other with wide grins on their faces.

Clearly, the two had made do on their promise for a match. So that's why the blond hadn't returned to their room.

Sasuke's eyes widened to a good extent when he saw the two of them grasp each other's hands in a Bro hug complete with thumps on the backs.

"He does know that he's..." Shikamaru asked lowly.

Sasuke had no idea how to answer the genius's question. He was about to turn away when Jason looked directly at him.

Sasuke froze.

He didn't move until a small, very tiny smile ticked at Jason's lips and he nodded once before he turned back to Naruto to elbow him in his side.

It felt like a dense thunder cloud that had been hanging over his head had suddenly dissipated into nothing.

"I'm thinking he knows..." Shikamaru hypothesized stepping forward.

"Probably." Sasuke agreed before continuing to walk up to the mess hall. He'd leave Naruto to tell him the exact details of what had happened between him and the Conner boy later in the day.

"So," Shikamaru said picking up a tray and walking to the displayed lunch items, "Since we're banned from Kyuubi, any ideas about what to do with Konan?"

Picking up a bottle of mineral water and a huge red Fiji apple Sasuke spun the fruit looking for defects. "Why do you think I have any?"

Hazel eyes rolled, "Oh come on Uchiha, please don't insult my intelligence."

Sasuke shrugged, "Well I'm sorry Nara, I don't have any."

'Well no solid ones, for now.' He thought, running a thumb over a slightly discoloration in the skin.

Shikamaru stopped dead in his tracks, "... You, Uchiha Sasuke, monster psychologist, the most paranoid, obsessive compulsive, back-up plan to a back-up plan, to another back-up plan genius, doesn't have a POA?"

Sasuke bit into the sweet apple, "Yes, believe it or not, plans of action don't just fall from the sky you know."

A metal tray met the table, Shikamaru sank down to a chair eyes narrowed, "I don't believe you."

"Suit yourself." Sasuke replied taking a last glance over the hall that they were about to leave in about thirty or so minutes.

"I still don't fully get Nagato's plan of separating us to go to Kyushu." Neji said materializing beside them holding a tray with a salad and a bottle of electrolyte water, "But it sort of makes sense though."

"It would be suspicious if we all got there one way, one time." Sasuke replied his eyes still tracing over the hall.

"But college students always go in a group when vacationing." Neji inputted sitting down, "It wouldn't be that strange."

Sasuke tried to be patient, "Think Neji, we all have different backgrounds. Wouldn't it look strange to you if a group of people from nowhere, with an...eclectic history and no feasible connection to each other just appear one day, at one time? Big red flag."

"He's just hedging on the side of caution." Shikamaru added. "What's strange though, is my fake identity; do I look like a Bent to you?"

"Are you?" Sasuke teased mischievously.

Hazel eyes narrowed dangerously, "Fuck you, Uchiha."

"No thank you, " Sasuke replied eyes over the genius shoulder just as Haku softly stopped by the table, "Not even if you paid me."

"Konnichiwa," The Momochi said softly to the group, "May I join you?"

At nods of assent the gentle looking cadet pulled out a chair beside Shikamaru, "So a little bird told me that you're all leaving soon."

"I wonder which bird is that." Neji murmured taking a sip of his own water.

"Is it true?" Haku said ignoring the Hyuuga's mumble.

Sasuke just nodded before Naruto Kin, Kiba and Bryce walked in and all joined the table.

Sasuke frowned slightly, Naruto must have taken the quickest shower known to man to get that clean so quickly.

During the round of "hellos" and the clatter of lunch items, Sasuke took a moment to look at Naruto.

The Uzumaki still looked faintly troubled and drawn out, but despite that, his sky-lit blue eyes were shining under slightly damp golden hair and the mocha slashes on his face looked darker against his skin.

His neck, corralled by his father's chain, twisted while chatting with Kiba, as his broad shoulders flexed unconsciously under a big white and blue hoodie.

Sasuke's eyes were fastened on the move of his peach lips before a discreet tap on his thigh by Neji snapped him out of his daze.

Sasuke immediately turned away not wanting to see Neji's smug look and picked up his bottle.

"Just don't."

"I wasn't going to, " The Hyuuga snickered, "Why would I want to destroy the best entertainment factor I've had in years, and besides, I've watched the Animal Planet a good deal and I don't think I've ever seen a mama bear with that level of protection...as matter of fact I've never seen it in a pregnant lioness either."

Sasuke glared; Neji turned away smirking just before Haku nudged him.

"He's right you know, " The brunet smiled, "I've seen that protective look more times than I can count coming from Zabuza... and it's not one sided."

Sasuke looked at his teammate, "Really, how so?"

"Every time you look away he does the same thing to you... just watch." Haku advised pulling his granola bar.

Biting into his apple Sasuke watched from the corner of his eyes as Naruto's eyes, during a small break in his conversation with Kiba, shifted over to Sasuke with a darkly possessive look.

Sasuke nearly chocked on his fruit.

Haku smiled, eyes hooded. "Told you."

By that time Jason had entered the room plopped down across from Naruto and after getting a break in the chat between him Kiba, started talking. By his wild hand gestures, Sasuke just surmised he was recounting their fight.

Finishing his bottle of water he nodded in agreement to Haku. "Guess you're right."

Sasuke stilled under the indecipherable look he was getting from the older teen. "What?"

Haku just shook his head, "Nothing... just... be careful out there. I don't want to lose another friend."

Looking in Haku's eyes, Sasuke met him with a steady look of his own. "You won't."

After a moment Haku nodded in agreement.

"So, he's not dead." Neji remarked beside him.

Curious as to what Neji was referring to, Sasuke then looked up to see a clearly aggravated Ryu at the door of the room looking around.

After a moment, in a synchronized move, both Naruto and Sasuke after a conformation glance to each other, excused themselves from the table, got up and moved to meet the Namikaze.

Ryu just jerked his head, a silent order to follow him

Random Classroom.

By the way Ryu's eyes were narrowed and by the mess of his tousled hair both Sasuke and Naruto knew exactly what was bothering him.

"You heard, right." Naruto said not as a question but more of a confirmation while leaning on the white board behind him.

The flat 'no-shit-Sherlock' look Ryu gave them both just cemented the situation, "Yes, but how the fuck did this happen?"

Naruto glanced over to the window, arms crossed over his chest. "Kyuubi might be an asshole and a sadistic bastard but he isn't stupid. All those years in the army made him so. And besides, he knows psychology, so obviously he figured out that Arashi wanted to kill him and decided that two could play that game."

"He's coming here." Ryu realized.

"Yes," Naruto said with a tight look on his face, "and the worst fucking thing is we can't do anything about it. We're not allowed to, some shit about its not our responsibility and that's it's the over our heads like, it's the governments."

"That's how it goes." Ryu concluded even though he clearly didn't like it. "International conspiracies like this are between the two corresponding countries involved, remember Bin Laden?"

Naruto grunted, "I still think that was some kind of hoax, but whatever..."

After a moment Naruto squinted, ".. So... do you think you'll still be able to sort out the thing with your father, I mean even with the shit storm that's about to fly?"

Ryu nodded tersely, "Kyuubi isn't really my problem, even if he's an accessory, the mastermind is who I'm after. It will happen, one way or another."

Naruto huffed, still clearly pissed off that he couldn't do anything to situation, "This sucks."

Through the whole thing Sasuke had been silent, allowing the two to talk while carefully watching the dynamics between them.

Ryu and Naruto hadn't shied away from each other gazes, they didn't move away from each other either, it wasn't solid but maybe, just maybe, they were getting comfortable with each other.

It was still too early to tell though so Sasuke held his peace and kept his thoughts to himself.

"You're leaving soon..." Ryu said nodding to Sasuke, "...the both of you."

Naruto's hand jammed themselves into his pockets. "Yea. Do you know why?"

Ryu shook his head, "No, and I don't think it would be any kind of good to tell me."

Golden brown brows contracted, "Why?"

"The less I know..." Ryu said simply.

"... The safer you'll be." Naruto finished for his cousin. "I get it."

That stood in silence for a moment before Naruto sighed. "This is so fucked up."

"You might have to be more specific." Ryu said blankly.

"It's not just one thing, it's me, you, Kyuubi, Arashi, our...thing in the next few weeks ...It feels like some asshole god is playing pinata with us and the beating stick is fucking metal."

"Bad news cousin," Ryu added, "This is the tip of the freaking iceberg. Get into the military fully and it's going to be even worse... especially for you."

Naruto looked confused, "Huh? Come again?"

Ryu shrugged. "You're the type to internalize everything around you and what you see either builds or breaks a part of you."

Naruto grimaced. "Why the hell am I surrounded by fucking shrinks?"

"You drew the short stick." Ryu simply said while turning away.

"How's that thing with..." Naruto trailed off, not sure how to address the situation between Madara and Arashi's henchman Baji's daughter.

Hand on the door Ryu looked straight ahead to the outside but he still picked up on his cousin's caution.

"It's still in planning mode...but you'll know when it breaks out... See you...whenever ."

Russia, Storage Warehouse, Kholmsk Port, Sakhalin. 15 hours ago...

Kyuubi gently eased himself onto a wooden crate and pulled out the half melted ice pack he had paid some local kid to get while his mind reflected on the past seven hours.

After he had stolen the dead army officers vehicle and his clothes, he had driven to the way outskirts of the town, dumped the jeep and after stealing some clothes off a line, dumped the uniform too.

He had severely wanted to torch the thing but that would be a shining stadium style beacon to indicate where he was.

There was no question that his picture was going to be blasted through every media outlet in the country and not to mention the rest of the world.

He had no choice anymore. He was already dead, so why not drag the asshole who had damned him, down with him?

He had to go to Japan.

After he had ditched the vehicle it had been a game of skulking through shadowed streets, dodging through back alleys and hitchhiking on slum roads to find somewhere no one could recognize him.

He had eventually ended up in Kholmsk, Sakhalin; a small sea port out of the eyes of most authorities where he had intimate knowledge of contraband goods being snuggled through it on a weekly basis.

A loud birds grating cry cut through the air and the Russian ex-officer-cum-fugitive grimaced.

The grating sound of screeching gulls outside and the putrid scent of dead fish inside were getting the redhead more irritated by the second.

"Fucking bird." He scowled.

Easing the ice over his bruised ribs, Kyuubi looked down at the burner phone grasped in his hand that kid had also gotten with the money take from the dead soldiers wallet.

The phone buzzed with the call he was expecting.

"Talk to me." He ordered shortly.

"It's going to take time." a dark voice said through the line, "You might have to wait a few days."

"No." Kyuubi snarled, hazel eyes narrowed in fury. "Do you not understand that this can't wait? I need to get the into Japan from fucking yesterday!"

"Fake documents take time Avilov. You know that." His contact replied, "And besides, your picture is all over the goddamn world. If you were to even get there, you would have to dye your hair and get contacts, since facial realignment surgery is not an option."

"What if I don't need papers?" Kyuubi huffed, "Is there any other way to get into Japan?"

His contact was silent for a moment and Kyuubi was on edge.

"Well?"

More silence.

"Well Akaboshi, just fucking tell me!"

A shuffle, "There is one...but you're might not... like it."

"Listen to me." Kyuubi grated. "I. Don't. Fucking. Care. Tell me... Now!"

"... How are you with dead bodies?"

Elgin. 1:06 p.m. Sasuke and Naruto's room.

Sasuke looked at the half packed duffel bag and the mid sized suitcase on the floor beside the bed.

In twenty something hours or so they would be filled and packed by the front door waiting for transportation to the airport.

Sighing softly, he crossed the room and took up his complete identity profile he'd taken after breakfast.

All profiles had everything for their new lives; new ID, birth certificate, home address, full education background, full medical history, extracurricular activities and hobbies and there were even criminal histories for some.

The charges for those who had them though were minor juvenile delinquencies like shop lifting and desecration of public property.

Sasuke was certainly impressed. He had to seriously admire their thoroughness, not a single stone was un-turned and not one facet of their new lives was not thoroughly detailed.

They had even gone so far to as to give him a new bank account and a new cellphone.

Everything important was there including a single sheet with his new travel schedule and lodging arrangements, and it was a single piece of information that Sasuke was going to ignore until he absolutely had to think about it.

The CIA agent, and the people he worked with, had gone the extra mile to pair the fake names as close as possible to the real ones by pairings the fake names with the starting letter of their real names to foster familiarity.

The aim was to mitigate a chance of them blowing their cover by not reacting to the fake name, but sadly they couldn't have paired all of them.

His one, though, was on point.

"Seth Usegui," Sasuke murmured picking up his new ID card. His face, sporting the biometric mesh was mildly glaring back at him.

Sasuke snorted while tilting the card to the light to take a good look at his eyes; dark and brooding as usual.

He then started to recite the 'facts' of his new existence.

"Apparently I'm twenty years old, parent less but raised by relatives, was in a accident when I was eight years and broke my nose and refused plastic surgery that's why my nose is slightly crooked..."

He skimmed over his activities that were mostly his usual but with one new thing, chess, martial arts, running and, Sasuke snorted, rock climbing.

His 'criminal record' just stated a Guy Fawkes' prank with a series of fireworks gone wrong at his high school graduation.

Sasuke had to stop himself from rolling his eyes.

In that moment his eyes shifted to the other folder on the desk. He put down his file and picked up Naruto's.

After they had returned from lunch, they had immediately started studying their new lives.

Five minutes ago, Naruto had raked a hand through his hair, told Sasuke that he needed air, dropped his file on the desk and left.

Even though Sasuke had wanted to get it over and done with, he had to just nod his consent.

"Nathan Uno...orphan, twenty-one years old... grease monkey...past Tokyo gang affiliation... does drag racing in spare time for extra cash and the adrenaline rush...is bisexual and a nomad."

He heard the door to the room open and Naruto come back with a indecipherable look on his face.

Wordlessly he passed Sasuke and flopped on the bed. The Uchiha didn't even look over.

After five minutes, Sasuke glanced at his cell.

"Get up, we need to report for the debriefing." Sasuke said emotionless while closing the file.

Naruto twisted his head to look at him silently. Even turned away Sasuke could feel the gaze mapping his skin and for some reason it annoyed him.

"What?" He snapped pushing off from the table.

Naruto frowned sitting up, "What's got your panties in a knot?"

Sasuke's jaw tightened, "You."

"Oh no, " Naruto said getting off the bed and crossed the space between them in three strides, backing Sasuke up on the wall behind him.

"What's the deal, Uchiha? Why are you looking at me like I'd killed your cat?"

"I hate cats." Sasuke murmured unthinkingly while adjusting to Naruto's proximity.

Peach lips twitched. "But you hiss like one... Tell me what's really bothering you."

Sasuke searched the steady eyes inches away from his before leaning back on the wall and closing his eyes.

"Everything... you and Kyuubi, Ryu and Madara... me and Konan..."

"Uh huh..." Naruto said head tilting to the side, "... that's the surface of it... what's really bothering you?"

Sasuke forced his eyes open. "They're separating us."

Naruto nodded, "For a good reason Sasuke, they want our 'relationship' to just look like a holiday fling, it's more protection for us really."

"Yes..but..."Sasuke trailed off, head twisted to the left.

Naruto pulled back a little with a small smile before pressing his lips to a Sasuke's forehead. "I know S'uke... I know."

As his fingers curled in Naruto's shirt Sasuke just fully realized how much he had become attached to the Uzumaki.

And it scared him a bit.

"I'm going by airplane, you'll be going by ferry. I'm staying in a hotel with a bed and hot water, you'll be in a nomad warehouse with a sleeping bag and shower house. The only way we're going to meet is in a bar and the beach parties and then after that pretend to have sex."

Naruto's smirk was devious. "Who says we're just going to pretend?"

Sasuke pushed him off. "Be serious for a moment...two weeks...can we get everything they need us to do... can we get them all in under two weeks?"

"Okay," Naruto said stepping back, hands up. "Who the hell are you and what did you do with Sasuke Uchiha's body?"

Huh?

Dark eyebrows narrowed. "What are you talking about?"

"I mean you have to be a clone or little green aliens have taken up your head because the Sasuke Uchiha I know, the netherworld prince of death, the-fuck-with-me-and-I'll-destroy-your-head, the knows-the-answer-before-the-question-is-asked, the I'm-always-right,; Sasuke Uchiha doesn't doubt himself...at all, so, I'm asking again, who the hell are you?"

All right," Sasuke huffed scowling lightly and softly slapped Naruto's chest. "I see your point. Can we just go and get this over with?"

"And now he's back." Naruto, taking advantage of the opportunity to press his point said, "...You're doing the right thing Sasuke, don't ever think you aren't."

Meeting Room, Elgin 2:05 p.m.

"Okay," Shikamaru said his eyes closed and head tilted to the ceiling, "A rerun of our undercover gear, let's go starting from Kiba."

"The lighter is a flash grenade, " The tattooed teen grunted, "Learned that the hard fucking way."

Sasuke couldn't definitely prove it but he could have sworn that Shikamaru was rolling his eyes even with them closed.

Gaara."

"Contact lenses paired with our new identities that adapt to our own retinas and also function as mini cameras." Gaara's soft voice inserted.

"Neji."

"There's the watch that has garrote wire and hypodermic needles with tranquilizers inside." The Hyuuga added.

"Kin."

"A metal ring for guys and barrettes for girls which are voice recognition devices and recorders." She said simply.

"TenTen."

"A cell phone which is fitted with a white noise signal scrambler."

"Naruto."

"Green buttons which are mini detonators." The Uzumaki inserted.

"Sasuke?"

"A pen which is a GPS tracker." Sasuke replied looking at the people gathered in the room. "Shikamaru?"

"Ear plugs which are paralyzing waves negation devices." Shikamaru drawled, scratch behind an ear. "Next topic our alibis, are we comfortable with the new changes? "

"About that," Kiba interrupted, "I thought Nagato said we're all going as college students from one place, why'd he change?"

"He reevaluated," Neji answered simply, "Plans are not always set in stone Kiba."

After a minute Kiba shrugged , "Whatever man."

"Okay." Shikamaru said eyes still closed, "New identities, begin."

Sasuke smirked, "Why don't you start, Mr. Genius?"

Shikamaru lifted his head up just to glare at the smirking Uchiha. "Samaru Bent, nineteen years old, a graduate of MIT with a Bachelor's, Masters and Doctoral Degree in Engineering, IQ of 165, only child and raised by his single parent Japanese mother. Came to her birth country for morbid curiosity. What about you, Sasuke?"

"Seth Usegui, 20 years old, Tokyo University student, second year students seeking a double major Bachelor's Degree in Psychology and Sociology. Raised by an older relative after his parents died in a car crash which gave him the slightly crooked nose. Has a trust fund, is a vegetarian and one hundred percent gay." Sasuke replied not shifting his look from the Nara, "Naruto?"

"Nathan Uno...Twenty-one years old, got his last name from the priest at the orphanage he was sent to, likes machines, was trained by a mechanic after he left the orphanage and took up the same trade. Was part of a gang in lower Tokyo until they got crushed by a larger one. He's a sporadic alcoholic, exercise nut, loves to party, is bisexual and has some kind of sentimental attachment to a motorcycle he modified himself." He looked around the room, "Ummm Kin? "

"Kim Tasuna, nineteen years old, orphan, high school drop out, wave country model hopeful , is obsessed with the color indigo, is mostly vegetarian and a virgin." The former assassin said emotionless.

Eyes peered at her but she didn't flinch from their questioning gazes. "It happens, move on, Neji?"

"Nathaniel Hyuang, twenty years old, Go prodigy, raised by his grandmother, graduated high school at thirteen and Tokyo University at sixteen with Undergraduate and Masters Degree in Neuroscience. Asexual and is allergic to nuts. Only in Kyushu for a break before starting his Doctoral Degree... Higushi?"

TenTen sighed, "Tenka Haran, eighteen years old, half Japanese, half Middle Eastern, Lithuania exactly, middle child, grown as a tomboy but lost it at sixteen, has extensive mechanical knowledge, is a first year engineering student, omnivore, doesn't know the difference between concealer and foundation and has temper issues."

"Lord knows they got that right." Kiba muttered darkly from his spot in the room.

"Did I mention that she has extensive knowledge of the most deadly weapons some people have never heard of and can use them at any time..." TenTen said off handed looking up at the ceiling. "... or she can just use the ones that she has on her...heads up Kiba."

A messy brown head jerked up just as a senbon needle embedded itself in the wall an inch away from Kiba's head.

"Motherf-" Kiba shouted diving to the side, "She's trying to kill me!"

After a long moment everyone, on one accord everyone just turned away.

" Gaara?"

The redhead barely turned his head. "Grey Shukaku, seventeen years old, home-schooled, has two older siblings, was pursuing a degree in International Relations but had to take a short leave of absence due to medical issues. Came to Kyushu for a last hurrah before resuming his studies. Omnivore, introvert, validates between asexuality and homosexuality and is off the grid."

Kiba's jaw dropped, "Does anyone realized that I was about to be killed?"

"Naruto" Shikamaru said offhandedly, "Please deal with this."

"Got it. " Naruto said turning to the Inuzuka and slapping a hand on his shoulder. "You see Bro, no one really gives a damn about your love hate relationship with TenTen. Do us a favour and do your weird ass flirting with her on your own time, but for now, we need to focus."

Kiba's eyes had widened at 'flirt'. "F-fl-flir- What the hell have you been smoking dude?"

Turing away Naruto just looked at the placid Nara. "Shika, I think you can continue."

Meeting Room, Elgin. 3: 17 p.m

"Okay, " Nagato said looking faintly impressed with the progress the group had made with both their identifies and the knowledge of their weapons.

"Now that most of what you need to know is settled, it's time for you all to know the schedule...the party schedule."

"Oh man," Kiba grinned looking extremely giddy, "Lay it on me."

Rolling his eyes at the Inuzuka's comment, Nagato grabbed a blue marker and moved to the white board.

"The infamous winter break party circuit schedule is this; it's two weeks of partying on Keya Beach. It's eleven days in all with the first three parties spaced out two days apart, then, after that one bash each night. The fun goes on in both the day and the night. The first week starts with an "official" day of welcome. You'll get your arms bands, for either the three, six or the full nine days, all inclusive with alcohol or not."

He jotted something on the board.

"Whitewater; that's the theme of it, and yes and you can guess what takes place there. In the day is mostly water activities, surfing, jet-skiing, snorkeling, windsurfing, volleyball, you name it, it's done."

"Nice," Naruto grinned, "So I guess it's only going to be me, Kiba, TenTen and Kin doing those."

Neji slanted the Uzumaki a narrowed eyed look, "Why do you think so?"

"Because I'm pretty sure if you, Gaara, Shikamaru and, I kinda hate to say this but Sasuke too; if any of you touch real sunlight you'll burst into flames or look like an overripe tomato in less than five minutes."

Stifled giggles came from the corner what Kin and TenTen were but were immediately cut off with Neji's glare.

"That's not acc-

"Shut up Hyuuga, he's right," Gaara interrupted while calmly picking a piece of lint from his long sleeved shirt. "I, for one, is not particularly comfortable getting melanoma."

"I am a martial arts champ-"

"Indoors champion, Neji," Sasuke railroaded blandly, "In air conditioned rooms and under energy efficiency lighting. Save it; you hate sunlight and you know it."

Neji sniffed and turned his head to glare out the window.

"Moving on," Nagato continued, "I'm guessing you should have inferred by now what goes on at night."

"Dancing, water-sex, maybe an orgy or two, getting hammered or getting higher than a kite.." Kin filled in. "... Or both."

"Exactly." Nagato said soberly, "Hydra moves in on the fourth night, starting to deal the drugs and increasing the dosage every night after that until the big finale; the all nighter, a rave to six in the morning. "

"Where someone just might die." Naruto said almost silently.

"Most likely." Nagato said capping the marker, looking decidedly grim, "It's like some kind of morbid game to them, boosting their sadism and their coffers. The drugs are that addictive."

"And the market is perfect, " Shikamaru added, "Bunch of naive college students, happy to get out from under their parents shadow, feeling egoistic, wanting a ride on the wild side, gagging at the chance to do something forbidden and checking it off their bucket list before shoving it in the back of their minds for the rest of their lives...the problem is they might just kick that bucket."

The air suddenly seemed colder in the room. Shikamaru cracked an eye open. "I'm sorry...did I just kill the mood?"

"More like murder it..." TenTen murmured, "...but you're right."

"...Nagato..." Kin asked quietly, "... What exactly do you want us to do?"

"I want you to get recorded and tangible evidence of what they're doing. When you are offered drugs, hold it and the recorded conversation for evidence."

"What if they want us to try it before them?" Naruto glanced over to the man, "I mean it's standard policy, any who wants drugs will demand to try it right then and there. So how are we going to escape that?"

Nagato smiled, "I'm glad you asked me that... Taka is given in pill form, we will give you pills in the same shape and size of the drug so you can substitute it."

"Sugar pills." Naruto said his lips twitching.

The older man's eyes widened slightly. He was about to ask when Ryuu barged in.

"Naruto, how the hell do you know all this?"

In that moment Sasuke saw something he didn't want to see in Naruto's eyes.

Experience.

"Bounce around the world for fifteen years and you'll come across some stuff." The Uzumaki said flatly.

"Naruto-" Sasuke started to say but immediately bit his tongue.

"Yes, Sasuke?"

"...Forget it," Sasuke murmured, "It's nothing."

The look in his blue eyes told the Uchiha that Naruto knew he was bluffing but he, mercifully, didn't call him on it.

By the exchanged looks though, Sasuke knew that this discussion wasn't over.

"So, that's all we have to do..." TenTen confirmed, "Just get enough evidence to throw them in the clapper?"

"Essentially, yes." Nagato said with a firm nod. "Nothing else, no risqué moves on anybody's part, understood?"

After a moment of hesitation, everyone nodded or voiced their agreement.

"Good." Nagato said, "Let's rerun the housing arrangements... Naruto and TenTen you're both in the nomad waterfront warehouse, Sasuke in the Bachelor's Guesthouse, Neji in the boarding house provided by..."

Elgin. Sasuke and Naruto's room. 9:34 p.m

Sasuke stepped into their room with one objective. He needed to know that what he'd seen in the meeting room wasn't what he feared.

Just inside the door, Sasuke stood slightly unsure, watching for Naruto to shuck his sneakers off and sprawl on the bed, because he was not entirely sure about how he was going to touch such a sensitive issue.

Luckily, Naruto took that decision from him.

"Just ask." Naruto said softly, not even looking straight at his boyfriend. "Get it over with."

Sasuke differed for a long moment before he breathed. "Did you ever do drugs, Naruto?"

Naruto's head twisted to face the still Uchiha. "... What would you do if I said yes?"

Sasuke glanced at the wall. "I...don't know...I honestly just don't...but did you?"

A minute passed like a small eternity before Naruto sighed, "... No, I didn't... It wasn't like I didn't want to though."

Sasuke then gently perched himself on the bed's edge, "Which kind was it?"

"It?" Naruto scoffed,"There was no 'it' Sasuke. Try heroin, cocaine, morphine, pot, purple x, ecstasy, some Italian and Portuguese shit I can't pronounce, and some PCP. I've seen them all when some of my friends were trying them ... I didn't. Trust me, I wanted to but...somehow... I just knew it wasn't for me. And besides, I didn't wanna prove that asshole right."

Sasuke hummed; the 'asshole' was an obvious reference to Kyuubi.

"I don't think I've told you, but I tried pot once."

Naruto squinted, "Wow, when?"

Pale hands reached down to unlace his shoes. "I was twelve, got it from some punks in middle school...Itachi came home to find me high out of my goddamn mind on the carpet and with my chest burning like I had swallowed fire."

A small grin was forming on Naruto's face, "Really, Itachi must have been pissed."

Kicking off his shoes Sasuke stretched himself, front down bedside Naruto. "Yeah he was, but when he saw that I couldn't breathe properly and rushed me to the hospital he was more worried than angry. I stayed in ICU in isolation for about two months."

"You probably got an A-bomb (1) or an Amp.(2)"

Sasuke snorted, "I have no idea of what those are but yes, it was laced. I got a serious lung infection."

Blue eyes met black. "Is that why you were breathing so hard at Gai's place...cause some early mornings you sounded out of breath."

Sasuke had to hold back a disparaging laugh. "No dumbass, I was breathing hard because I was trying to get rid of my boner."

"Huh?" Naruto asked looking slightly confused. "Come again?"

Sasuke's head twisted in his arms, unconsciously allowing his voice to dip to a soft sensuous tone. "Sometimes, I'd have dreams where you were between my legs and kissing me, grinding on me... and I'd wake up stone fucking hard. The only reason I was breathing that way was to distract myself from not jacking off while you were three feet away."

Instantly, Naruto was over him, pressing himself fully on Sasuke's back. "Fuck Uchiha, you shouldn't say shit like that...I want you, now."

Sasuke couldn't deny that his pulse had taken a high leap after hearing the raw lust in Naruto's voice.

In a fitting reaction, Sasuke just braced some of his weight on his forearms and pushed his hips up to press against Naruto's filling cock.

"This way?"

Lips were at the back of Sasuke's neck, teasing the skin there before teeth bit down slightly. "Fuck yes."

Hands reached down and under Sasuke's body to prop him up on his knees and to give Naruto better access to his pants.

Releasing the button and sliding the zip and the jeans down, Naruto splayed his hand over a tight dark blue boxer clad cheek, pressing and kneading the flesh there before dipping down.

Sasuke felt the back one of Naruto's knuckles trail along the inside of his inner right thigh, starting from his knee and sliding upwards.

Sasuke squirmed, the waistband of his jeans were at his knees but they were restricting his legs from spreading further.

"Are you going to take these pants off anytime soon dobe?"

"No. I'm going to fuck you this way, with your clothes on and on all fours underneath me. I'm going to make an animal out of you."

Teeth bit his ear just as a callused hand slipped under his boxers to grasp Sasuke's dick that, from the moment Naruto had covered him, had instantly started to fill and bead.

The rough touch against his smooth skin sent spirals of pleasure into the Uchiha's brain, and paired with the kinky thought of him getting reamed with his clothes on made his cock get even harder.

"Ugh." Sasuke groaned, head down in his arms, eyes closed feeling the slide of Naruto's wet his hand from his rigid cock to his balls and then down so his index finger brushed against his opening.

Sasuke gut clenched and trembled hard just the inside of his cheek of his cheek was bit. The light fluttering touches felt like torture.

Two fingers pressed against his perineum while a hand worked his dick.

"Fuck, Naruto." Sasuke swore.

"We're getting there baby."Naruto replied as a hand gently pushed Sasuke's shoulder down, making his back arch, drawing Naruto's eyes to the narrowness of Sasuke's waist and the full, hard curve of his ass.

His hand tightened on Sasuke's throbbing cock. Sasuke shifted his trapped knees as far as they could go, bracing one shoulder down deeper into the mattress and craned his head around to give Naruto a burning look.

"Fuck," Sasuke hissed, "Hurry. Just do it, I won't break."

Two slick fingers sunk into Sasuke's body just as he felt Naruto's bare cock pressing against his leg.

"Finally, do it." Sasuke ordered.

"Shit, you're still too tight, S'uke," Naruto husked working his fingers in and out, widening the passage he wanted open with a desperate need.

"Just...a...little...more..." Naruto growled.

Sasuke's teeth sank into his arm as one of Naruto's fingers pressed on his prostate."Do it now. Do it hard."

Naruto didn't need to be told twice. Knowing that Sasuke didn't mind a little pain he didn't bother with going in slow like he usually would.

One of Naruto hands was rested on the small of Sasuke's back and the other grasped his right hip firmly. Sasuke then felt the hand on his back disappear and heard the rip of foil. A second later a sheathed dome pressed against Sasuke's entrance.

Naruto pushed straight in, sinking balls deep in one hard 's spine curved in a supine arch and both men groaned at the intimate connection.

Black eyes closed as he felt Naruto's shaft throb inside him. He then felt Naruto's rough fingers grab his hips and felt the tense muscles of Naruto's stomach.

For a long moment they both held still, focusing on just adjusting to the intense feeling.

Black orbs opened and Sasuke looked over his shoulder with fully dilated pupils. His lips curved into a sadistic smirk as he cruelly clenched his inner muscles.

"Motherfuck." Naruto swore grabbing at Sasuke's hips so hard it probably made deep bruises.

"You bastard," Naruto growled in Sasuke's ear. "You're going to pay for that."

He shivered when a deep voice husked in his ear, "Hold on."

Naruto pulled back, snapped his hips forward and drove in feeling his pelvis immediately connect with the curve of Sasuke's ass and the muscles circling inside contracting severely.

"Fuck, you're so tight." Naruto choked out, slightly circling his hips before he started to move, smoothly and deep.

Sasuke's mouth slipped open as the motion was repeated, each thrust getting harder and deeper with every push. His eyes were closed and his head fell forward on his arms as the sex continued, shooting pleasure into his brain, over and over again.

He could hear the low grunts Naruto made with each thrust, circling his hips, maximizing the feel of every thrust, as the slap of their meeting skin sounded in the air.

Despite the spine tingling pleasure he was receiving, Sasuke hated the fact that he couldn't see the look in Naruto's eyes.

He wanted to see the dark, possessive gleam in the sapphire orbs above him as the body over his kept delivering those back breaking thrusts.

Even though he knew the blonde was still mostly dressed, Sasuke wanted to see the stretch of the tan skin of Naruto's chest, the strain in his shoulders and the flex of his abs.

He wanted to see Naruto's feline smile as he drove into him. He wanted to touch the sweat-slicked skin of his face.

Sadly, the only thing he could feel was Naruto's hot palms dragging him into his thrusts, the tiny picks of the hairs on Naruto's legs and heated breaths over him.

"F-fuck," Sasuke hissed, feeling that particular rush of white-hot pleasure as it started to build within him.

"Getting close?" Naruto growled above him .

Sasuke's answer was his hand was clenching in sheets under him as he spread his thighs slightly wider to allow Naruto depth, then reaching behind to grab at Naruto's hip as he thrust harder.

"Fuck, yeah," Naruto growled, feeling his own orgasm start to crawl up his spine.

The only thing a half insensate Sasuke could offer were small gasps, hoping Naruto wouldn't stop because he was an inch close to coming out of his mind.

He slid his hand under to grab his leaking dick and pump in time with Naruto's thrusts. He was on the verge of a huge orgasm and he knew Naruto was too by the jerky movements of his thrusts, that though wild still managed to hit his prostate every time.

"Right. There." Sasuke managed to gasp, his hand flying over his shaft.

Through his ringing head Sasuke could barely hear Naruto's growled, "Come for me, ".

One more jab on his prostate made his body lock up in exquisite pleasure just as he felt Naruto seize inside him and his length pulse. They were both coming hard together, wave after shuddering wave.

Sasuke's cry was muffled because his teeth were sunk into his arm as wetness spilling over his hand.

He felt Naruto slightly fell but caught himself on one hand as he hunched over Sasuke's back. The Uchiha felt the faint dampness of Naruto's shirt and the deep pants on his damp neck.

After a long moment, as one, they both collapsed to the bed their bodies still shaking slightly with the force of their orgasms.

Black eyes blinked open as he blearily raised his soiled hand to his chest and without a care wiped his spunk on the damp fabric.

It was going to be washed anyway.

After a moment, Naruto pulled out and removed the used condom. Braced on Naruto's chest Sasuke vaguely felt Naruto disposing of the latex.

"You do realize that we're leaving tomorrow, right and if I'm sore I'm going to kill you." Sasuke said tiredly while trying to twist his head around to look at the blond.

"Nah, you wouldn't dare and that's what this was for...a parting gift. " Naruto whispered on his skin.

"It's not going to be that long, baka." Sasuke snorted, "It's only three days until we 'see' each other."

Naruto grunted, "Three days of hell."

Sasuke slapped him, "You were at Fuji for what, almost nine weeks, what's so different now?"

Naruto just stared at him before slowly and agonizingly arched an eyebrow.

In the second Sasuke realized what had just happened and shuddered."Good god, what have I done to you?"

Naruto smirked."Let's go take a shower."

"Fine... but no more sex." Sasuke ordered getting up and ripping off his stained shirt.

"But Saaasukkee, come on!" Naruto begged jumping off the bed too, "I promise I'll be good."

Sasuke's soiled shirt smacked Naruto in the face.

"Child."

Russia, Storage Warehouse, Kholmsk Port, Sakhalin. 10:56 p.m

The heap of bloody bird carcasses piled at his feet was a striking testament to the level of the ruthless mood Kyuubi Avilov was in.

Dressed only in the stolen clothes (which were way too thin for this weather) the ex-military Russian officer was huddled beside a stack of palette racks at the side of a random warehouse and the salty air wafting from the sea was making him even more irritated.

He looked up above and based on the point of the moon, it was mostly likely nearly eleven in the night.

He was cold most people at this point would start to be to hypothermic, but under years of experience he but he didn't really feel a thing. And besides, the anger in him was enough fuel to keep him warm.

He had one thing to concentrate on, just one. Kill Namikaze Arashi.

"Akaboshi," Kyuubi snarled in the darkness, seeking the figure of the man who was supposed to meet him an hour ago. "Where the fuck are you?"

The hoot of a night own sounded through the air just as a thick cloud passed over the already dim moon leaving the man in temporary pitch blackness.

"Fucking typical." Kyuubi swore leaning back. "Give a guy one job and he fucks it up."

His eyes were trained on his surroundings but a part of his mind was flitting a time some sixteen years before.

His fist immediately clenched at the memory.

When he had been given the post of the head of the security detail for the Russian Finance Minister, it had felt like everything was finally going to be put in the right places.

He would go back to his home base, rekindle his relationship with the red haired spitfire who, from the moment he'd seen her, had lit his entire being aflame.

On the heels of his accomplishment, Kyuubi had returned to Alysk only to find that Kushina, his Kushina, had moved on, with some blond haired asshole from a rich family in Japan.

Kyuubi hadn't cared that the guy was on government invitation as a part of a special task force to deal with escalating issues in the Middle East and that he was the pivotal factor to their success in the past few missions.

Kyuubi didn't care that the base had gotten more international acclaim with Minato's presence or that the fact that the American government was thinking of making a solid connection with the Kremlin because of the "stellar" reports given by the blond parasite.

All Kyuubi wanted was him gone, one way or another.

Then, on his first trip to Japan with the Minister at one of his swanky corporate meetings Kyuubi had learned that this Minato, the resident thorn in his fucking side, was the younger brother of one of the Minister's confidants in the country, and by some digging, had found out that the older son wasn't as pleased with his brother as the rest of the world was.

Through the few interactions during multiple meetings they had after that, they had come to one accord; erase Minato from the face of the Earth.

Kyuubi scowled.

If the job was done to perfection, why in hell was Arashi doing this now?

And how the fuck did the CIA know of it too?

"Avilov." was hissed a few feet away from him. "I'm here."

"About time." The redhead snarled. "What do you have for me? How am I going to get the hell out of here?"

Akaboshi stepped further into the weak light that was breaking through the dense cloud.

Kyuubi looked with thinly veiled contempt at the thick set, narrow-eyed man with dark hair and huge sideburns.

"Just give me what I need Akaboshi." Kyuubi ordered.

"Boss, I could only get you a way in, I couldn't get you a way out."

Letting out a breath of irritation Kyuubi growled, "I can get out by myself, just give me the way in. And what the fuck we're you talking about dead bodies?"

"That's your way in Boss, a...someone I know told me that a cargo shipment of dead bodies to Japan is to be done in about six hours from this part. I've managed to get an empty casket on the Southwest Cargo Hold for you. It will take you straight to Japan, Honshu, Chiba port, specifically."

Here Akaboshi gave him a packed knapsack, "In there is some cash, a change of clothes and a gun. That's all I could get in this short notice."

Kyuubi grunted, peering inside the bag. "What time is the shipment again?"

"Five thirty in the morning. It should take you about six hours to get to Japan."

"How much cash?"

"About fifty thousand yen."

Dipping his hand inside the bag Kyuubi pulled out the the black glock and grinned seeing his malicious reflection on the polished handle.

"Nice. Well done Akaboshi."

Elgin. Sasuke and Naruto's room. 2:15 am.

Sasuke's head, even corralled in his arms and pressed halfway face down in his pillow, shifted and allowed his eyelids to lift slightly in the gloom to judge the state of the body beside his.

And what he saw then made his eyes close with a mental grimace.

He had been dreading this; hoping that their earlier intense romp would have been enough to distract Naruto from thinking about Kyuubi.

Clearly, it hadn't.

Naruto was on his back, shirtless, both arms under his head with his eyes open and stuck on the ceiling above them.

It was clear that the blond hadn't slept one second through night, most likely thinking about his murderous adopted guardian that was on the loose and clearly hell-bound to kill everyone who had fucked him over.

Sasuke didn't think he could handle it if he placed himself in Naruto's shoes now, to think of what he was going through.

Yes, he himself had been abused when young, but at least he hadn't endured it for a decade and a half.

By the vacant look on Naruto's face Sasuke slightly feared that he was replaying the bad memories he had with the Russian officer, reliving the pain, anguish and suffering that he had endured...

... Or maybe, Sasuke with a absurd kind of faith hoped that he wasn't doing any of that and that Naruto was thinking of the good times he and Sasuke had gone through, as sporadic and small as they were.

It was a good idea but not a realistic one and he had to face the truth.

The reality of it was that Naruto, after sex and the normality of holding each other to sleep, Naruto, a man obsessed with touching, a human leech for contact hadn't touched him not even once throughout the rest of the night...and that in itself was extremely troubling.

Sasuke was going to correct that.

Feigning sleep, Sasuke shifted and seemingly blindly reached out for the blonde's warm skin, wrapped an arm around Naruto's sternum and shifted to place his face in a hollow of a warm neck.

After a tense moment he felt a muscled arm wrap around his slimmer body to settle on the small of his back and press him closer.

Sasuke sighed into the warm skin and just stayed there. It was a simple gesture but he knew it was needed.

4:15 a.m. Dream sequence.

Fire...

Burning heat...

Thick dark smoke...

Red haze ... blood red...

From his place in the corner of his old room in the Uchiha's ancestral home, eighteen year old Sasuke watched his young self, curled in a ball, scared out of his mind and trembling on the blue sheets of his bed as the furnace like heat and fire grew.

Red-orange flames were crawling up the walls, consuming everything in its path, decimating curtains, wooden bookcases, toys and electronics alike turning everything it touched into ash.

Sasuke heard a manic laugh cut through the air just as he got a good look at his seven year old self, his pale face was streaked with tears, eyes wide with fright, clutching his pillow as he edged away from the flames licking up his bed.

The manic laugh ran through the air again. A woman's laugh.

"Itachi..." Sasuke's wondering thought bubbled in his mind as he looked around, "Where's Itachi?"

If his memory served it was about this time that his brother would barge in the room and rescue his younger self, so where was he?

Young Sasuke scooted up to the farthest point on his bed looking frantic, chest heaving, eyes wide.

"Itachi!" older Sasuke shouted frantically spinning around, "Itachi, where are you?"

Helpless, Sasuke watched as the flames surged over the bed, cocooning his childhood self a second before the child started screaming.

Sasuke slammed both palms over his ears trying to tune out young Sasuke's cry; it was a tortured scream.

"Itachi, Itachi, Itachi!" Sasuke chanted in his head. "Where are you?"

A bloodletting scream sliced through Sasuke's head and he fell to his knees.

"ITACHI!" Sasuke gasped, eyes flying open in the darkness just as warm hands grabbed him.

"Sasuke, baby, breathe!" Naruto soothed in the dark.

Sasuke's thinly clothed chest was heaving hard, his eyes were unfocused and his nails were sunk deep into the skin of Naruto's arm.

After a moment, his shivering body was corralled in strong arms. "Breathe, S'uke, I've got you."

Sucking in deep breaths Sasuke laid his head back on Naruto's chest, eyes closed.

After a few minutes a rough but soft voice pressed at his ear, "Okay now?"

Sasuke had to mentally laugh to himself; until he found a way to get these fucking nightmares out of his head he wouldn't be okay.

"... For now." Sasuke said lowly shifting to turn to Naruto.

In the half light Sasuke faced the concerned eyes of his boyfriend and pressed his forehead into Naruto's neck, "Thank you."

He felt Naruto nod, "It's fine...been a long time since you've had one, huh."

Sasuke had to agree. "Yeah, almost four months."

"Any idea why?" Naruto wondered pulling the sheet around them.

He didn't have an 'idea', he knew exactly why, but how could he make subconsciously repressed memories and unresolved anger issues into pillow talk?

"My best guess is what we're going to do in about twelve hours." Sasuke returned voice emotionless.

"...You've been having nightmares all your life...any idea how to stop them?"

"Trust me," Sasuke murmured borrowing into the blonde's warmth, "If I knew, I wouldn't be screaming you ears off before daylight, and if I'd found a cure to them, well.. I'd be...a billionaire. "

A deep chuckle resonated from Naruto's chest. "That's right, you're already a rich ass bastard, courtesy of Uncle Madara."

Sasuke shrugged, breathing in the faint smell of Naruto's body wash. "The man has amassed millions if not trillions in his lifetime, and it's not like he has a child of his own to give it to. So obviously, I'm the only viable choice. If what I suspect is true, I only got a thin slice of the pie. "

Naruto hummed.

Sasuke's head then twisted. "... So...I didn't get to ask you before, what was all that with Jason?"

A callused hand was running over his back. "We just made do on our promise to spar... He's...okay."

Sasuke slipped a hand under Naruto's tank to run over his abs. "Okay as in..."

"As in he knows I'm Bi and you're my boyfriend." Naruto replied softly.

"How did he take it?" Sasuke inquired remembering when Jason had freaked out after he'd known that Sasuke was gay.

"Pretty much alright enough...he did get some respect for me after I trounced his ass." Naruto said genially.

Sasuke shifted, "He has a pr-"

"Problems with gays, I know, he told me. I just calmly told him that not all gays are the same."

"Hn."

"I think he's going to take it easier when little doe eyes tells him." Naruto mused, his fingers running over Sasuke's arm.

Sasuke shifted on the sheets, eyes closing temporarily. "Someday, I'd like to meet Haku's husband."

Naruto jerked so hard he'd almost fallen off the bed. "What the hell S'uke? Haku, doe eyes Haku is... married?"

"Basically." Sasuke shrugged nonchalantly, "He's in a BDSM relationship with someone who gave him his last name. An aikido champion called Momochi Zabuza."

At that blue eyes nearly popped out of Naruto's head. "That giant ass monster is his boyfri- husband?"

Sasuke felt amused, "You know about him?"

"Who doesn't? That man is about seven feet tall and looks like serial killer with those bandages around his face." Naruto shivered. "How the hell Haku takes...him... I don't even want to know."

Sasuke snorted. "Simple solution, we'll just don't think about it ."

"You're right," Naruto acquiesced after a few seconds, "...come here."

A black eyebrow arched. "I'm right here baka."

Naruto grabbed his leg and dragged it over his thigh, making Sasuke feel his growing erection. "I meant, here."

Rolling his eyes Sasuke pushed, "No. Not again. We need to rest."

Naruto actually pouted.

Sasuke held his flat look until Naruto huffed. "Fine... can we at least kiss?"

Seeing no harm in agreeing to that , Sasuke nodded.

Slowly, Naruto's head dipped, his lips pressed on Sasuke's before running his tongue over a thin bottom lip.

Sasuke opened his mouth to accept the searching tongue and suckled on it for a few seconds before the mobile muscle was exploring the rest of his mouth.

Naruto would pull back sometimes just to nip and suck at Sasuke's lips before breaching the soft opening again.

So caught up in the kiss Sasuke hadn't realized that Naruto had pulled him sideways and had a hand under his shirt and was softly stroking him while exploring Sasuke's mouth.

With every touch Sasuke felt his skin tingle, it felt like Naruto's fingers had latent electricity in them.

"Ah," The Uchiha gasped softly as those lips moved to his neck and was teasing the tender and sensitive skin there.

His hand found itself buried in thick coarse hair while his canine bit into his lower lip.

With a soft tug, Sasuke pulled Naruto back to his face. Immediately, a tan forehead pressed against a paler one, his eyes closed and with a hushed voice said.

"You know, six months ago I didn't expect anything like this to happen to me. I thought that after Gai's I'd be in prison for the rest of my life or dead the second I got out... I didn't even think of meeting someone like you..."

Sasuke swallowed, an unknown feeling building in his gut.

"You know Sasuke, you might be more harder to figure out than the meaning of life and difficult to deal with sometimes...you might aggravate me to madness... but I don't think I can there's any way I can get you out of my system. Sasuke, I-"

Sasuke knew what was coming and felt incredibly scared and before thinking reacted.

"A love confession baka, really." Sasuke cut in, uneasiness churning in his gut.

Undaunted, Naruto just waited patiently for him to stop lashing out and pressed his lips to Sasuke's forehead.

"Yes teme, a love confession."He said, "Accept it."

After a moment Sasuke deflated and, eyes closed, mumbled something.

"What's that Uchiha?" Naruto grinned to the face twisted away. "I don't think I heard you right."

Sasuke glared. "Screw you. I'm not saying it again."

Peach lips twitched. "It's okay S'uke, I heard you the first time."

"Good," Sasuke murmured, "Let's get any more sleep we can cause I'm suspecting this is going to be a long day."

Russia, Storage Warehouse, Kholmsk Port, Sakhalin. 5:35 a.m

Kyuubi, holding the knapsack that Akaboshi had given him, was crouching down at the entrance gate of the dock Southwest Cargo Ship.

Having already been in the shipyard itself the redhead didn't have much problems finding the huge ship that he was about to stow away in now tied up by thick mooring lines. In the half light of the breaking dawn he looked around the edge of the security hut to get a good beeline look at the open side ramp door of the Southwest Cargo Ship.

He looked left, right and left again, making sure the guards he had seen a few minutes ago were gone before darting swiftly into the huge open space.

Inside, in he immediately found a corridor with a shadowed nook and back braced on a recessed wall he looked again, mind internally mapping out the layout of the ship.

It was an fairly recent Marco Polo style cargo ship and he believed he knew enough to make his way down the decks through to the storage units.

He stepped off only to instantly sink back, his ears hearing the uncoordinated steps of a half asleep crewman clearly just coming from the bunks, plodding down the walkway.

For a moment Kyuubi thought of learning the man alone but instantly changed his mind. He waited patiently for the crewman to walk by before he stepped out just behind him.

It was a technique called 'the kiss'(4) developed by the KGB, to make the victim unconscious for hours. A specific part of the head was slapped to make the person unconscious for five to seven hours; a move he had mastered in less than ten minutes after being shown the first time.

The poor sucker didn't know what has hit him, just as he slumped over cataleptic.

Kyuubi gently maneuvered him into a nearby closet, then took his jacket and hat and put them both on.

Walking with his head down, he quickly found the specific cargo hold that held the six coffins.

Back against the wall, he looked around and pushed it open. Inside in the frigid interior he found the five hermetically sealed caskets and the single unsealed one.

His.

Opening the lid he stored the bag at the head of the cushioned coffin and after another look, stepped up on the ramp and eased himself in and after a long breath of the last fresh air he would ever breathe for six hours or seven hours closed the lid.

Eyes closed, Kyuubi felt his fingers clench. "Arashi, I swear I'm going to put you in one of these."

PSOCK building. Kohonagakure. 8:27 a.m.

Arashi strode, expression extremely neutral, down the hallway of his company as he genially made his way to his office.

It was imperative that he kept a cool mind and a collective disposition and that meant sticking to his routine, even if the hairs on the back of his neck were perpetually standing up.

In his office he did what he usually did; laid his briefcase on the desk, removed his jacket, opened a bottle of water and tapped his laptop awake.

On his desk was a stack of important notices that needed his attention and authorization if necessary.

The top one was a message from Ryu's Academy Administrative Office stating that they had resent his son's information and that they, though mystified about what had happened, were sorry for the inconvenience.

Arashi just crumbled the note and moved on to the next ones.

There were updates on local businesses which he'd itemized their marketing strategy to boost more income, the next was information on an overseas budding Tech company that he'd been taking a close eye on for investments options and the third was of the new travel plans of Baji's daughter, Chen.

Even though he'd wanted them to focus on tracking Kyuubi, he realized that the absence of Baji's daughter from her usual visit could be construed as unusual, so even if he hadn't wanted to, he'd reorganized and sent for her anyway.

He just hoped his change of mind wouldn't cause any problems.

The phone beside him beeped. It was most likely an update about Kyuubi from Baji. He felt a wave of anxiety wash over him as he opened the message.

"No sight of him and no word yet."

Arashi closed his eyes, his fist clenching around the sleek silver device while trying to convince himself that Kyuubi was still in Russia, bouncing around the country while dodging the authorities with no idea who was after him.

He failed.

Kyuubi was too goddamn smart to not have figured out by now that he was the one after him.

The phone beeped again."The men sent to hold him are dead. "

Fuck.

It was blatantly sure now that Kyuubi was coming here, one way or another.

Arashi felt something tighten around him like an invisible vice. How could all this just crash in on him at once? After almost twenty years?

Running a hand over his face Arashi forced all his mental powers into figuring out his next moves.

One erratic thought sprung up about pulling Ryu from school for more protection but he immediately crushed that thought.

If his brother's son was still there and saw his cousin instantly disappear, he'd immediately know that something was up, so, no, he couldn't pull Ryu.

He knew that his son didn't think that he had his best interests at heart but everything he was doing now was going to benefit his only son one day.

Opening a file on his computer he went to his bank account and started to transfer sums of money into Ryu's trust fund and some of the rest into a bank in Switzerland.

If there was any chance of him going down, he'd be dammed if Ryu wasn't able to live the life he was accustomed to.

Somehow, he then glanced at the watch on his wrist and his ice blue eyes froze, staring almost hypnotized at the second hand ticking away...

NSA headquarters. Fort Meade, Maryland. 9:01 am.

Yuura gently placed his Styrofoam cup of heavily laced Irish coffee beside the blue folder on his desk, a file earmarked with a paperclip that held a red slip of paper.

That was Quaker's quaint way of saying; 'do this immediately if you want to continue working.'

Settling down in his chair, Yuura flipped the folder open and saw a picture of Arashi Namikaze printed in the middle with lines of instructions under it.

"He's a handsome man... " Yuura murmured to himself, tilting the picture to catch the light. Perfectly tousled blond hair, aristocratic cheekbones, nose and lips.

Yuura then scanned the man's edged ice blue eyes and smirked, "...and absolutely deadly...so fucking hot... I wonder what kind of freaky bedroom kinks he has?"

Settling in his chair Yuura one handed, booted up his computer, modified and boosted to his standards, of course, by himself.

The other hand was holding the file. "I'm pegging you for the BDSM type. I'd seriously love for you to tie me up and whip me.. .but sadly you're straight... what a loss."

He then reread the instructions under the picture and smirked.

Moving his cordless mouse pointer over the screen, he pulled up a particular program.

"Well, well well Arashi...let's discover how much billions you've given to the dark side..."

Elgin. Foyer. 10:46 a.m.

Sasuke stood, stock still, arms crossed over his chest, just outside the huge bay window that led to the backyard.

The day was deceptively clear, blue skies with fluffy white clouds above and gentle golden sunlight; a seemingly extra peaceful day but for some reason, Sasuke felt like something ominous was about to happen.

"Knock, knock."

Sasuke turned to see Ryuu leaning on the door jam with an assessing look on his face.

"What can I do for you Mizu?"

"Yeah, about that... "The deadlocked man said stepping out, "...You should probably know our real name is Hoshigaki and Mizu was only coined to protect our family."

A dark eyebrow quirked. "I recall Kisame saying that the only family you have is an uncle who is older than Moses."

Ryuu chuckled. "Yes, but it's still some measure of protection."

Sasuke turned away, "Why are you really here?"

"Because I've been in your shoes," The young agent said stepping just beside him, his head facing the same direction a Sasuke's, "Right now, your head is running ahead of you, coming up with scenarios about what might have in the next few days, thinking about all that might go wrong."

Sasuke couldn't say a word in his defense; it was all true. He would have been entrenched in denial to not admit it.

"Things are going to go wrong somehow Uchiha, it makes no sense worrying about it now."

And that was also true.

After the talk with Naruto, barricaded against the door, after that moment of indecision, he had remembered the rage that had swamped his entire being when Nagato had told him about what Orochimaru had been doing.

In that moment he had known that to fully exorcise Orochimaru out to his system and to possibly rid of get some internal peace, the only option was to destroy the snake's legacy.

"And if it is, when does the good fairy come in?" Sasuke asked quietly, "You know to give me my happily ever after?"

Ryuu chuckled, "Never thought of you as a fairy-tale person."

"I'm not." Sasuke grated.

Ryuu's amber eyes peered at him. "Are you getting... affected Uchiha?"

Affected...

If 'affected' meant feeling the beginning of the separation anxiety from Naruto start up again, if 'affected' meant not knowing what to do after seeing Konan again, and if 'affected' bought with it an absurd apprehension over Ryu's future, then yes, he was getting 'affected'.

Sasuke, blank faced, just turned. "Of course I'm affected Mizu, but I'm not going to fall under, if that's what you're worried about."

"Good." Ryu said, "...by the way, the bus is outside."

Sasuke stifled a reaction that he'd been standing there for so long. Everyone else must have been inside a long time ago.

"It just arrived Uchiha," Ryuu soothed seeing Sasuke's shift in composure. "You don't have to rush."

"You know, you could have started with that instead of the philosophy lecture."

Striding past older man, Sasuke quickly climbed the stairs to his room to see Naruto leaning on the balcony's railings, eyes plastered on the throttling green bus in the circle.

"Naruto..." Sasuke said softly.

The nineteen-year-old turned to him with a much calmer visage than Sasuke knew his own was.

A tan hand reached out and twisted fingers into his shirt. Sasuke was reeled in like a caught fish on a line and met firm lips with his own.

The kiss oddly felt strengthening.

"You will not break." Naruto's husky voice murmured into his ear.

Sasuke swallowed but managed to nod. "We need to go."

A golden head twisted to look at the bus down in the quad. TenTen, Kiba and Neji were approaching it with their luggage. "We don't have much time."

"... Guess the countdown starts now." Naruto said blankly.

Hokkaido Keys, Local Airdrome, 11:26 a.m.

The cheerful brightly painted interior of this section of the airport, that was most likely aimed at giving the travelers a feeling of positive anticipation for their trip, made Sasuke, though still not entirely comfortable with everything, feel more determination then anticipation.

The sunshine shade of this yellow was steadily getting on his nerves though.

"First, a straight flight to Niigata Honshu, then after, catch a connecting one to Fukuoka Kyushu." Sasuke reaffirmed after a second look at his ticket.

"You still look weird." Naruto said beside him hiking the strap of his duffel bag, the only appropriate luggage for a travelling nomad higher on his shoulder. "That mesh is still creeping me the fuck out."

Sasuke frowned slightly and although hearing the words that Naruto had said, dismissed them in favor of wondering when Naruto had acquired a worn leather jacket.

"That's new." He said head tilting to the left and two fingers tracing the the jackets left lapel. "How have I never seen this before?"

Broad shoulders shrugged, "Never really worn it that much... I've had it from I was about seventeen after this guy and I went to a club in Miami."

"You didn't tell me about that, either." Sasuke remarked, his eyes tracing the fit of the jacket to Naruto's shoulders and chest.

"You're doing it again." Naruto said almost silently beside him.

"And what's that?"

"Obsessing about everything that could go wrong." Naruto said in surety. "Sasuke, you sometimes overthink things and really that's not a bad to be paranoid. It's normal to go into a mission thinking that everything will go ape shit. Even with all the best set plans, I can promise you that ninety-nine percent of the time you will have to wing it. Like Neji said, nothing is set in stone."

Sasuke just huffed, Ryuu had basically said the same thing.

"But Sasuke, sometimes you need to relax. You're not alone in this and besides..." Naruto continued, "...boss man is just one phone call away, remember, he's going to be shacked up in that warehouse smack in the middle of us. He'll give all the help you'll...we'll need."

This time Sasuke did look Naruto in his eyes as his hand was twitching to rake through his hair. He just ran it over his face instead.

"I know...it's just...all this yellow is getting on my nerves."

Naruto's mouth twitched in amusement. "Suuuurrreee."

Sasuke glared hard. "Screw you. It is."

In answer Naruto just bent his head to Sasuke ear, "Stop that or we'll have to find a bathroom in like five minutes, you know what that look does to me."

"Are you seriously thinking about sex now?"

Naruto smirked, "Sasuke, I'm a red blooded nineteen year old guy, so yeah, some part of my brain is always thinking about sex."

Onyx eyes rolled. "I'm going to ig-"

Sasuke's statement was cut off as an announcement cut through the air.

"Calling all passengers who are booked on flights 876, to Niigata, Honshu. We are ready to board, please take out your documents are get in line, thank you."

Sasuke took a good look at the six other people who were risking everything again...for him.

Six people who had got tangled up in his web with the Sannin bastard about four months ago. Innocent people...

... Well, admittedly, not all that innocent, but they were people who had risked their lives and future on a thin chance of putting fixing those lives. Eventually, it had worked out, but Sasuke was still at a loss of why they were doing this again.

"Uchiha," Neji said in his insufferable almost-psychic voice, looking nonchalant as he tugged his pristine long sleeves of his white shirt straight. "We made a commitment, get over it."

"Wha-"

"Now boarding Flight 876..."

Sasuke turned around and breathed, clutching his passport and ticket. Naruto, right behind him leaned down slightly and whispers. "Let's get this show on the road."

Plane flight, 12 minutes in...

"Sasuke, I swear that headrest is going to burst into flames if you glare at it anymore." Naruto leaned into the still Uchiha's ear.

Sasuke, even seated in the fairly comfortable chair, was sitting ramrod straight, arms tense and eyes glued at the blue and green striped headrest in front of him.

"I'm serious Sasuke, relax." Naruto stressed. "Just...think of this morning..."

Sasuke shot the Uzumaki a scorching look for a minute but then obeyed, allowing his pale lids to flutter down over his eyes. He ignored the nightmare and focused on when Naruto had held him.

He'd felt...warm.

Slowly, by degrees, Sasuke lost the steel in his spine and his shoulders sagged a bit.

"We have about fifty minutes to Niigata, how about you close your eyes and I tell you about the first time I was in a gay club hmm."

Sasuke, eyes still closed, nodded. Immediately, Naruto lifted up to divider between them and tugged Sasuke closer.

"So I was in Miami, seventeen and stupid. Just getting to know who I was and this older cadet Cameron dragged me to this club called Friction. I've got to tell you S'uke it's another world in t-"

Niigata International Airport, Honshu. 1: 05 p.m.

The pneumatic doors to depart the airplane opened as Sasuke, in a pensive mood, crossed the boarding bridge and continued straight across the concourse with Naruto in step with him.

At the top of the stairs that led downstairs to the baggage claim and the continuing hallway there led to his connecting flight, he paused by the wall, allowing some of the other passengers to pass by.

He knew he needed to go to the gate of his next flight with Neji, Shikamaru and Gaara but still he hesitated.

"Sasuke?"

He knew Naruto's blue eyes were staring at him with slight concern. "Are you okay?"

Running a hand over his face Sasuke nodded, "I'm... I just feel a little nauseated."

The Uzumaki's expression immediately cleared up in understanding. "Oh. I know the feeling, it's a bitch huh? Why don't you go and splash some water on your face, that always helps me when I get motion sickness."

That wasn't a bad idea even if the reason behind it was false.

"Good idea," he said turning around and looking around the room, "Can you tell me where to find a bathroom?"

"Umm, I think I saw a sign to one... " Naruto frowned slightly in remembrance, "...yeah, back down the hallway and to the left...I'll wait here."

Nodding, Sasuke turned down the corridor, walked to find the restroom and entered the men's section. Stowing his documents in his back pocket, Sasuke turned on the faucet and cupped his hands under the spigot.

Yes, he was feeling sick but not psychical sickness; it was more of an emotional one. He knew that in just a few minutes he and Naruto were going to be separated, again.

Sasuke watched the flow of the cool liquid wash over his hands and when thoroughly soaked, pressed the wet appendages solidly on his face.

He did it for about three times, each time firmly telling himself that everything was going to be fine while absently wondering how he'd changed from a heartless, caustic asshole into this; a sentimental.

Eyes closed, Sasuke reached under his neckline to grasp his mother's chain, the pendant his brother had given him on his eighteenth birthday at the camp.

Grasping the small and faintly warmed pendant in his hand he sorely wished his mother was there to give him some advice.

Sadly, she wasn't, but still, just by holding the little trinket he felt some peace.

"...Thank you, Mother."

Stepping out he made his way back to a patiently waiting Naruto whose back was turned to him. Apparently he had gone to the baggage claim already because his duffel bag was at his feet.

With every step towards the taller man Sasuke felt himself getting colder.

Just behind him, Sasuke softly tapped the Uzumaki on the arm and when the older teen turned, Sasuke couldn't move under the unfathomable look he was met with.

"I have to catch my other flight." Sasuke said softly.

"And I have to catch a boat." Naruto returned with the same tone.

"Naruto..."

A hand rose to brush a black bangs behind an ear.

They stared at each other for while, cementing the others face in their minds.

"...If you weren't so squeamish with PDA, I'd so kiss you right now..."

Sasuke gently removed his hand from his face while staring into his boyfriend's eyes. "I know..."

"You'll be fine Uchiha." Naruto said firmly dropping his hand. "It's going to be done and gone before you know it."

Uchiha, Naruto had called him Uchiha.

Sasuke knew the four names Naruto had for him; Uchiha, Sasuke, S'uke and baby; the first two were when he was serious, trying to make a point, the last two when he was being intimate.

Calling him by his clan name was his way of reminding Sasuke of who he was and who he came from; it was a way of telling him that he was strong.

Sometimes, Sasuke wondered if Naruto knew more psychology than he did.

"I hope so." Sasuke murmured looking over at the corridor he was going to walk through. "...I'll see you... soon."

Naruto, after a moment, nodded, bent down to grab his bag and turned away, flashing a peace sign over his shoulder while making his way down to the lobby.

Sasuke breathed deeply then turned to the direction of his other flight knowing that the second he stepped onto Kyushu's soil, Sasuke Uchiha did not exist, there was only Seth Usegui."

Flight 888 Niippon Air to Kyushu. 1:45 p.m

It seemed like the despondency that has taking a hold of him coming to the Academy, though niggling at the edges of his mind, didn't swamp him this time.

Naruto's words had worked.

Looking out the window of the plane, Sasuke felt some kind of strength build in his stomach. He was going to win this.

Niigata Port, Niigata. Shin Nihonkai Ferry... 1:54 p.m.

Naruto stepped out of the taxi and stood before the entrance banner arching over the walkway to the ferry's check in counter.

Looking around at the various people milling and chatting around the lawn while waiting for the ferry to load, Naruto hiked the shoulder strap of his duffel bag higher on his shoulder and walked to the small office.

"Konbanwa," the middle aged man behind the desk asked, shooting a Naruto a quick look over his rimless glasses. "May I help you...sir?"

Naruto had to hold back a grin.

This guy was so uptight that his poncy stuck-upness literally radiated from him. It was so obvious, with his slicked back hair, starched and seamed shirt, and pinstriped vest with a precisely folded handkerchief in the pocket.

A pink handkerchief.

Buddha, how much of a pretender could this guy be?

The receptionist face was pinched with thin lips and dark but watery eyes.

"Sir?" the man asked again, clearly not liking Naruto goofy grin. "May I help you?"

"Yeah, I need a ride to Fukuoka pronto."

His lips pursed. "I'm assuming you want to go to the Keya Beach Party."

"Bingo." Naruto nodded.

The man's face twitched. "May I see some identification sir?"

Plastering the goofy grin back on his face Naruto pulled out his passport, "Nathan Uno. Been saving for this trip for a good few years."

"That's fine Sir" the man said dryly. "Round trip, yes?"

"Uh huh."

The man was busy punching in his details on the computer. "Sir, it says here tha-"

"Convicted for fighting with brass knuckles and shoplifting at thirteen, graffiti of an entire wall at fifteen, boosting a car at sixteen, drunk driving at eighteen and an accessory to assault after that, I know, the last one was because I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time." Naruto filled in for him.

"The police cleared me though. I think that thing is gonna haunt me for the rest of my life. I've never did anything after that, I swear."

The man didn't look impressed. "That's fine Sir. Would you like first class or second?"

A tousled head shook paired with a disparaging smile."Do I look like a first class kind of guy to you?"

Even though the man's face agreed with him his words didn't. "It's not my place to judge Sir, but if you choose to second class it comes with a washitsu of fifteen or twenty."

"Washitsu..." Naruto rolled the word over his tongue. "That means a big ass room right?"

"It means a Japanese style room with futons for fifteen to twenty people. Shower accommodations and a meal of your choice."

"Sure." Naruto shrugged fishing out his wallet. "Let's have it."

"It will be five thousand and fifty yen,Sir."

Counting out the cash Naruto pulled it four one thousand notes and two five hundred coins.

"Sir, you'll need five hundred more." the man said.

Blue eyes widened slightly. "Oh...my bad. Hold on..."

Tongue poking slightly out of his mouth Naruto dug into his pockets and pulled out four one hundred coins, one fifty coin and a one US dollar and pushed the whole pile to him.

"…. I think this should cover it."

"It probably will."

Naruto glanced at his name tag and had to snort to himself, the guy was named Gertrude.

How the hell did a Japanese man get the name of a old British biddy? Naruto seriously wanted to mess with him.

While the man was processing his information Naruto leaned on the counter with his head propped up on both fists about less than a foot away from the man.

"So how many hot babes passed through here already...ten... fifteen..fifty-seven?

The man's head jerked back for good two feet in surprise. After a moment he gained his composure.

"Sir I can't-"

"Oh please, " Naruto interrupted," You can't tell me that no hot chicks haven't been here. Dish man."

"Sir, client confidentially is one of our rules here. I cannot tell you who may or may have not been here."

"That only means they are so banging. Which one is stacked like Charlotte McKinney?"

"I have no idea who that is."

Blue eyes popped. "Are you serious dude. Where have you been? Anyways, whatever. I can't tell you how much I want a good reason to get hammered, like stone cold, hanging off the roof hammered. And then this pops up like a gift from heaven."

". . You know, you should take a vacation some time. Let loose for once, get it on with a smoking hot chick..."

By the tick in the men's jaw he knew he was at breaking point. Now for the coup-de-grace...

"... Or a freakin hot guy."

The man literally choked and turned so red Naruto was wondering if he'd given the guy a heart attack.

"Dude!" Naruto said eyes wide, "Are you okay...should I call a doctor or somebody li-"

"No." Gertrude choked out. "I'm sorry. It's just my arrhythmia."

"Yeah..." Naruto sighed, shoulder shrugging, "... I kinda don't know what that means... So..."

"It's fine." the man bruskly slapped Naruto's ticket and boarding pass on the table. "You may wait in the lobby or outside if you wish. Have a nice vacation, Sir."

"You too, yaknow...whenever you get the balls to have one." Naruto said grabbing his documents and moving into the other room.

Sitting down he looked at his passport picture. With his half lowered eyes and a mischievous smirk he looked like a certified troublemaker.

"Nathan Uno..." He said stretching out. "I could seriously get used to this..."

Somewhere in Kohonagakure... 6:36 p.m.

"Master, is that all you would be needing this evening?" Madara's cloaked servant asked, head bowed.

Wiping his fingers in an hundred percent Egyptian cotton napkin, Madara shook his head. "Yes, thank you. By the way, the steak was done to perfection."

And that was ironic because that portion of the beef was served rare.

"Very well, Sir. I'll leave you now."

Madara didn't even give a nod of acknowledgement of his servant leaving and in the flicking candle light, finished his glass of merlot, while his mind was running over the agreement he had made with the young Namikaze.

Madara prided himself on being an excellent judge of personality and when get looked at Ryu he saw a few notable things; first, the boy was smart, fucking smart; he had to be to have kept his father in the dark all this time.

Second, though Ryu put up a front of cruelty, he wasn't really malicious and third, the boy was extremely lonely. No mistake, the Namikaze hid it admirably by giving off a cocky attitude, but Madara knew that deep seated pain was there.

Why? Madara wasn't sure, but he seriously suspected it had something to do with losing his mother in such an early age.

Nevertheless, the state of the Namikaze's psyche wasn't his business; what he needed was Ryu out of his world, and that was the only reason he had agreed to help him, not on his own merit mark you, but because of Naruto's.

That boy had been given the end of the shit stick for far too long, and besides, he was his nephew's lover and that, without a doubt, counted for something.

Madara chuckled to himself knowingly; Sasuke would deny it to the ends of the earth and back, but Madara knew his nephew was so deep in love that it reminded him of the single time he had been that way.

Black eyes dimmed slightly as the image of his dead lover ran through his mind and the deep hollow in his chest that it brought with it.

When he had lost Sakumo Hatake,(4) it had felt like he was going meet the same fate very soon after, and if Arashi was left to his devices, Naruto was going to be killed and Sasuke would be devastated.

Many didn't know it but Uchihas, for all their cold, unaffected shell, felt emotions very intensely.

He didn't want his nephew to feel that level of soul destroying pain.

Locking the face of his dead lover back into the recesses of his mind, Madara focused on was he was about to do.

After a moment of further thinking his spidery fingers gently placed the bellied glass down and took up the cellphone that was beside on the small desk and dialled a number.

" Ohayō, anata no yūetsu."(Good evening, your eminence.)

"Dajimu, please tell me that you have acquired what I have requested." Madara said eyeing the bottle of red wine in the ice bucket before him.

"Yes Sir, her name is Aoi, a child of the late deceased Azami, one of your factory workers."

"Hn." Madara hummed, "And she looks exactly like Baji's daughter?"

"Yes Sir, she looks exactly like his daughter Chen."

"Excellent," Madara said, "Remind me, when has her arrival been postponed to again?"

"Three days time." Dajimu replied, "She will be flying in from Sapporo to Kyoto first and stay the night before continuing to Kohonagakure, we'll stage the scene then. Is this admissible, Eminence?"

"Yes and I will be present when it's staged."

"Sir," the voice sounded hesitant, "This is just a simple staging, your presence isn't really required."

"And I suppose my funding of your lucrative opium trade isn't, correct?" Madara hummed.

"N-no Sir," Dajimu stuttered, "Your kindness has been more than appreciated. My apologies for my assumption, we will be honored to accommodate you."

"That's more like it. I'll be there in two days. Prepare my usual villa."

"It will be done your eminence."

Ryu's Room. Private Dorms. The Academy. 9. 50 pm

"-keep mine and you keep yours…We all have our secrets, we all have our secrets-"

Ryu wrapped a towel around his waist and grabbed another one to dry his hair before he stepped out of the his bathroom.

Naughty Boy featuring Bastille "No One's Here To Sleep," was slithering hypnotically through the dark room like smooth smoke.

Blue eyes closed. God he wanted to fuck to this music, with his body pressed into a pale moaning one and his nose buried in black hair as blunt nails scraped down his back.

"... Oh your eyes they show it all...I can see it coming, I can see it coming... As I rise up through each floor.. Shit gets dark when you lose it all.. I can hear it coming, I can he-"

But he couldn't.

Shaking the fantasy off he started to get dressed. He had just stepped into his boxers and was dragging on his jeans over them when his phone pinged.

Curious he took it up and read:

"Deception in progress - ETA three days."

The number was as usual blocked but Ryu knew that even if it wasn't, it wasn't smart to even try and reply. Ryu sat down and stared at his phone for a moment. A slight moment of indecision tickled at the back of his mind.

Was he doing the right thing?

His eyes lowered for a moment, rethinking the plan. If everything went right, the real child wasn't going to be harmed in any way and besides, it was the only feasible option to get positive proof of his father's involvement in his uncle's and wife's deaths. His cousin needed and deserved justice.

Ryu wasn't going to lie to himself, he knew that he was doing this mostly to drag his farther down a peg, to get justice for his uncle and cousin but underneath it all he really wanted a window into Sasuke's good graces.

He might not have any chance with the beautiful Uchiha but he still wanted... something.

"Can't make a cake without breaking some eggs..." He said to himself getting up. "...time will tell."

Chiba International Port. Honshu. 2:14 p.m

A frustrated Kyuubi would literally chew the skin off his left arm to get the hell out of this stifling box.

The trip that he had been told was to be five hours long was nearing nine now and the infuriated man had blood red visions dancing behind his eyelids.

Every second gone was eating at his guts. He. Needed. To. Get. Out!

Visions of Arashi's in torment plagued his mind. He was going to make the Namikaze suffer so hard the man would be begging him for death.

Nobody screwed with Kyuubi Avilov and was allowed to go scotch free.

He couldn't count how many times he would crack the coffins lid in hope that the goddamn staff that were always lingering around would leave so he could do the same.

It had been about fifteen to twenty minutes since he had last heard any body lingering around. He breathed and braced his palms on the passed lid and pushed up an inch.

His eyes peered out, scanning the room, holding the lid long enough to know that the crew had left.

At last.

He had a window to get the fuck out.

Not wasting any time, he pushed the lid fully open and sat up, massaging feeling back into his sleeping feet.

Once the tingle left he got out, grabbed his knapsack and pulled the cap over his hair, making sure to cover every strand of his distinctive hair.

Flicking the collar up of the jacket he held down his head and slinging the backpack over his shoulder he left the room and walked out of the ship into the still bright sunlight.

A chain away from the ship, he wondered what any crewman who went into the storage unit would think to see an empty coffin. Would he think that the dead had risen?

Chucking to himself Kyuubi went into the nearest convenience store, went to the cosmetic section and picked up a bottle of black hair dye and a pair of brown fashion contact lenses.

Cashing both items he then found a gas station bathroom, locked the door and pulled out the dye.

"Arashi... don't even try to watch your back... well not until you feel the knife in it."

TBC..

Drafted chap 25 Waiting Games. Terms

(1) A-bomb: Marijuana cigarette with heroin or opium.

(2) Amp : Amphetamine; marijuana dipped in formaldehyde or embalming fluid, sometimes laced with PCP and smoked.

(3) 'The kiss'- taken from 'The Man From UNCLE'

(4) Sakumo Hatake - (Kakashi's father) known as the Kohona White Fang.

Just finished a 50,000 word project on UpWork. But I have said this before and I will say it again. I will not abandon my stories.

Shades is next.

By the way, help me choose the name for the next chapter of Drafted, it's either Masquerade pt 1 or Pantomime pt 1...thanks.

And as usual REVIEW DAMNIT!