Drafted chap 26: Pantomime
Pairings: Naru/Sasu
Rating: M - NC17
Disclaimer: 'Naruto', I 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.
LONG ASS A/N'S: 1-6 (sorry guys)
AGAIN, I WILL NOT ABANDON MY STORIES, NO MATTER HOW LONG I TAKE TO UPDATE. AND THERE'S A LOT OF HEAD HOPPING. :(
1: With an overwhelming amount of "Hell No's!", (I'm exaggerating with the exclamation points but meh) to the Ryu/Sasuke one shot, I'm sorry Ryu shippers, it isn't going to happen... :(
2. Warning: from NOW ON no one is in their usual character, their attitudes ARE jacked up but their identities are on point.
3: Please just read the italics and bold as Japanese. I could put the real words in but I'm extremely lazy
4: By the way, did anyone else realize that the last chapter was posted on Valentine's Day? O_o I didn't….and OH: BLEACH FANS ARE GOING TO LOVE THIS! (It's not a cross-over though; I'm just having some fun because Ichigo and Uryu are the literal doubles of NS)
Song: 'Chained to the Rhythm' by Katy Perry.
And now back to your regular programming...
The Bachelor's Guesthouse, Fukuoka Kyushu. Near Keya Beach. Second floor Suite 5:45pm
The room Sasuke was in didn't have a balcony per se, it was more of a tiny metal platform of a fire escape that was outside his room's wide bay window; but for all Sasuke's purposes, during his stay there, he was going to use it as one.
It was a calm evening in Fukuoka and in the tranquility of the lower half of the day; Sasuke leaned on the smooth metal railing and took the opportunity to really view the area, looking with an analytical eye over his new surroundings.
The land there, due to the extreme proximity of the beach, was very flat and even, allowing a bird's eye view of the places surrounding it straight to the darkening horizon on the sea which was just a stone throw away.
Sasuke's shrewd eyes traced the long stretch of shimmering white sand of the Keya beach about a mile or so away, adjacent to a shopping center and a recreational boat pier for tourists.
His head then shifted to see the cluster of grayish buildings lining the edge of the pier, a line of warehouses where traveling nomads lodged and knew Naruto was in one of them, somewhere.
Three days; it would be three days until he saw him again.
A gust of the sea wind ruffled his bangs and Sasuke closed his eyes and tilted his head up for a second just to feel the brisk wind. There were so many things on his mind right now that he had to consciously compartmentalize all of them and mull over of them at different times.
First and foremost was their operation to shut down Hydra and get Orochimaru's tentacles out of the world for good. Second, was Ryu trying to get his murderous father Arashi Namikaze convicted with the help of Madara, his mafia head granduncle and lastly; Kyuubi, Arashi's accomplice on the loose and heading to Japan, clearly to murder Arashi.
Each one had it own level of stress but Sasuke couldn't bear all of it at once, so he shoved the last two in the back of his mind and tried to not think about them too much.
Right now his focus was on his assignment.
Although still very cautious about the whole operation, he wasn't all that worried about it too much now.
Yeah, sure, there was a million and one ways for it to be screwed up and shot to hell, but Nagato and Ryuu were very close by and able to drag them out of any calamity that would pop up.
At the mental mention of Kisame's brother's name, even though he didn't want to, his train of thought instantly shifted to another Ryu; Namikaze Ryu; Naruto's cousin.
Even with all the shit that was going to hit the roof soon with Ryu and his father, Sasuke was absolutely sure that Ryu could handle himself.
The prime reason was that the similarity between him and Naruto were striking and vaguely troubling; similarities on both the mental and physical fronts.
The two had a... significant level of strength to them. Naruto's physical one was obvious; having dealt with Kyuubi's bodily torture for fifteen years and Ryu's had to be too, to put up with Arashi's mental abuse from the day he was born.
Blood was really something huh.
Speaking of blood, he hoped that even though he hadn't been able to tell Itachi anything, that with Kisame knowing about Ryuu and the mission that he could possibly let him in on few things.
Rolling his neck he looked back at the room where he had already unpacked his stuff and, with that twist, felt the unwelcomed stirrings of hunger pangs in his stomach.
Pressing his palm to this sternum Sasuke sighed; the last meal he had eaten was breakfast this morning at the camp and now it was a cool fifteen hours later.
Even though he really didn't feel like it, he needed to get something to eat because he couldn't go through the whole night hungry and besides, his lips twitched, Itachi would have flayed him alive if he did.
Grabbing a dark jacket, his wallet, his room key, his iPod and a pair of over-sized dark blue Beats by Dre headphones (that he'd bought in a gift shop after landing in one of those rare 'spur of the moment', things) he went downstairs to the lobby and then straight into the dusk dimming street.
With both hands shoved in the pockets of the smooth leather, he walked down the lane looking around to both drill some landmarks in his head and to find somewhere he could eat.
The streets, as expected, were filled with obvious tourists; their way of walking, state of dress and their flashing cameras was a clear indicator that they weren't from there.
He meandered through the main boulevard, memorizing the street names and addresses of the local businesses on them, and doing so, passed a few open ramen kiosks that reeked of spiced miso and a few quaint sweet shops where the smell of peppermint, ginger and honey assaulted his nose.
Scrunching his nose at the repugnant smell of candy, he shifted the earphones to have one over his left ear and other to the side of his neck and increased his pace, wanting to find a decent place to eat.
He stopped at a corner where a restaurant's door was marked 'open'.
"Ito Sai Sai," Sasuke murmured looking up at the banner.
Even though very wary of anything with the name 'Sai' he shrugged, it was the close to his hotel and since it was marked Asian, so he hoped it carried what he wanted.
Stepping in he looked around the Izakaya (1) style restaurant and was immediately greeted with an enthusiastic, "Irasshaimase (2)
Nodding to the chefs, he slipped off his shoes, placed them in a cubby and then (good thing he had on socks) put on a pair of disposable slippers.
There was a medium sized party of business people who were sitting around a large table in the centre but on the edges were single seats that are empty.
Sasuke slipped the headphones off fully to his neck and made his way to the counter.
"What would you like to order?" a chirpy young woman asked.
"Oden,(3) please," Sasuke replied, "Just remove the eggs."
"Sure, that will be seven hundred yen, please."
Sasuke quietly handed over the bills and after a confirmation nod he walked to one of the empty single tables' right against a wall and beside a small plant.
A few minutes after he sat a waiter appeared at his elbow with his steaming meal on a tray which he then placed before the Uchiha.
Nodding a silent 'thank you', Sasuke snapped his chopsticks apart and dug into his savory meal.
Five hours ago, Niigata Port, Shin Nihonkai Dock, Near Keya Beach. 3: 14 pm.
Naruto stepped into the balmy air of the dock and breathed in the salt air of the ocean. Someone bumped against his arm and he stepped aside to allow the other passengers to pass.
Shouldering his duffel's bag's strap he consciously slipped into soldier mode to assess his surroundings while taking care to make his face look like a ditzy tourist.
The land was flat enough that he could see the long slip of shimmering white sand of the Keya beach where people were busily constructing a wooden stage, wooden booths and seats while others were lining off sections of the beach with tiny red flags.
About hundred of so feet out into the cobalt sea, a long line of huge white rubber balls were bobbing; a clear marker of the limit the party goers were allowed to swim to.
Naruto looked back to the land and saw three low lying one story buildings edging the beach, each with a huge double door in the center and narrowed his eyes in curiosity.
"What the hell are those?" he asked himself quietly.
"I hear that's where the real fun goes on." A voice behind him said.
Clearly his confusion had been noticed.
He twisted his head to see the guy talking to him had aggressive blond hair like his own that weirdly glinted orange in the sunlight while he was still looking at the beach.
"Real fun?" Naruto returned, acting like the implication had gone over his head even though he knew exactly what it meant.
"Yeah, the 'bump and grind' kind of fun," The guy said evenly though he had a slight scowl on his face.
Naruto made sure to keep his own expression neutral, "Oh, yeah. I was wondering where that's gonna happen cause I doubt the guys at the warehouse would put up with any of that."
The guy's brown eyes squinted, "You're in a nomad warehouse?"
"Yeah; you?"
"I'm staying with someone." he said simply.
"Oh yeah, where?" Naruto asked offhand while looking back at the beach.
The guy tensed for a second and after giving Naruto one more assessing look before he muttered, "… In a hotel… with my boyfriend."
After a prolonged pause and his still apprehensive look, Naruto just shook his head in amusement, "Dude, just relax; I'm not going to put my fist in your face. I swing both ways so chill out."
The guy regrouped a little, his scowl lightening a bit, "Oh, that's a relief, I'm Ichigo; you?"
"Nathan." Naruto replied smoothly, "If you don't mind me asking, where's your boy?"
"Oh, Uryu," Ichigo snorted, "He stayed behind to clear something up with his academy Arrancar before flying down later today, it's a private Uni."
"You don't seem to like that place, do you?" Naruto had obviously picked up on his scornful tone.
Ichigo grunted, "Hell no; I call that place the Soul Sucking Society. No matter how many times I beg him transfer to Karakrua U, he refuses."
At that moment a beep cut thought the air and Naruto's right thigh vibrated; his new cell phone was ringing.
"Gimme a sec," Naruto said digging into his pocket for the device and looked at it.
He was mistaken; it wasn't a call, it was text message, "Go to the parking lot across the street, shed 'A'; right at the front, you'll find your bike."
Dark brown eyebrows lifted; were these people that serious that they even bought him a real bike?
"You okay?"
"Hm, yeah," Naruto said pocketing the phone, "Just got notice that Medusa was delivered."
Ichigo squinted, "Medusa?"
"My bike," Naruto turned and tilted his chin to the parking lot across the street, "It's over there, first shed; wanna see?"
Ichigo stalled for a moment but then shrugged, "Well my bus isn't coming for about fifteen minutes so, sure."
"Cool." Naruto replied.
"So," Ichigo asked as they crossed the street, "Where you from?"
Feeling wary Naruto glanced over, "Why do you want to know?"
"Come on," Ichigo replied. "You have blond hair just like I do. You can't tell me how much people just pass you off as American even if you speak fluent Japanese. I get that shoved in my face a lot and it pisses me off."
"Oh, but nah; nobody has ever dared to shove their noses into my business like that, but I'm fully Japanese," Naruto replied casually, balancing his duffel on his shoulder, "Maybe my great-grandparents screwed some Norwegians like a century ago or somethin' but I really couldn't care less. What about you?"
"Basically the same," Ichigo shrugged while they crossed the lot and approached the first shed that was made of only a roof and columns. "Growing up I went through a lo-holy shit! Is that your bike?"
Naruto took one look and immediately had to assassinate his stunned reaction, forcing his jaw to be in place and to not drop to his feet at the sight of his 'Medusa'.
Holy shit was so right.
Before them was a Ducati Monster; the chrome pipes looked scuffed and mismatched like it was really tinkered with by a real metal monkey; just like his profile said. The airbox cover was black with slashes of orange on it and the smooth seat was worn but bright orange leather.
The handles were ribbed with worn black rubber and so were the foot rests. It was old, early 2000's bike, but it was still sleek. Perched and strapped to the handle was a dark Scorpion helmet with a huge orange shark mark on the side.
Just as he got his gawking under control, his phone vibrated again,"Check the saddle bag.'
Acting nonchalantly, (even though his insides were doing summersaults) Naruto calmly walked up to the bike and just as calmly opened the leather bag strapped to the seat and reached in. His fingers closed around a pair of fingerless black driving gloves and a set of keys which he quickly shoved in his pocket and, lastly, a short bike chain with a lock.
"Nathan, dude; that is fucking awesome," Ichigo said his eyes not moving from the bike, so caught up with the machine he clearly hadn't noticed Naruto had just done. "You must kill chicks with this."
"Yea, kinda," Naruto shrugged palming the helmet, "But I'm cruising dudes this time."
Ichigo snorted, "Whatever, you'll still slay, it's savage."
The sound of a large vehicle pulling up made the other teen turn. He then turned to look at the road where a bus, his bus, was pulling up and then spun back to Naruto, "That's my ride. I've gotta go, but will I see you there, at the parties I mean."
"Yeah, sure thing," Naruto answered distractedly while circling the bike, "Later dude."
After he was gone Naruto took a long moment to run both his eyes and hands over the seat then knelt down briefly to check the pipes, the V-twin engine and the brake lines. Call it paranoid but considering what happened with his parents, he wasn't going to use any machine where he didn't check the break lines first.
Everything was in order. Standing up he strapped his duffel to the back and then fingered the helmet while an insanely pleased smirk crossed his face, "Nagato, dude, I fucking love you."
Eleven minutes later...
Naruto didn't act like he didn't know that people were staring at him. Even though it was a short trip from the dock to the nomad warehouses, on the way to the temp housing they were about four stoplights and every time he pulled up to one, somebody in the line beside him gawked.
And it felt so fucking good.
At the last stoplight he had taken off his helmet to run his gloved hand through his hair and it so happened to be that beside him were three girls in hot pink convertible.
The two in the front were chatting with each other but, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the one in the backseat, a dark haired chick, looking at him wide-eyed. Carefully timing the light and just before he put the helmet back on, he tilted his head to her and gave a slow wink.
Her face got so red he wondered if she had burst a blood vessel in her head, but he couldn't wonder too much about it, the light was green.
Hama Warehouse, Keya Beach, Fukuoka. 5:46 p.m.
Naruto stood at about twenty feet away from the door of the warehouse that was going to be his crashing place for the next week and a half.
In all fairness, it was of a real modern simple concrete structure designed with steel doors with simple and louvered windows, but damn, the welcoming decorations must have been stolen from a six-year-olds birthday party.
Above the broad gate was a huge orange banner with a purple cartoon duck character shouting 'welcome' in bold green and there were speakers at the side of the banner blaring music that was a cross between a techno beat and a mouse hyped up in speed.
"Holy shit," Naruto murmured, elbows on the bike's aircover, "Loud much?"
Getting off the bike hoisting his duffel over his back Naruto joined the queue. When he got to the top Naruto plunked his bag right on the desk of the manager.
"Sir, please r-"
"Oh," Naruto interrupted shifting the bag off the desk and to his feet. "My bad; I'm sorry bro."
The man nodded, "Name and identification, sir."
"Nathan Uno." Naruto replied handing over his ID. "And please, stop that 'sir' shit. I'm not like a duke of England of something."
The guy nodded while jotting down his name and ID number on a pad before him before pausing shuffling a sheaf of papers before pulling one out.
"And sir, y- " the man said just a second before Naruto slanted a narrowed-eyed look at him.
"-I'm sorry Nathan." The man immediately corrected himself. "Do you have any preferences for where you would like your futon?"
"Somewhere in a corner would be good and, um, do you have anywhere I can stash my bike?"
The man then titled his head in consideration for a moment, "At the side of the building there is a small shed where the builders used to store their tools. It's empty now but it had a steel door and a lock. I could give you the key if you want to use it."
"Sure I'll take that." Naruto said with a small shrug, "At least Medusa should be safe enough."
The man squinted, "I'm sorry?"
"Medusa, my bad ass bike; my baby," Naruto leaned in with a mischievous smile on his face, tapping the table between them, "A ticket to tail heaven. Some chicks just see leather and chrome and they go berserk."
The man swallowed looking a bit uncomfortable. "That's... good Nathan; you can store it in there when we're finished here; just know that we are not responsible if it gets stolen or damaged."
"Great," Naruto grinned leaning back. "How much do I owe you, man?"
"Just the standard two thousand yen fee; nothing more," He replied, "Your bed is in section C, right against a corner window, and here is the key to the shed. Have a good stay."
"Thanks." The Uzumaki replied and went out and back to his bike. Kicking up the stand he walked the machine to the shed he was told about, opened it and chained Medusa to a sturdy iron pipe protruding from the wall.
He then walked around the small room checking for any weak points to the structure where thieves could come in and after finding none, walked out and locked the door behind him. Pulling out the key ring for the bike, he added the shed key to it and then went to the warehouse.
The warehouse was a huge open space with a high ceiling, sectioned off by ply board walls to make the different 'rooms'. He passed a sign that directed the way to the bathroom and the shower stall and then made his way to section C.
This 'room' was medium sized with his dark blue futon in a corner and just under a window. He dropped the duffel in the corner beside the bed, placed his palms on the window sill and looked out at the darkening area. "Tick-tock."
Funabashi City, Japan, Northwest of Chiba. 9:45pm
Kyuubi pulled the baseball cap a smidgen down over his dark hair but his nondescript eyes had a hard edge as they stared hard out the window of the bus making it way to the outskirts of Tokyo.
The last forty five minutes had passed in calm peace after he had hopped on the bus to Keisei-Funabashi station.
He needed to get to the big city and then to Kohona. Even though he knew that he could get to Kohona faster if he went straight through the city, his paranoia trumped his desire for revenge so he was going to take a circuitous route to get there and with the other stops he was going to take he had other thirteen hours to get to Kohona.
He was going to stop at Ichihara, catch a ride at Keiyo road, go to Ichikawa and then Koto; from there he would go to Shinjuku, next Tokyo and finally Kohona to kill that bastard Arashi.
The phrase 'no honor among thieves' sprung up in his head like a mockery and he ground his teeth jaw muscle flared up. So this was all the thanks he got for doing them both a favor. Getting hunted down like a stray animal to be put down.
His fist clenched. If he was going down, it was for damn sure that Arashi was going with him.
The Hokkaido Keys Academy, Ryu's Room.11:49 pm
It was nearing midnight and even though he knew he had to get up early the next morning for cali, the young Namikaze still couldn't sleep.
His blank blue eyes were solidly fixed on the ceiling. Even though he didn't want to consciously admit it, the questions Sasuke had asked him before he had left were running through his mind.
When and how was he going to dismantle the Inzei? How was he going to survive the media backlash after his father was convicted (and Arashi was going to be convicted, one way or another; he was sure of that). What if the rest of his family, knowing that it was him that arranged for his father's incarceration, kicked him out of the clan?
And if that didn't happen, was he really ready to pick up the mantle his father, undeniably, was going to leave to him? Was he ready to be the head of the Namikaze family and was he really going to marry a woman and have a child by her just to carry on the Namikaze name?
He sighed and turned around to his stomach, a deep pain settling into his gut with the last question he didn't want to face, 'was he ever going to find someone to truly love and be loved?'
A head of black hair and even darker eyes settled in a beautiful face slithered behind his eyes and he smiled sadly.
It figured; this had to be an act of that bitch karma. Thinking of it he grimaced; he had been spoiled all his life; never really wanted for anything (until Sasuke jumped into the picture)- but Naruto his cousin, who had suffered for all his, who had highly deserved something –or someone- good in his life, had been so fucking lucky for nabbing Sasuke before he had gotten a chance to. Ryu envied Naruto not only for Sasuke, but also for the freedom he was given, even though that freedom had come with a high price.
That freedom allowed him to be separated from this bloodsucking family, that freedom allowed him to choose his own path, that freedom allowed him to be with the one he loved and who, clearly, loved him without having to hide it and lastly, but more importantly, that freedom allowed him to just be himself.
In part, he was happy for Naruto but that didn't stop him from feeling envious.
The next day, the tickets office; near Keya Beach, Kyushu. 8:37 am
Sasuke waited patiently as the person in front him stepped forward in the line that was seven people deep, approaching the desk where a twenty-something woman was taking the information and issuing the tickets for the party circuit of the people gathered.
Hands shoved in his acid washed jeans, Sasuke really wanted to tune out the inane babbling around him. He seriously wanted to pop the earphones resting on his neck over his ears but knew that was a stupid move. He needed to get as much information as he could and that meant watching and listening.
"You'd think this amount of college students would have some measure of sense." Someone muttered darkly behind him.
"And decorum." Sasuke thought immediately, but, curious as to whom the speaker was the Uchiha turned to spot a dark haired teen with a long bang to the right side, had deep blue eyes behind crystal clear glasses, was slender, dressed in a fitted white top and had his arms crossed over his chest.
Sasuke arched an eyebrow silently and was surprised when the teen, not even looking at him said, "Don't even try to pretend; you were probably thinking the same thing."
An onyx eyebrow arched, "Perceptive, aren't you?"
"You could say that," The tall teen replied prodding his glasses up a notch, "But I would say that you aren't that much different."
The Uchiha couldn't hold his curiosity in, "Who are you?"
The boy's eyes glimmered and Sasuke saw knew that, in mere seconds, he had been thoroughly assessed, "It's customary to give you own name before asking others to do the same."
Sasuke's mind sparked alive knowing that he had met someone just like him, "Seth Usegui, and you are?"
"Ishida Uryu." The boy replied calmly but his eyes were still shrewd, "Pardon me, but you don't really strike me as the type to go to these things."
"I could say the same about you," Sasuke returned while eyeing the line as it inched forward, "You don't look the type either, so why are you here?"
"My boyfriend badgered me into it," Uryu's blue eyes rolled, "I swear Ichigo is such a baby sometimes."
Sasuke had to take second to absorb the fact that a total stranger had just admitted to be gay and clearly wasn't afraid to talk about his boyfriend.
"Hn," Sasuke snorted in agreement before he stepped forward and Uryu followed suit, "They can be idiots sometimes."
"And what about you, Usegui?" Uryu asked genially, "Do you have a significant other?"
Sasuke eyed him knowing exactly what he was hinting towards, "No offence, but the whole concept of relationship is just superficial, paltry and pathetic. I don't have them I just… hook up."
"That's kind of dismal," Uryu returned softly while stepping forward, "Why?"
"The human condition," Sasuke replied, "Born alone and die alone. What's the point of chaining yourself to someone who will eventually die too?"
"Happiness, fulfillment, joy, companionship…" Uryu suggested with a sly look, "…Pleasure?"
Sasuke softly scoffed while estimating the time for the person ahead of him to finish his business, "I'll find that on my own terms, not with a ball and chain."
"Is that why you're here?"
Sasuke took a second to carefully phrase his answer. "No, not really, but if it does happen I won't complain. I just wanted to get out of town for a while before I go back to the hellhole of my Uni."
"Really," Uryu asked very interested now, "What are you studying?"
"Double Bachelors degree in Psychology and Sociology, Tokyo U," Sasuke replied, "You?"
"I'm second year medical studies, specializing in oncology, Arrancar Uni," He replied simply facing the line. "It's your turn."
"Give me a minute," Sasuke stepping up to the counter.
"Hello sir," the woman said her bright orange eye shadow making her eyes look like a Pokémon character. "How may I help you?
"Yes," Sasuke relied digging into his back pocket for his wallet, "I'd like to get access to the whole circuit please."
'That's the all-access band for the eleven days correct?"
He nodded.
"Would you prefer the one which includes unlimited alcohol, all beach parties and all of the daytime activities or the one without?" The woman asked.
"Yes, to the first," Sasuke replied evenly.
"Okay, that is sixteen thousand yen and may I have your ID please?"
Silently Sasuke handed her his ID and plucked out his debit card to swipe after she took his identification information. She then nodded, handed him back his card and spun the card machine to him which he deftly ran the card through.
"This is it." She said after popping a wrist band off from a pack of then of them desk beside her.
Seeing his skeptic gaze she smiled knowingly, "They're water proof, sand proof and even alcohol proof; trust me, they have gone through a lot of testing. Would you like it on now?"
Shrugging Sasuke just held out his wrist to allow her to latch the slim ice-blue band around his right wrist. She then pulled out a card.
"With this you will be accepted into anything. And this card tells you the various clubs who partner with the circuit in case you want to have a little fun on the outside." She finished while handing it to him.
Acknowledging her comments with a nod, Sasuke stepped away to allow Uryu to do his thing. He didn't even pretend to not eavesdrop on how he requested two all-inclusive bands for him and Ichigo.
Seeing the soft look on the other boy's face while he was talking to the lady; for some reason Sasuke really wanted to meet this Ichigo.
He pulled out his phone to check the time, just as he sensed Uryu approaching him.
"Where are you staying?" Sasuke was asked very nonchalantly.
"The Bachelor's Guesthouse." The Uchiha replied.
"We're staying at the Koan Fukuoka." Uryu replied, "You know, we should meet up sometime, how about this evening at the Shinka(4) Club."
Sasuke squinted, "Shinka… that's the-"
"Yes." Uryu replied blankly, "So?"
"Well I have nothing else to do, so I guess I can go," Sasuke shrugged, "About nine?"
"That should do," The other teen replied, "I'll see you then."
Sasuke watched the other teen walk off before he placed the earphones over his ears and left himself. Making his way back to the hotel his mind was on three different levels, the first was him wondering if Naruto was settled, the second thinking how tonight might go and the third, wondering if Hydra would break their code and show up before the three day rule.
Stepping into his room Sasuke toed off his shoes, removed his jacket, sat down and took out a small notepad he had gotten at the same time he had acquired the headphones.
The name KONAN was scribbled at the top and under it were multiple theories about her betrayal and over the leaf were possible defense arguments he could use on her behalf when they got convicted.
He knew it that he was doing could be classified as a crazy and that by rights he should be angry, hateful and want to see her suffer and shut up in prison for the rest of her life. He definitely shouldn't be trying to find some way to save her.
Sasuke knew it seemed wrong but something, something in the bottom of his gut, told him that, even though she wasn't innocent, she was just a helpless tool, bound by her own oath, which Orochimaru sadistically used for his own twisted devices.
He knew, even though not blameless, she had been manipulated and brainwashed, and, one way or another, he was going to prove it.
The Kenko Clinic (Hydra base)- Fukuoka. 10:45 pm. The Medicine Distribution Room.
A pale hand pushed large black rimmed round glasses up a straight nose and onyx eyes double checked the prescription before him.
"Well all seems in order Ms. Hanaka," Kabuto said, jotting down something in the left corner of the paper, "I have your Methotrexate and Ibuprofen right here. I just need to sign this receipt and it's all yours."
The fifty-something woman smiled and carefully took up the pen then just as carefully scribbled her name on the slip of paper.
"Arigato Yakushi-san." She bowed as deep as she could then shuffled out of the room, the cloying scent of peppermint, baby powder and cat dander leaving the room with her.
"Yakushi," A deep voice with tobacco scratch called from the inner room, "Come here."
As the waiting room was empty, the silver haired man shuttered the window slightly then stepped out from behind the desk and made his way to the inner room where Hidan was leaning on a table with sheets of papers before him.
Kabuto knew exactly what was going on and he smiled. "So, I assume that you have picked out the prospects for our… holiday fun."
The taller man smiled maliciously, "Not really, but by the increased traffic inflow, we definitely have some new guinea pigs."
Kabuto pulled up a chair, "New blood; perfect. Where?"
Hidan shrugged, "The typical, nomad warehouses, hotels, inns. Those are the circuit babies. We don't need to focus on the day tourists much. Besides, we need to get back in the rhythm, you know after what happened with the shipment…Master would be disappointed if we didn't follow through with his sanctified work."
At the reference to Orochimaru, Kabuto entire demeanor changed, he snarled and his fist met the iron table, "I wish I could wrap my hands around the fucking Uchiha's neck and just twist; he got our Master killed. I want him dead!"
Hidan scowled himself, "I know and I want to do the same, but Master made us swear to not go after the Uchiha or his brother, remember."
Kabuto's face darkened in rage, his fist clenching, "I know, but fuck, if Uchiha could only just drop in our hands."
The Kemnai Lodge; 5 miles away from Keya Beach. 01: 35 p.m
Neji unlocked his single room door and inside the room, instantly removed his jacket before pulling out his arm band for the party circuit. He then glanced at the list of the names of the parties and rolled his eyes; they were all clichéd water themes, starting from gentle water names like 'tide' all the way to 'torrent' and 'whirlpool.'
Then his moonstone eyes then turned to the schedule for the day activities that were slated to start the next morning, which was the day when party started. There was open space for beach volleyball matches and he wondered if he should show up then or the next morning. No matter what Naruto had taunted him about being in danger of burning his 'lily white skin', he really wanted some exercise.
Neji crossed the floor, pulling off clothing as he went. He needed a shower too. Nagato was going to contact them by the fourth day, after they had settled in and were sure that they weren't discovered.
Stepping inside the shoebox bathroom he entered the shower enclosure and allowed the warm water to cascade over his body, carefully focusing on the water plastering his hair to his back and not to obsess about what might happen in the next few days.
Kasagi, Soraku District, Kyoto Prefecture, The House of Dajimu. 4:35
Madara brushed a stray drop of rain off his cloak and allowed a servant to remove the thick material from off his shoulders.
"Welcome your Eminence," Dajimu said bowing slightly to the older man. "I presume that your trip was a pleasant one?"
Madara smirked twisting his head to look around the foyer, "If it hadn't been your henchman would have been drawn and quartered by now."
Seasoned by the older man's colloquiums Dajimu just mentally sighed, "Your villa is prepared, my lord. Kani will take you there."
Madara nodded, "I expect my usual fare this evening."
"Yes sir," Dajimu answered, "Your kaiseki-ryori(5) is being prepared and you will be served in a few minutes after you get settled."
Madara's lips pursed, "Acceptable. Now if you will show me to my quarters."
The underlying words were, "You will tell me every detail about what's going to happen in twenty four hours."
"Of course," Dajimu answered knowing that he was going to give up all the details for deceiving Baji, "Please, follow me."
The Nomad Warehouse; 7:48 pm.
Naruto stepped out the shower room running his hand through his damp hair and went back to the main room only to bump into a guy with a dark head of electrocuted hair that he'd know anywhere.
Kiba.
"Sorry man." Naruto said hands up as familiar hazel eyes turned to him, "Wasn't watching where I was going. You okay?"
Kiba's face lightened in recognition for a moment and his mouth opened for a moment before he remembered that he was a stranger talking to another stranger and should be acting.
In a second Kiba scowled and raked a hand through his already messed hair before twisting around, "Yeah but I just can't find my section for shit."
"Where did the guy at the front tell you?" Naruto asked offhand, immensely glad that Kiba hadnt blown it.
"Section D," Kiba groused spinning around once more just as Naruto nonchalantly pointed behind over his shoulder, "You'd think they'd put up some sign or somet- shit."
Naruto couldn't control his grin.
"How the fuck did I not see that? Kiba groused slapping a hand over his eyes, "I must be more tired than I thought. Fucking five hour drive from the ass of nowhere."
"Don't worry about it dude. It happens." Naruto smirked, "What's your name by the way?"
"Koji," Kiba returned eyeing Naruto over, "You?"
"Nathan." The Uzumaki returned calmly looking over the room that was starting to fill in, "I so want to get out of here."
Kiba shrugged, "Me too. Ya know, coming in I heard some guy talking about a club called Shinka or something. From how he was talking it sounds raging, wanna go?"
Naruto squinted, "Didn't you just get here and didn't you say you're tired?"
"So what?" Kiba shrugged, "I came and now I want to leave. I may be tired but I didn't come here to sleep. I came here to par-tay. So, I'll just stash my stuff and we'll ditch, 'kay."
Broad shoulders shrugged, "Sure, just let me grab my jacket and wallet."
"Backatcha," Kiba said walking to his section, "Gimme a minute."
The Skinka Club; Near Keya Beach, 8:55 pm.
The Shinka Club, as the English equivalent 'evolution' meant, was a club that allowed everyone; heretos, bisexuals, gays and even those of the undefined, to gather in the pansexual club.
Sasuke stepped inside, clad in a long black sleeved Henley and dark blue jeans and scanned the room with a wary eye.
A girl passed him while her fuchsia contacts scanned him from head to toe. Sasuke just carefully ran his hand through his hair, a hand that had a rainbow bracelet with a male pendant dangling from it.
She giggled and turned away.
Sasuke immediately turned to scanning the room again for Uryu and spotted him at the bar, clad again in white, his right hand holding a drink and his other scrolling through his phone.
Careful to not touch any of the mingling people between him and the bar, Sasuke meandered his way over to the Ishida.
A foot away from the other teen Uyru looked up and smiled, "You're here."
Hand shoved in his pockets Sasuke shrugged, "Apparently."
"Do you drink?"
Sasuke was about to answer when a loud laugh rang through the air; a laugh with a specific tone and timbre Sasuke would know anywhere.
Sasuke froze his spine going ramrod straight; what-was-Naruto-doing-here?
He shouldn't be anywhere near him before the three days they had been ordered to observe…but then again, the blond was unconventional. He forced his head to not turn but at the same time the hairs on the back of his neck rose and he knew blue eyes were travelling over his skin and had to fight to not shiver.
"Not really, but considering what I said I came here for I just might." Sasuke answered.
"Okay…" Uryu said nodding over Sasuke's shoulder, "By the way, someone is staring at you."
Sasuke twisted quickly and saw a more than familiar head of Naruto's electric blond hair, clad in a tight blue shirt, destroyed jeans and his father's necklace. In his hand was a dark bottle of beer and he was flashing a canine grin to the girl who was talking to him.
In a second Naruto looked over, met his eyes, smiled and tilted his beer to him. Sasuke turned away.
"He's cute." Uryu mentioned.
"He's also blond." Sasuke snorted.
"Well," a new and deeper voice said behind him, "That's kind of rude."
Sasuke shifted in time to see a tall and, more importantly, blond haired guy tug Uryu into him and press his lips on the slender boy's forehead.
"You okay babe?"
And in that moment Sasuke felt like something had just slapped him over the head hard; this had to be Ichigo, Uryu's boyfriend and Sasuke, like an ass, had just disrespected him… the both of them indirectly.
"Who's that Uryu?" Ichigo asked not moving his gaze from his boyfriend but had jerked his head towards the silent Uchiha.
Uryu smiled, "Don't take it too hard Ichigo, Seth has a… different look on life than we do."
"Really?" Ichigo asked facing the Uchiha this time, looking him straight in his eyes, "And what would that be?"
"Apathy," Sasuke said not flinching from his gaze but knew that his next move was going to look so pathetic, "I'm sorry, I need to use the restroom."
Uryu frowned for a moment, then shrugged and just pointed to the left. "Over there."
Sasuke nodded and walked away to the bathroom, trying to force his mind back into a stable place. Naruto was here; Naruto; who he wasn't supposed to see before three days. How the hell was he going to play this?
Mercifully the restroom was empty and he walked to the farthest sink, wet his palms and pressed them to his face.
Mentally running over the specifics of his psych profile; the words 'condescending' and 'entitled' flew up, so in case Nartuo tried to make a move on him, (and the odds were he would), Sasuke would be a 'holier-than-thou' asshole.
His teeth grit as he shoved Sasuke Uchiha as far back into the depths of his mind and embodied Seth Usegui while he ripped a paper towel from the dispenser. "Asshole it is."
Squaring his shoulders Sasuke stepped out of the lavatory and not even a step away conveniently bumped into the Uzumaki's back.
'A little too much of perfect timing, isn't it.' Sasuke thought acidly.
"Move." Sasuke ordered with a scowl.
Naruto turned around, "Really, considering it was you who bumped into me, I'm kinda thinkin' an apology would be the first thing you'd say to me."
Sasuke leaned back, fully in condescension mode, "And I was thinking that someone with basic knowledge of society would know to not block the door to a bathroom."
Blue eyes glimmered, "I don't think I'm that big to block a whole door."
"When was the last time you looked into a mirror?" Sasuke sniped. "You're an elephant."
"And you're a weed," Naruto offered, "What's your point?"
"Wow," Sasuke drawled, "I'm actually surprised that you know the difference between 'you're' and 'your'. Coincidentally, I'm still waiting for you to move."
"And coincidentally, I'm still waiting for you to apologize." Naruto mocked.
Sasuke was going to play ball, so he leaned back and stuck his hands into his pockets, "Okay I'll give, what is your name?"
"Nathan."
"Well Nathan," Sasuke said so clearly that nearby people could overhear, "I'm very sorry that you have been born stupid, grown up into a moron and blossomed into a fully fledged idiot. I'm also absolutely sorry that you must have been dropped on your head multiple times, clearly the cause of your inanity and the most probable cause of you not knowing to not block a bathroom's door."
The low sound of snickers sounded beside them and Naruto's grin faltered for a moment then his lips morphed into a sly smile.
"Oh, I see how it is; you're clearly on your period." Naruto smirked taking a swig of his beer and twisting around to peer into the crowd, "You know I think a girlfriend of mine has some tampons on her, d'you want one?"
The snickers grew into laughs.
Sasuke bristled so hard his body went as stiff as iron. "I don't have time for this stupidity. Just move so I won't contract your stupidly by osmosis and my brain doesn't dribble out of my ears. "
Naruto didn't move but a certain look that Sasuke received from him made the raven haired boy get tense.
"What do you want?" Sasuke growled.
"If you weren't spitting fire, I'd ask you if you wanted to dance." Naruto said with that infuriating smirk still on his face.
"Not if you were the last human on this planet." Sasuke dismissed.
"I kinda expected that," Naruto's broad shoulders shrugged as he stepped aside. "... Can't promise this is over though."
"Whatever moron," Sasuke scowled and shouldered his way pass. He was about three steps away when he heard Kiba's voice,
"Dude, who the fuck was that?" Kiba pretended.
"I have no idea," Naruto faked, "But I wanna mess with him."
In ten more seconds Sasuke had spotted Uryu and Ichigo in another corner of the room, reached them and uttered an apology to the duo that who were not really cuddling but were doing something extremely close to it. Uryu was nestled in the crook of Ichigo's side with his boyfriend's arm over his shoulder.
As he stopped, another one of Naruto's laugh traveled over and Sasuke tensed, almost imperceptibly, but Uryu's sharp eyes noticed his stiffness.
"Ichigo is still wondering what your look on life was," Uryu commented while leaning back on the taller man.
A black brow arched, "Why were you talking about me when I'd assume you have other, more important, things to do?"
Ichigo shrugged, "Uryu… doesn't really make friends easily, so I wanted to know why you two got along so quickly."
Sasuke's lips twisted, "I guess it's be-"
"Ichigo!" Naruto called holding out his fist, "Hey man, didn't know you'd be here."
The other blonde startled for a moment before he pulled away from Uryu with a wide grin and bumped his fist with the Uzumaki, "And I didn't know you'd be here too Nathan. Whatcha' drinking man, can I get you something?"
"Don't worry about it," Naruto said holding up his beer, "I'm good."
Uryu discreetly cleared his throat and Ichigo turned clearly with the intentions of introducing them but Naruto got there first.
"You must be Uryu, right?"
Sasuke silently wondered how on earth Naruto had known that.
"Yes, I am," Uryu replied eyeing the blond haired teen beside him, "I guess my blabbermouth boyfriend somehow told you about me."
A tan hand scratched the back of Naruto's neck with an easy smile, "We met at the dock and he didn't actually tell me about you, he just kinda mumbled your name. Don't freak out, he didn't say anything embarrassing."
"I would hope not." Uryu smile was sinister. "Or he'd never hear the end of it."
"So I'm guessing you have a way words huh," Naruto smiled with a sly look to a silent Sasuke, "Just like him I suppose."
Uryu squinted, "You've met?
"Briefly," Naruto said, "I happened to 'blocking the bathroom door' and he said and I quote, "you have been born stupid, grown up into a moron and blossomed into a fully fledged idiot. I'm also absolutely sorry that you must have been dropped on your head multiple times, clearly the cause of your inanity and the most probable cause of you not knowing to not block the bathroom door."
Ichigo's eyes widened as Uryu stifled a laugh.
Sasuke crossed his arms over his chest, "So you've remembered all if it, I'm vaguely impressed."
"I do have a brain you know."
"Congratulations, you can give yourself a golden star in the morning." Sasuke scathed while rolling his eyes and turning away to press his way through the other patrons to the bar, "I'm going to get a drink."
Sasuke reached the long bar, intensively aware the Naruto's eyes were on his back and gave the Uzuamaki less than five minutes to catch up with him.
In three he was proven right.
"So how about that dance?" Naruto asked leaning backwards on the bar table.
"Are you a masochistic or something?" the Uchiha asked, "You don't give up, do you?"
"Nope."
Taking a deep breath the Uchiha did his best to ignore him and turned away, only to feel that Naruto's had shifted and was way too close to him for comfort.
Sasuke had gone stiff with the earthy smell of his boyfriend's skin in his nose, the heat of his breath and the extremely close proximity. He really wanted to just shuck everything to the wind to have Naruto's arms wrap around him but he had a job to do and a part to play.
His mission took priority, not his feelings. He waited until the bartender was in earshot and asked.
"Why the fuck are you doing this?"
One shoulder shrugged as a hand twirled the empty bottle, "You're cute, bitchy, but cute."
He turned with the most sinister snarl on his face, "Listen to me moron, there is no way on Earth I'd do anything with an idiot like you. Go away, it will never happen."
Immediately blue eyes crowded Sasuke's vision and a husky voice dropped to downright sultry, "You're sure about that?"
Sasuke swallowed hard but managed to push him off, "Yes."
A mischievous smile crossed Naruto's face as he stepped back, "We'll see."
Swallowing Sasuke gestured for a bartender to come over and ordered a shot of straight vodka. He really needed to get his head back in place.
Slamming the shot back, Sasuke closed his eyes as the burning liquid met his stomach and after a grimace gave a sigh and pressed the chilled shot glass to his forehead.
He could do this; he had to do this, even though it was harder that fuck.
"Seth?"
Black eyes blinked to see a slightly concerned Uryu standing beside him, "Are you okay?"
"Yes," Sasuke replied, "Just needed a drink."
The other teen twisted, "Where'd Nathan go?"
Black clad shoulders shrugged, "Who cares, I don't."
"Really," Uryu surmised, "That's a shame, he was into you."
"Well I'm not into him." Sasuke declared, "Can we do something else, anything else?"
Uryu thought for a second, "Well the dance floor is filling up, want to do that?"
A tight smile crossed Sasuke's face, "I don't dance but you go ahead, I'll entertain myself otherwise."
Sasuke found himself at a mini table on the upstairs level, against the railing looking down on the dance floor that was quickly turning into a mosh pit while nursing a flask of vodka mixed with cranberry juice.
He spotted Uryu and Ichgo dancing with each other but his eyes were trained on the other dancing blond below, who, by no rational explanation would just look up to the exact spot where Sasuke was and give a mysterious smile.
"Let the games begin, usurontankashi." He mumbled.
The Bachelor's Guesthouse, Sasuke's Room 1:56 am
Sasuke clicked the air-condition control to get temperature a bit warmer so his body wouldn't go into shock, before slowly removing his clothes.
His mind was solidly fixed on what had happened in the club and he was vacillating between feeling proud of what had happened and wondering if he should have played it off differently. He worried if by being such a total asshole he had left Uryu and his boyfriend with a bad impression because they seemed like good people.
And maybe, just maybe, it might work out for the best.
Dragging a tank over his head he sighed sitting on the edge of the bed. Staring into space he realized that one way or another, to protect them both, it had to be done.
The Nomad Warehouse; 02:10 am.
"Fuck," Kiba groaned stumbling inside his room and over to his futon, "I'm so wasted."
"Yeah," Naruto agreed grabbing at the drunk Inuzuka before he tripped and clocked his head on the wall, "Can't argue with you there buddy."
"So, that girly dude you were talking to, did he give it up or what?" Kiba asked seemingly out of it.
A dark blond brow ticked, Naruto realized that Kiba, in his drunken state was coherent enough to still pull off the act, "Nope and I don't think I'm gonna hit that till the world freezes over, like twice."
"That's bad bro," Kiba sighed his eyes bobbing, "'m sorry. What's his name again?"
"Seth… something." Naruto shrugged, noting from the corner of his eyes that the other guys in the room were shooting glances his way. "But whatever, dude, it happens…we'll see though."
"Yea-a-ah-AH!" Kiba yawned flashing his canines, "by the way didja see that chic we passed coming in- she's kinda hot."
Damn. He was dragging TenTen into the mix. Who knew Kiba was this good…or…or wait… was it his subconscious, freed by booze, talking?
A smirk crossed Naruto's face, "The chic with the two buns and the army pants?"
"Yeah, she's hot." Kiba slurred while turning on his side fully clothed, "Imma crash so hard, later bro."
The first night of the party: 'Wade': 10:16 p.m.
Even though he knew it was such a stereotypical thing for a gay male, Sasuke had carefully chosen (a.k.a obsessed over) his clothes for the night to make it plain that he wasn't going to swim.
He had put on dark jeans, thick socks that could block the grains of sand from clogging his soldier boots and a long sleeved white shirt with an obsidian dragon printed on the back with its head of sharp fangs and vicious claws climbing over his shoulder to his left pectoral.
As token, the line for passing through the beach gates was long and crowded, but Sasuke, even though his foot was tapping with impatience, silently waited to pass through. A few feet inside he stopped to really asses what he had walked into.
Even though it was night, this part of the beach was lined off with Chinese lanterns tied to bamboo poles stuck in the sand; the light from each gave off a light golden haze to make the area visible, and from what he could determine, the sea was empty.
The partiers were an eclectic mix of women clad in bright bikinis with thin shawls wrapped around them while others wore full bathing suits that disappeared into tiny shorts; all of them sporting glistening jewelry galore. The men were mostly wearing t-shirts or tanks but some were bare-chested to show their tattoos. All had on board shorts or cut off jeans, most wore slippers or went barefooted with their hands firmly grasping beers or clear cups with alcohol.
At the waterfront, a few feet from the seashore, a few couples were actually laying on beach towels with coolers stuck in the sand, wrapped up in each other's arms, having eyes only for each other under the weak moonlight.
Sasuke turned and by happenstance happened to get a glimpse of Neji, clad in full white from head to toe; Capri shorts and white tank with his hair banded back by a white strip of cloth, holding a cup of ice blue liquid and chatting with some guys.
"Put me down!" a very familiar voice called.
He turned again and his eyes widened slightly, TenTen was on a guy's shoulder clutching at his head and giggling.
The guy grasped her legs and with a twist she was in his arms, bridal style and laughing. In another second she was on the floor playfully slapping his chest. The guys ran his hands down her back over her hunter green bathing suit till he grasped her ass.
Smiling TenTen gently removed his hands and pushed them to his chest and said something to him. Sasuke just rolled his eyes and moved around, keeping an eye out for Uyru and, more importantly, anyone from Hydra.
After twenty minutes of searching through the crowd he realized that Uryu and his boyfriend wasn't there and neither was any of Orochimaru's minions.
Seems like Hydra was keeping to their schedule; damn.
Walking around Sasuke couldn't keep track of how many people proposed him, men and women alike. Some with flirting looks and some bolder to even reach out and touched him. Swallowing his repulsion Sasuke made sure that each one was turned down with a polite refusal but a stony gaze.
After a full hour it was more than evident that tonight was a loss. Well, whatever; he could always make the best of it. The grainy sensation in the back of his throat from inhaling grains of sand irritated him. He needed a drink so he made a roundabout way to it and used an exit to enter the bar.
"A shot of Jack Daniels, straight." Sasuke requested facing the bartender, his forearms braced on the bars wooden counter, not even looking at the others near him; he just need to get this irritation from his throat .
"...Straight...sure..." came Naruto's mocking tease from just two feet away."...I bet you're real straight ...like a fucking circle."
Oh. Fuck. No. How did he not see him?
Blatant titters sound nearby just as a vein in the side of Sasuke's temple pulsed. He seriously wanted to...do something but couldn't sort out his emotions enough to know what.
Absently though, Sasuke was impressed with Naruto sticking in his character. Speaking of which... He needed to stick to his.
In a wordless to the taunt Sasuke just simple held up his wrist with the rainbow patterned wristband and after a second flicked up his middle finger.
He heard the clunk of Naruto's beer bottle on the table's counter. "Seems like I was wrong, you're gay, so frikkin' what? You might be gay... but the princess kind of gay."
At that Sasuke spun on his chair seething, "What the fuck did you just call me moron?"
At this Naruto leaned forward, a salacious smirk on his face his shoulders twitching under the faded leather.
"I called you a princess. Yaknow, one of those gay guys who have a metal stick so far up your ass it's a miracle it's not coming out of their mouth."
Sasuke's teeth grit. "Fuck off asshole. I really don't have time to entertain your stupidity."
Naruto leaned back his bottle of beer up in the air in a victory jab "And that's what I'm talking about! Thank you for proving me right, ice princess."
Sasuke moved to get off the chair about to put his fist in the blonde's face, until he heard,
"Seth!"
Neji's voice cut through the air, stopping Sasuke in his tracks, his eyes widening a bit. Oh fuck him.
"And here comes Prince Charming to rescue his Princess!" Naruto hooted waving his bottle of Smirnoff paired with a fake sniffle, "So cute, I think I'm gonna cry."
"What is it Nathaniel?" Sasuke seethed not moving his blistering gaze from Naruto's blond head.
"I have to cancel on the volleyball competition," Neji said smoothly, giving off the vibe that they knew each other from before, "Email from my professors; I need to catch up on some...work."
What. The. Fuck. Was. Neji. Doing?
He shot a quick look at Neji's face and saw the hint of a sadistic smirk on his lips. Fucking asshole Hyuuga, he was enjoying this.
"And that's code for 'I'm punking out'!" Naruto upended his bottle and pointed its mouth to Sasuke. "I'm surprised that you even thought of going into the sun. Why would you want to burn that baby white skin of yours?"
At that Sasuke did react then and in two steps grabbed and fisted Naruto's jacket, "You don't want to fuck with me."
"Oh man!" Naruto called his face extremely delighted. "Kitten's got claws."
The amount of vitriol Sasuke put in that glare made the people near him flinch away but, typically, Naruto didn't. He stayed the same place with that infuriating grin on his.
"So you wanna play huh, I'll deal; how about a one on one volleyball match tomorrow at eight."
Sasuke pushed him off in apparent disgust. "If you want to show how incompetent you are sure."
Naruto checked his watch. "Thanks for the compliment, but I think I need to hear the words, 'I am in', to be sure, can you say that for me?"
"I already agreed," Sasuke snarled, "Do you want it notarized too?"
"Nah, not necessary. Eight o'clock sharp and make sure to put a lot of sun tan lotion on tomorrow Princess. I don't want you to burn up."
He was turning away when TenTen called over very loudly, "Why don't you guys make a bet?"
Sasuke stopped dead in his tracks his left eye ticking severely. "N-"
"Damn good idea," Naruto grinned turning back, "What do you say, Princess?"
The majority of the bar patrons were looking at them and Sasuke really didn't want to come off as some kind of flunkey so Sasuke crossed his arms and looked him straight in his eyes, "More than happy to… if I win I want you to leave me the fuck alone for the rest of the circuit."
Naruto leaned in his eyes dancing, "Are you really sure you want that?"
Trying to squash his reaction to Naruto's deep, husky voice Sasuke nodded. "Yes, and do you want?"
Naruto's lips twitched. "Me, I want to get under your skin for the rest of the days here."
Sasuke frowned. "Get under my skin, how?"
"It means," Naruto smirked devilishly, "That for the next ten days you will only dance, drink, get smashed or high with me only."
"Does that include taking a piss too?" Sasuke snapped out before he could think.
"Nope," Naruto replied blithely, "But if you want a no-strings-attached guilt fuck, I'd be more than happy to do it."
"Not even in your wildest fantasies." Sasuke scoffed.
The grin on Naruto's face wasn't very comforting. "Trust me Princess; you don't want to know what's in my fantasies."
"Whatever; just get lost." Sasuke scowled turning away.
"Dude," Kiba materialized at Uzumaki's side, his eyes narrowed at Sasuke's turned back, talking so loud his voice carried. "You sure about that dude, 'cause that bastard looks like he wants to cut your balls off."
"I'll take my chances Koji," Naruto said, clapping Kiba on the back. "Somehow... I think I might get more than I might lose."
"Well, it's your funeral, man." Kiba said turning away.
The Bachelor's Guesthouse, 01:35 p.m
Sasuke flopped on his bed with a deep groan; every-single-muscle in his body was screaming bloody murder.
The Uchiha knew that the hotels' cleaning staff must be wondering what kind of mutated version of Spiderman's Sandman had wrecked their place what with the mounds of sand dumped in the lobby and they by the line of sand leading up the stairs that could probable track him to his room, but currently he couldn't care less.
He shifted and groaned, he had sand in unimaginable places.
"Fuck you Naruto." He grumbled. "I so fucking hate you."
Flashback- The Keya Beach, the Volleyball court entrance….07:50 a.m.
Sasuke just flashed his band to the gatekeeper for the section of the beach where the volleyball nets were, his mind gearing up for the match with Naru- Nathan.
Nathan his mind scolded, not Naruto, NATHAN.
Rolling his eyes walked over to the sign-up sheet tacked to a wall he saw, Nathan's name scribbled on court three on the map. That was one of the inner courts pushed back to interior of the beach.
Sasuke shrugged; he didn't know why the blond had chosen that place and he didn't really care.
Passing a mirror he glimpsed himself clad in white board shorts and a deep blue tank. This morning he had been careful to smear himself with copious amount of sunscreen, not only because he'd been told to (stop fooling yourself his subconscious taunted) but also to cut the chances of looking like a boiled lobster
He turned and walked with a determined stride to the court and spotted the riotous look of blond bedhead about thirty feet away.
Naruto was dressed in a faded white t-shirt and orange shorts, and darker blue bandana tied around his head and on his arm band on his wrist.
"So you've decided to show up." He called over twisted to face him. "Nice to know you didn't punk out."
"I never punk out idiot," Sasuke replied, "And I damn sure won't here."
Lips pulled up to reveal a white canine, "We'll see about that."
Naruto ducked under the net to the other side and jerked his head to the side, "Stash your shoes over there and let's start this party, princess."
Already irritated, Sasuke toed off his sneakers and with deadly accuracy flung them at the side of the court, his now bare feet digging into the soft sand.
"Heads up."
Sasuke reacted and snatched the ball out of the air, "What are you doing baka?"
"Giving you a head start," Naruto said flexing his shoulders, "Ya' gonna need it."
"Are you that cocky?" Sasuke dared.
"Yes." Naruto said stepping back, "Serve princess."
Sasuke gave him one more look, shifted his feet and hoisted the ball into the air.
Twenty minutes later…
What the fuck was it with him, Naruto and fucking crowds?
Sasuke slammed his fist in the sand and pushed off from the grainy ground and hopped up, trying hard to block out the people standing at the edges of the court watching on.
He shook his shirt trying to make the sand that seemed pressure pressed into his skin get loose.
Why? Sasuke had a few theories; the first was that the people from last night who had overheard them, wanted to see how it played out, second, that the first half had passed with them both going above and beyond athleticism, fighting hard with every trick in their arsenal to keep the ball in the air, (they even sneaked in some martial arts moves to keep the ball in the air) and third, their energy just drew people to them like moths to a flame.
Now the score was tied at seven all.
If they were to go to the standard twenty one to win the match would take hours or something drastic to push the score forward because both had no intentions of losing.
"You okay princess?"
Sasuke scowled and grabbed the ball, "Shut. Up."
Naruto stepped back from the net, "Jeez, keep you panties on."
A huff fluttered a black bang as Sasuke palmed the ball and narrowed his focus to the blond, "Ready?"
Koto, Outside of Tokyo. 10:09 a.m
Kyuubi shoved the rest of his burger in his mouth, scanning the street for any sign of someone who might be tailing him.
He knew it was unnecessary because of the convoluted route he had taken made it sure that no one could have ever followed him, but his paranoia was still like a hammer in the back of his head. He was three hours out of Kohona and the minute he stepped into the town he was going to lie low, do some recon and map out Arashi's schedule to get the best time to attack.
The Namikaze might be as busy as fucking bee but he had to have some downtime; like go a favored restaurant or a bar, or who the hell knows maybe a seedy whorehouse in the slums of the city to get his rocks off. Arashi, no matter how perfect he looked, had to have a guilty pleasure, all men of his statue had one, and he, for damn sure, was going to find it.
Right now Kyuubi was going to use every opportunity given to him. He had read about a beautiful secretary the mogul had named Kayuga and if he played his card tight he might have an inn by her.
Crumpling the paper wrapper he tossed it into the trash bin, tugged the cap over his eyes and got up to walk down the sidewalk.
"Hey!"
Kyuubi stepped back to divert his gaze from the business man that he had just bumped into, angry glare.
"I'm sorry, wasn't looking."
"Hmph." The man snorted and after placing his cell phone back to his ear, walked off. It was only when he was around the corner Kyuubi pulled out the man's wallet and the bills stuffed inside.
He pulled out his ID, and the features that looked very similar to his stared at him.
"Thank you, Jun Kensai, nice to be you."
Flashback- The Volleyball Court, 12; 35 p.m.
Sasuke threw himself forward, fingers out to stop the ball from hitting the ground; his fingertips were less than an inch from the ball.
'No…no-no-no-NO!" Sasuke's mind screamed as the ball, in torturous slow motion, hit the sand and bounced once.
Naruto had won, by one, frikkin', point.
"FUCK!" he shouted, his fist striking the ground, sitting back on his haunches scowling, acutely aware that Naruto was doing a victory yell and dance
His eyes closed tight as he heard applause sounded from the edges of the court for what had to be the most entertaining volleyball match of the century.
It was time to swallow his pride and man up.
Standing up, Sasuke scraped sand off his arm and went to the net, waiting patiently for him to stop posturing.
A minute…two…five…six…
"BAKA!" Sasuke shouted impatient, wanting to get the man's attention, "Are you about done?"
Naruto flashed him a cocky grin, "No, but I can wait. So…."
"You win." Sasuke said solidly.
"Yes, I did." Naruto crooned.
"By one point idiot, that's not a reason to get cocky." Sasuke shot back annoyed, mostly with himself but no one needed to know that.
"It is," He said threading his fingers through the net, "Tomorrow is the second beach bash Tide, so tonight at the Amnesia Club, ten, okay."
Nodding curtly Sasuke left the court, ignoring the admirable and even flirtations l0oks he was been given.
That was half an hour ago and now he was destroying the hotels' sheets with the sand that was still lodged into his clothes.
His head turned to the side, eyes closed; he didn't want to think about what was going to happen later.
NSA Headquaters, Fort Meade, Maryland,
The cup of that previously held coffee that now only held marshmallow vodka was placed back on his desk as Yuura squinted at the chart before him, only to sigh.
Arashi's financial records were spotless, there was no sign of large sums of money being transferred or removed in the past twenty years.
If the notes by Nagato were even half accurate, this man had paid the Russian some money to execute his brother and his wife, but there was no indication of anything of the kind.
"Come on," Yuura grumbled scrolling down, "Give me something."
He got to the end of the page and refrained from slamming his head on the desk in frustration.
"Fucking smart asshole, which back doo-"
Then it hit. If he wasn't getting anything from Arashi, he must get something from the Russian. Kyuubi might be smart, but he wasn't as tech savvy as Arashi to manipulate his records or had the connections to get someone to do it.
Fingers fugitively crossed Yuura hacked into the bank that handled all Russian government employees and quickly got Avilov Kyuubi's bank account. From there it was a simple job of accessing his account and filter out the major transactions.
One deposit jumped up; December 20, 1999, Received from offshore Bank of Shanghai account; 11004879 . Sum of $20, 000, 000.00.
"Holy shit!" Yuura exclaimed feeling a rush of endorphins hit his head. There was no way that came from anyone else from Arashi. He felt giddy about the find but had to concentrate, even though half of the battle was won, he had to find the source account.
Feeling a rush of giddy energy that not even PCP could give him (and believe him, he'd done a lot of PCP), Yuura pulled up another search engine. "Midas, you're up."
Kohonagaure Military Academy; A club room – 3:30 p.m
He had been running this moment through his mind for all of last night and the majority of this morning, how he was going to break up the Inzei.
He knew the people in the little… club if his, would be confused and angry, but after pondering over it for a moment he decided that he couldn't care less. Let them be angry and confused; he would bet his arm that in less than a week they would find something else to distract them.
"It over," Ryu said to the seven people in the room, boys on the edge of manhood, the heirs of the most affluent families in the five countries.
"Huh?" A boy from the Fūma clan asked wide eyes, "Why?"
"Yea," Hagoromo Ichizo cut in, "What's the deal Namikaze, why now? I mean, we've had a good ride ever since you started it, what changed?"
Kagestsu Joro didn't say anything but nodded in agreement.
"Because I want to," Ryu said stonily, "I made the Inzei and I can break it and I don't have to explain why to any of you. Just accept that it's over and move on. It's time we moved on."
"…It's the other guy, the other blond, isn't it," Taketori Kumno asked quietly, "he made you do this, right."
Ryu pinned him with a hard look, "No. I did it for me. Right now I have more fish to fucking fry than dealing with a bunch of boys who don't want to grow the fuck up."
"Ryu-" Shito tried.
"No Akimichi, this is not a discussion or debate. It is over, it's all over!" Ryu snarled, "It's done!"
"No it isn't, you're just screwing with us." Wasabi Ahihiko said.
Ryu pinned him with an icy look that glinted with sadism, "You don't want to try me Wasabi; if your old man wants to keep that Degarashi port I'd advise you to shut the hell up, now and accept it."
The Wabasi heir swallowed knowing that ownership of that port was the one thing he had joined the Inzei in trade for Ryu's access to their ships.
Ahihiko clamped his mouth so hard his teeth clicked.
"That's what I thought," Ryu grated, "This little club never happened. Forget even the word Inzei and move on."
A look passed between the gathered, some agreed and other just nodded, not happily mind you but they still nodded.
"Good," Ryu said, "Now get out."
After they had gone, a little of the steel in Ryu's spine gave out, and his eyes closed, mentally ticking one thing off his list, "Well, that's one thing done."
PSOCK, Private Sector Oversight Committee of Kohona. Upstate Kohonagakure, 3:30 p.m.
"Kaguya," Arashi pressed the intercom, "Have you gotten any notice about Chen's arrival?"
"As a matter of fact, Sir, I was just about to call you." His secretary said, "An agent from the airline has told me she just landed Kyoto. An courier from the hotel just picked her up and she's fine. She will be in Kohona by the latest tomorrow evening."
Arashi closed his eyes; at least there was one thing going right today, "Thank you Kaguya."
A pause, "Sir…are you… alright?"
The Namikaze stopped, "Why do you think so?"
"You just sound flustered," Kayuga answered carefully, "Is there anything I can get do for you?"
Arashi sighed, he felt so old, "Yes, do you remember that restaurant I love, on the south side of the Kohana, near the terminal."
"The one owned by Sarutobi?" Kaygua asked.
"Yes, that one." Arashi replied, "I haven't had their signature beef dish in years. Could you get it for me, and get yourself something too, use the company card."
"Sure Sir." Kaguya answered, "I'll call the car."
"Thank you."
Down street from the Kohonagakure Terminal; 6:35 p.m.
Kyuubi got one sniff of the smell coming from the place beside him and immediately felt his stomach grumble. He glanced up at the sign overhead and read; 'The Sandaime Steakhouse'.
"God knows I want some of that."
He stepped into the Western style restaurant and glanced around, a waitress in black, carrying a tray of steaming beef and potatoes walked past. It took everything in Kyuubi to not allow his nose to lead him after the woman.
Fortunately, another woman, looking like a host met him with a menu.
"Good evening, Sir. Welcome to the Sandaime Steakhouse, may I help you?"
"Yes," Kyuubi jerked his thumb over to the past waitress, "What dish is she carrying?"
"Oh," she smiled, "That's our signature Western Texas Steak, a sirloin, topped with roasted chilies, garlic and mushroom gravy with a side of mashed red potatoes. Will you be having that?"
Even the description sounded scrumptious.
"Yes, I'll have that, thank you." Kyuubi said and moved to a corner seat to rest and watch the room. His head met the wall behind him and his eyes slipped half-mast.
"Ms. Kaguya, welcome back!" The hostess said so loudly that Kyuubi jerked awake. "Is Mr. Namikaze in good health?"
Kyuubi didnt even try to focus on her answer because his mind was spinning.
No. Way. This couldn't be happening. Kaguya, the Kaguya of PSOCK, Arashi's sectary was in here?
He sat up and glanced over to see the woman's platinum hair and her svelte figure and grinned. Another type of hunger instantly took him over.
Empty Warehouse, Somewhere near Keya Beach - 7:10 p.m.
Ryuu dropped on the bed in his part of the warehouse where they Agency had gotten them to bunk in. Nagato was clicking at the laptop, his eyes running over the screen, fingers tapping on the keypad habitually.
"Dude," Ryuu groaned, "When are we gonna get out of here and do something?"
"The parties are for the team," Nagato said not even looking at his younger agent, "We have a job to do, you can party after."
Ryuu huffed and turned away. "I hate my job."
"You're preaching to the choir, Ryuu." Nagato returned.
Kasagi, Soraku District, Kyoto Prefecture, The House of Dajimu. 7:35 p.m.
Madara was swirling his wine when his door was knocked on,"Enter."
Dajimu entered and just behind him was little girl, dark haired with a ruddy complexion to her skin."Your Eminence, this Aoi, the girl who is going to play Chen."
Madara smiled and leaned down to the height of the child and had to stop himself from giving any emotion to the age he saw in the young child's eye; her soul held an age that wasn't hers.
It was sad, but that was the way or orphans; when he was her age he had that same look.
"Hello Aoi, you are going to do a good thing for me today, aren't you?"
The girl nodded and bowed, "Yes, Master. I will do my best."
His hand fell lightly on the girls' head, "I know you will child, I know you will."
The Amnesia Club, 9:58 p.m.
Sasuke stepped onto the sand with a wary eye, glancing around for the blond. He took another pass and smiled to himself; Naruto wasn't there, good.
"Don't get so happy princess," Naruto's voice husked behind him. "I'm right here."
Sasuke turned a light scowl on his face, "Damn, my luck is the worst."
"Not really," Naruto said, leaning back displaying his shredded jeans and loose 'V' necked orange shirt, "I'm a treasure."
Black eyes rolled, "Whatever, what do you want to tonight?"
The nice but mysterious smile that crossed Naruto's face made fear curl in the bottom of Sasuke stomach so tight his muscles clenched. That look wasn't something to be trusted.
Tonight was going to be a long night.
TBC
Drafted Notes
(1) 'Izakaya' : These restaurants are especially popular for Japanese office workers and can become very crowded on weekends. Izakaya serve all kind of Japanese food, usually the dishes are quiet small and all guests share dishes. One of the main features of an izakaya is the lively environment the the fun atmosphere.
(2) 'Irasshaimase' : welcome phrase at any shop, including restaurants.
(3 ) 'Oden': is a Japanese one pot winter dish consisting of several ingredients such as boiled eggs, daikon, konjac, and processed fishcakes stewed in a light, soy-flavored dashi broth.
(4) 'Shinka' is Japanese for 'evolution'. I'm using it as a synonym for progression on the states iof sexual recognition.
(5) Kaiseki-ryori is a traditional Japanese meal made of one soup, three side dishes and rice
One word for this delay: WORK but meh; REVIEW DAMNIT! (CUDDLES)