Misery Business:


Author: Ladelle

Rating: M

Comments: Thank you for the awe-inspiring 28 reviews! Hurrah.


Chapter 29: Thinking Ahead

Kakashi was an interesting individual. He was a tall and muscular man with graying hair—an interesting fact considering that it was apparent that he couldn't have been older than thirty. He wore dark leather clothes that clung to his figure like a second layer of skin and matching a black leather eye patch that rested over his left eye.

Naruto narrowed his eyes as he was introduced to theman, scrutinizing the bored expression thatrestedhaphazardly on the stranger'sface. Kakashi only nodded in recognition of his presence before dismissing him, his attention turning to the other two figures in the room.

Naruto had never been one to judge a book by its cover, so he politely acknowledged the taller man and shuffled into the familiar tea-room. He noticed that Sasuke had not made an effort to sit at the low traditional table and so he followed insuit, waiting for Yamato to close and lock the door after the entire collection of people had entered the small room.

As Kakashi lowered himself to the table everyone seemed to follow and Naruto took in the action as a form of respect.It was ironic, in a way, considering Kakashi's chosen profession, but Naruto decided to add it to the list of everything he didn't quite understand. As soon as everyone seemed settled, Sasuke spoke.

"Did you manage to locate Jiraiya?" His voice was a monotone drawl, as if he expected the assassin to answer differently than what they all knew was the truth. Kakashi smirked and scratched the leather patch over his eye.

"Of course," he responded, vision sifting to Naruto, " and he was very interested to hear about this little runt's adventure."

Naruto narrowed his eyes and grunted. "You don't know me well enough to insult me."

"Ah," The older man seemed to agree. "But I know ofyou and that gives me privilege enough."

Naruto tightened a fist under the table. He had come to a conclusion. He didn't like this Kakashi fellow—not one bit. Sasuke decided to dilute the situation.

"Where is he?"

Kakashi leaned forward and breathed in deeply, running his finger from his patch to the pout of his lower lip, glancing upwards absent-mindedly. He appeared to be sidetracked and before Naruto had a chance to comment, Yamato's voice descended.

"Eavesdropping on this particular conversation could turn out quite deadly, Sai."

Naruto let his eyebrows tug in confusion and lifted his head upwards when he heard a shuffle. From the lofted beams that supported the roof came the lean boy, swooping down like a great falcon making a kill. He landed upright, his feet perfectly stabilized on the carpeted flooring, smiling so brightly that it made Naruto blink twice.

"Ah. You found me." The boy stood perfectly still and Kakashi tilted his head backwards in order to see him clearly with his unshielded eye. Yamato stood with his arms crossed, leaning back against a wall looking irritated. When Naruto glanced at Sasuke he noticed that he appeared as calm as the others, only there was a swirl of pooling anger that reflected from his onyxvision.

"A friend of yours?" Kakashi questioned, his tone thin and airy. Yamato pushed himself from the wall by the platforms of his foot and approached the table wearily.

"A student." he remarked and then turned to the boy. "Why are you here, Sai?"

The boy's smile dimmed and he pushed his hands into the buckle loops of his leather pants, the action revealing more of the pale flesh of his abdomen. He threw his head back slightly in a casual manner.

"Subaku's been called back to Fang." His facial expression was cheery.

Kakashi's eyes narrowed in disbelief and Yamato pursed his lips.

"And where did you hear this interesting fact?" Kakashi's words had a strange way of sounding final and Naruto was sure that Sai heard the doubt creasing them.

"Well, it's an interesting story. I was making a sell to Sasori when—"

"He's telling the truth. I heard it all the same." All eyes found Sasuke and the raven continued, ignorant of the irritated glare he was receiving from the other Asian youth.

"But even though he has returned, others have been sent in his place."

"Scouts, no doubt." Said Kakashi, and he licked his lips.

Yamato spoke up as he sat down at the table. "Sasori is back?" He peered up to Sai to confirm.

"Ah. He ran into Kankuro and Temari. It caused quite a commotion from what I've been told."

Sasuke cleared his throat and everyone glanced to him. "Why is this child here?" It was obvious that he was referring to Sai, and Naruto felt the hairs on his arms stand on end at the tension that gathered afterwards

Yamato poured himself a glass of water from a sitting pitcher and narrowed his eyes at Kakashi before opening his mouth to speak.

"There are few people I trust in this place, Uchiha. Sai is one of them." He paused for a moment. "I told him to keep an eye on you and Naruto."

Sasuke's expression dimmed even further and Naruto felt slightly put off as well. Kakashi, sensing the awkward strain, decided to intervene.

"There are few people I trust, Sasuke, and Yamato is one of them. If he has faith in Sai, I will follow his intuition."

Sasuke snorted in dismissal. "I see. Where is Jiraiya?"

Even Naruto noticed his irritation as the raven-haired man changed subjects. Kakashi nodded as if he had forgotten and motioned for Sai to sit down, which he did not do.

"Rumor has it that he is in the east love district. He frequents an in named Club Chique, and shouldn't be too hard to find."

Naruto spoke for the first time in the meeting, drawing attention from the gray-haired hired man.

"Jiraiya isn't stupid enough to be easily found. What's the catch?"

Kakashi laughed. "Ho ho! I was beginning to think you had gone mute."

Naruto glared and Kakashi continued. "I said he would be easy to find, not easy to approach."

Naruto ran a hand over his face, rubbing his eyes. He knew that there would be complications. He spoke again.

"'Club Chick'? Like with women?"

Both Yamato and Sasuke raised an eyebrow at Naruto's comment and Sai spoke.

"Naruto is very smart, indeed."

Yamato poured himself another glass of water. "Few people know that fact. You know, due to the lack of women…it would be problematic if the government found out about it."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "It has the word 'chick' in the title…that's kind of a giveaway, isn't it?"

This earned him a few confused glances and he shook his head, not having the drive to elaborate. Deciding it was fairly unimportant, Kakashi leaned forward and snagged a sugar cube from a bowl on the table, plopping it into his mouth in a quick motion.

"I would leave as soon as possible. Since word of his whereabouts has come this far, he probably won't be staying there for long."

Sasuke nodded, running a hand through his smooth hair. "Will you be coming with us?"

Kakashi shook his head. "No. I'm going to try and find the Hyuuga."

Naruto glanced upwards and leaned in over the table. "Find who? Neji? Why?"

Sasuke placed a firm hand on his shoulder and reeled him back, his eyes apologizing to Kakashi for the blonde's outspoken nature.

"Did something happen with Neji?" He reworded.

The gray-haired hit man nodded, pulling his legs into an Indian style crouch.

"I heard from Iruka that he escaped from Double Asecurity at the government detention center."

"Escaped?" Sasuke inquired and Kakashi managed a nod. Yamato groaned.

"It looks like this situation's getting complicated, eh?"

There was a long pause until a voice pierced it, and the group was surprised to find that it was Naruto's.

"Look, I don't know much about your judicial system, but that would take an effort, right? Even breaking out of prison in my time would be a challenge."

Yamato nodded and Sai ventured a comment. "Nearly impossible."

There was another throe of silence, as the group sat in deep thought. Sai shifted positions uneasily, his normally narrowed eyes growing dim in concentration. Yamato sipped his water thoughtfully before smirking.

"I think we're ignoring a very important detail." He shifted positions. "Double A security is for serious crimes—murders and such. Neji could have only been apprehended under the suspicion of withholding information."

"I haven't heard anything from the precinct." Sai commented. After Naruto glanced at him with questioning eyes he said, "My customers are quite the variety."

"What does all of this mean?" Naruto asked and Sasuke leaned forward over the table, resting his chin on his hands. His eyes became very serious and he breathed deeply.

"Sounds like a conspiracy."

"What?"

Kakashi leaned forward as if to explain it more properly. "Hyuuga was jailed for a minor crime in a high level security prison before even a trial took place—I'm sure his captain wouldn't take kindly to that."

"Captain Morino." Yamato seemed thoughtful and Kakashi nodded.

"Not even I would want to cross Morino. Hyuuga wouldn't escape unless he was guilty of something greater—"

"Or unless Morino told him to." Yamato finished.

"And Neji's the paper-pushing type," added Sasuke. "He's a goody-goody. Most likely it's the latter."

Naruto sat back and frowned. He didn't even want to know why all of this madness was centered onhim. In all honesty, it still didn't make complete sense to him. He bit his lip.

A feeling of paranoia overcame Naruto and he felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise. He peered up to find Kakashi staring at him with a disturbingly vacant glare and he narrowed his eyes in return.

"What?" He asked.

Kakashi licked his lips. "I'm just wondering why someone like you is causing such a ruckus."

Naruto felt the hidden implication and frowned. "I've told Sasuke everything that I know. Whatever's going on here, I'm in the dark as much as you."

His words were fast and vapid and he felt Sasuke lean forward from beside him.

"I trust him." Sasuke's words were unusually effective, bringing a surprised look from the gray-haired assassin and a more disturbing frown from Yamato. There was a pause and Sai shifted.

"Someone's coming." He noted. A moment later there was a knock on the door. Yamato bit his lip, the intrusion obviously unwelcome, before he sifted towards the door and creaked it open just enough to view the outside source.

"Can I help you?"

A dark voice met his and Sasuke leaned closer to Naruto, almost protectively. In an odd coincidence, Sai seemed to move towards him as well, his eyes narrowed at the door.

"Sir, I'm sorry to intrude. There are some men here, sir. They look like junkies…but we think they may be feds."

"Shit." Yamato cursed. He nodded off the man and closed the door, biting his lip with an acute nervousness.

"Looks like our time is up." Kakashi stated and he stood up from the table, stretching warily. Sasuke stood up quickly and Naruto followed, anxiety chewing at him. He felt strangely like a fugitive now, always running from dangers he didn't know.

"This way," Yamato motioned, leading them all to a back door in the room. It opened to a set of three doors to which Yamato shoes the far right. When it opened there was a long hallway.

"Sai, get them to Chique safely. I'll handle things around here."

"You sure about that?" Kakashi ventured, and Yamato laughed.

"You underestimate my clientele, my friend." To this Kakashi smirked.

Sai had already begun walking and Sasuke proceeded to follow, though his stance gave away that he was reluctant to do so. Kakashi had shifted to move forward as well, but Naruto turned back towards the strange older man.

"Thank you." He said, and Yamato seemed to remember something.

He sent his hand behind his back and pulled forward an object, one Naruto absently noted was the revolver. He handed it to him firmly.

"I know it intimidates you, but you need to take it."

Naruto nodded, deciding that it was in his best interests to follow the man's advice. From down the hall, Sasuke called for him.

"Thank you." Naruto nodded and jogged forward to catch up to his companions, tucking the weapon into the waistband of his jeans.


There were few times when Neji felt on his toes.

Now was one of those times.

Neji gripped his jacket tight against his waist, mentally complaining about the rain that doused his figure so flippantly. His hair, though pulled back into a braid, had begun to matt itself against the frame of his face. He could hear his suede shoes gurgling as he crept through deep rivulets of water that occupied the alley and he narrowed his eyes as he approached a street.

Placing a steady hand against the brick wall beside him he peered out, licking a few drops of rain from his lips as he scannedfor oncoming vehicles. The familiar whoosh of an astro vehicle sounded in the distance and he carefully slid into the shadows as he recognized the familiar gating on the hood, symbolizing a precinct. He clenched his fists and thought to himself.

There is no way for me to get out of here on foot.

He knelt down after the car had passed, pulling himself underneath a crooked shutter to block some of the downpour from drenching him even more than he already was. He rubbed his hands together to spark some warmth and let his mind wander.

He needed to get out of town. At least until he heard something from Morino. The fastest way would be to hijack a vehicle, and while that idea didn't sit too highly on his list of activities, he was more apt to act than risk being caught—again.

He shuffled towards the break into the street and waited, watching as a few vehicles passed before spotting his potential. It was a dark car and slightly damaged on one side, moving slow against the rain.

Probably an older person, Neji concluded, and he pulled himself upward, readying himself for the jump. The car sifted by him and he dodged out, sliding gracefully across the slick concrete, driving his hand under the handle like it was any normal occasion.

The door opened and he prepared to use force, only to stop at the figure inside.

"About time I found you. Where onearth have you been?"

Chouji motioned for Neji to get into the back of the car—a suggestion that he followed. After he was inside, he shivered, adjusting to the balance of air that his intern had circulating inside. The car began shortly after and Neji glanced out ofthe windows, making sure no one had seen him. From his point of view, everything looked fine.

"Genma told me you escaped. I've been searching for you ever since."

Chouji turned onto a fairly empty highway, one only used for people going to the outskirts of residential areas. Neji sat back against hi seat and shrugged off his jacket, wincing as he realized how much water he had leaked onto Chouji's nice leather seats.

"Is that so" He commented absently, resting his head against the headrest of the seat. He closed his eyes momentarily, silently thanking the gods that someone he trusted had managed to find him.

"Naruto and Sasuke left to go find Jiraiya so we don't need to worry about them—for now, at least."

Neji perked an ear. "They what?"

Chouji repeated himself and continued forward, matching the speed limit of other drivers as he merged onto the main highway. Neji shook his head.

"Though that frustrates me, it was probably for the best. Where are we going?"

Chouji shifted and turned back to him. "To be honest, I'm not sure. Shikamaru gave me this address. He said it was someplace safe—a place Sasuke told him to go if anything went wrong."

Neji nodded and cleared his throat. "Can you add more heat?"

Chouji jumped into action, pressing a few buttons on his dashboard to adjust the temperature of the car.

"I hope you don't get a cold, running around in the rain like that."

There was a long pause and Neji was still, examining the situation with hesitation. It was strange that Chouji had been right where he needed him, but in all honesty, Chouji was one of the few people he trusted.

"I'm glad you found me." He said, and he glanced ahead through the front window, noticing that they were approaching a toll way. Chouji cursed.

"Can you duck? I don't know if they've put a warrant out for you or not."

Neji felt irritated, mostly because he had never scrambled around on the floor of a vehicle before in his life. He shoved himself in between the back of Chouji's chair and the foot space of his original seat, pulling his legs close to his chest as he sat against the door frame.

The car slowed into a drive-in space and Neji held his breath, hoping for no hold ups. His best plan of action would be to escape to Sasuke's safe haven and then attempt to contact Morino. But it was necessary he made it out of the city.

From the front seat, Chouji spoke.

"No ma'am. It's just me. I'm going to visit my grandma, you see…she's been ill for quite some time."

Chouji was one of those people whose lies were completely convincing. He was such a kind younger boy that everything he concocted sounded natural and sympathetic. It was traits like these that made Neji grateful that he had encountered him, even though he knew that he and Chouji had never been extremely close.

It had been nearly a year ago when he had handpicked the boy to be his intern for the Hyuuga enterprise, under the assumption that his personality and physical traits would keep him completely unaware of his dual life as an officer. Chouji had seemed like a shy boy with a slow mind and average education. It had been a surprise though, when Chouji had confronted him very seriously about Naruto Uzumaki, trusting him with all of the information he knew, courtesy of a close friend of his that just happened to be a rather talented guard under his rival Uchiha.

The whole situation had seemed surreal to him.

An unknown traveler related to Sakura Haruno? It was suspicious, and not in a way that he wanted to let slide. So he agreed to take the blonde on as a second intern—a position where he could monitor him more clearly to discover his motives.

In the beginning, he had planned on arresting the blonde-haired boy, but there was something that Chouji had said that had stopped him.

Even now, the boy's words sang anthems in his head.

"There are people in your life you just know you can trust," Chouji had lifted his head and grinned lightly, all while chewing on a small piece of ham sandwich. "And just like I knew I could trust you, I know I can trust him."

An ordinary person had never said anything of that nature to him before and it had made him feel slightly more at ease with the situation. Because, in all actuality, Chouji had become someone that he could trust as well.

Neji lifted his head as Chouji continued to speak with the tenant.

"I promise I'll be careful ma'am. I'll give her your blessing."

There was a pause where Chouji handed a credit card to the lady and as soon as it returned to Chouji's hand the vehicle was on its way, speeding down a two-lane highway with exaggerated force.

Neji began to pull himself up but Chouji made a movement that halted him.

"The tenant said that there would be some federal agents out. It may be best if you hunker down there for a while."

Neji settled back down, shaking his head in a passive manner. After a moment of silence, he spoke.

"Thank you, Chouji."

The chubby intern laughed merrily and commented. "You're welcome, I suppose. It's what friends are for, right?"

Neji almost smiled. "I mean, if it weren't for you I would have never gotten the internship…and because of it I have a better chance of getting my masters."

Neji suddenly felt guilty as his intensions had never been honest. Chouji seemed to have sensed the tension because he spoke.

"I know you chose me because you thought I was an idiot. But hey, I never knew a thing so I can't argue with you. I guess the point is, "Chouji tilted the car leftwards, "I should be thanking you too."

Neji sat for a moment and undid his hair, running his hands through it in an attempt to detangle the knots. When he spoke, his voice sounded foreign.

"Did I ever tell you…that Naruto isn't the first unregistered traveler that I've helped?"

From the front of the car, Chouji's voice sounded disbelieving. "No."

Neji rang out his hair, ignoring the small puddle that formed beneath his drying figure and rested his head on the seat next to him.

His voice was thoughtful as he spoke.

"I was on a drug bust assignment…"

He felt his mind reel with the memory.

"I've never seen a boy so pretty before." The man said, and Neji swept his hair behind his shoulder, ignoring the distasteful remark. His gun was balanced delicately on his hand, perfectly aimed for the syndicate's head. If he moved his finger even slightly he could get the man between the eyes—but he wasn't sure if he wanted to allow he killer such a painless way out of life. The battered and bloody woman on the floor wasn't helping him decide and faster, and he couldn't help but wonder where his partner had disappeared to.

Pulling the trigger out of familiarity he watched as the men fell over in a pitiful slump, blood drooling from his mouth in an uncharacteristic way. It wasn't normal for the leaders tobe taken out so easily, but on occasions where they were, he hardly felt the desire to argue.

He turned away from the mob boss and knelt down to the woman, a pretty young thing, only a little older than himself and checked her pulse.

Alive, but her heartbeat was slow. The black and blue markings around her stomach implied internal bleeding and Neji hesitated, not sure what to say to the dying figure. He had lost his receiver at the moment of infiltration and with Anko missing in action, there was no possible way to get a medical vehicle in time.

He swept a few matted bangs from her face and eyed her solemnly, never good with these types of situations. She was mumbling to herself, last words of desperation before gargling on her own upheaval of blood, eyeing him—but not, because her eyes were glossy with dissipation.

"Get her…She's here…" Neji wondered vacantly what memory she could be reliving; as he had seen many victims fade in the same routine way. They always remembered some random piece of their past and repeated it as if it had all of the relevance in the world, and he always stared vacantly, emotions drained.

But this time was different. She reached up and grabbed him, a string of blood running from her mouth, and stared at him from blind eyes. She gasped heavily.

"The closet! Check it…"

Her hand left his side and seemed to point to the back hallway of the small studio apartment, behind a series of drug doers and dealers that had been slaughtered upon entry. After her last painful exertion of breath the woman fell silent, and Neji stood up, the smell of blood and drugs mixing to create and scent that irritated his nostrils.

He glanced at his watch.

Anko should be getting here soon.

He peered over to the direction where the woman was pointing and looked at his watch again, deciding to play on his curiosity during his wait. He stepped over the corpses of businessmen and street folk alike before locating the closet, his practiced ears picking up movement from inside. He stared in disbelief, hardly willing to believe that there was someone inside the closet. He narrowed his eyes and forced it open…

"And that's when I found her."

There was a pause from Chouji. "And then?"

Neji pulled his head up from the seat and blinked, as if he had forgotten. After a moment he answered, his voice lower than before.

"I didn't kill everyone in that bust. You never do. The younger ones can be used as sources in the future…"

He paused.

"She was a mess. I had never seen a girl like her before. Even though she was beaten up pretty badly, she was really feisty. I told one of the kids, one of our sources, to take her and get out."

"How did you know she was illegal?"

Neji contemplated. "I don't know. I guess I just did. She said that her name was TenTen. That's not a normal name."

Chouji nodded from the front of the car, and Neji added more to his story.

"I haven't seen her since then. I get letters sometimes though…"

Chouji laughed. "Maybe she loves you."

Neji snorted. "That's ridiculous. She knows that it's impossible."

Chouji was quiet for a moment.

"What brought up this topic?" He asked, and Neji shrugged against the seat.

"I don't know. I guess Naruto just reminded me of her."

"Ah."

Neji continued, ignoring the fact that he was being unusually talkative.

"He's someone I can protect."

Chouji shifted and laughed nervously, turning the car rightward with the twisted sky way. A peak of light was showing through the clouds, signaling sunrise, and he cleared his throat.

"I hate to break it to you, but it seems like Uchiha's already taken that task on himself."

Neji nodded and settled his hands in his arms, the urge to sleep overwhelming his senses. He closed his eyes.

"Perhaps." He said, and Chouji grew silent. Whether or not he responded, Neji did not know, for he fell into a deep and uncomfortable sleep.


A/N--> Not the most exctiting, but I've got to start putting out information. To be honest, I really think this was the most difficult chapter for me to write...I can sense it too, even when I re-read it. But, eh, what are you gonna do?

Well, I do have some important update information. I will not be updating until Tuesday the18th. I have finals this week and I'm moving into my new apartment on Saturday, so I'm pretty sure I will either not have internet, or be extremely hesitant on using it for fear of getting distracted from my projects. Sorry for the delay, but it must be done.

And joy, I have finished chapter two of my new fanfiction, which I will be posting as soon as I get about ten chapters out. You know me and writing ahead...but if you guys want, I could post a preview or something to get the excitement flowing! I'm excited, anywho.

Let me know, though, and I'll do what I can.

Ah, and one critical comment. A few of you said that my last chapter was short, which made me raise an eyebrow. It was something like 11 word pages long AND I update twice a week. Patience is a virtue my friends, and trust me--I could be one of those author's who writes two mouse scrolls of writing and doesn't update for a year. Don't tempt me.

Ha. Just kidding. But really, play nice.

Love to you all, and I'll see you in about a week.