Chapter 36

False Alarm

'I can't go with you tonight. I am being summoned to dinner with my father.'

Sasuke finished the text message and sent it to Sakura before getting into the armored silver Hummer H2 that was waiting for him. Fugaku sent a car to transport Sasuke to downtown Konoha, he had reserved a room at The York and expected his arrival promptly at 6:00PM.

Sakura sent several text message replies back but Sasuke was too irritated to even look at them, and left them unread, crossing his arms and glaring out the window.

Fugaku gave him an hour notice, which instantly put Sasuke in high alert. The dinner was a facade for something else, and that something else left Sasuke uneasy. His father never did anything spontaneous. Everything was calculated, clear and concise.

Sasuke stepped out of the silver Hummer and immediately was greeted by paparazzi flashing cameras at him. Holding his hand out at the flashing lights. He hated it all. He made his way towards the entrance of the restaurant. Sasuke was dressed in a tailored black suit. The pants a little tighter than he was comfortable with and clearly showed the bulged around his crotch. His hair was gelled back and his blood red tie fastened into a Saint Andrews knot.

He checked his watch and exhaled as he glared at the paparazzi who continued snapping photographs, and ignored the reporters who were bombarding him with questions.

Entering the restaurant the hostess whose black dress was short, and tight, lead Sasuke to a private room in the back. She opened the door, when Sasuke entered, she bowed her head, and closed the door as she left.

"Sasuke," Fugaku acknowledged with a firm nod.

Fugaku was dressed in an expensive Brunello Cucinelli tailored suit. Sasuke glanced around the table. At the head was Fugaku, and on the opposite end was Shimura Danzo. Danzo was dressed in a white and gold yukata. A golden walking stick leaned up against Danzo's chair.

Sasuke paused momentarily, before Fugaku motioned for Sasuke to join them at the table, and he obliged rather reluctantly.

"Sasuke this is Shimura Danzo and he will be my advisor," Fugaku explained.

"Hn." Sasuke exhaled as he bowed his head, but refused to take his eyes off of Danzo. Sasuke wasn't blind or deaf to the headlines.

"There is something that was brought to my attention," Fugaku explained, before pausing, and shifting his eyes to the door.

The door slid open and the waitress came in, she was carrying a bottle of chianti wine, and she began filling up their wine glasses. Fugaku watched as the waitress left and closed the door behind her.

"There's something I want you to hear," Fugaku pulled out his mobile phone and pressed play. Sasuke brought his attention to the mobile phone and furrowed his eyebrows together. There was static sound being emitted, then the sound of footsteps against tiled floor, and then...

"Sasuke?! What are you doing here?" It was Naruto's voice.

"What am I doing here?" Sasuke repeated. "What are you doing here Naruto?"

Sasuke covered his mouth with his hand. The recording flooded back the memories. Fear made a home inside his ribcage.

There was the sound of fumbling, and then the television was turned on the news where reporters were updating on the ongoing case. The news station lulled in the background of the recording.

'If you already know the answer...why bother even asking?' Naruto's voice replied sourly in reference to the breaking news reporters.

'You gave me fucking syphilis!' Sasuke's voice screamed in the recording.

Sasuke was panicking. Large beads of sweat began rolling down his face, his neck, down his back. His vision was blurred and he felt like he was going to puke. The last remnants of lunch, cashew chicken stir-fry, was going to spew out of his mouth. Sasuke covered his mouth tightly. He inhaled and exhaled through his nose at an alarming rate. Barely enough time for the oxygen to circulate into his lungs before he was exhaling again.

"Turn it off!" Sasuke demanded as he tore his hand away from his mouth and stood up. Fugaku didn't. The recording continued.

'What did you say?' it was Sakura's voice on the recorder.

"Please! FATHER!" Sasuke begged as he slammed both hands onto the table.

"You can't get syphilis from a blowjob," Naruto's voice echoed around the room.

"Bingo," Fugaku spoke coldly as he paused the recording on his phone. He set his cold eyes onto his youngest son dissecting his reaction.

"Unless...you want to hear the rest of the record-"

"NO!"

Sasuke collapsed down onto his chair, his elbows resting on the table, and his hands grabbing both sides of his face. He was shaking violently. So much he was vibrating the entire table. His legging nervously bobbing up and down.

"To think my own son is a fucking faggot," Fugaku sneered as he glared at Sasuke as if he was nothing more than shit on his shoe. "Shimura here...hypothesized that 'boys will be boys' and sometimes experiment with other boys."

Fugaku looked at Shimura who held a constant smile throughout the exchange, and nodded his head once.

Shimura took a sip from the wine glass, "Fugaku, just because men like getting their dicks sucked, doesn't make them gay if it's with another man. When it comes down to it...a blowjob is a blowjob regardless of whose giving it. Doesn't mean you're a faggot. You were telling me Sasuke is dating a rather young and beautiful girl. A respectable girl wouldn't so willingly give a blowjob, now. A man needs a release, which is why we have whores and prostitutes in this world. A warm mouth, a warm pussy, a warm asshole."

Sasuke tightened his grip on his head, and his leg continued to bob up and down. He couldn't believe what he was fucking hearing. He could feel the stomach bile burning his esophagus as he choked it back down.

"I'm inclined to believe you Shimura. Sasuke, you are now dating Haruno Sakura, whose mother is the medical examiner. I already researched her academic records. A very respectful girl, from a very respectable family," Fugaku spoke in his cold, emotionless voice.

"She'd be fitting for the son of the Hokage. She'd be perfect for ratings," Shimura continued with that same unnerving smile.

Fugaku nodded and brought the wine glass to his lips.

"Sasuke has high standards Fugaku in both girlfriends and whores," Shimura spoke with a smile, "If I'm going to get a blowjob I prefer to receive them from somebody young and experienced. And Naruto. Well, let's just say he meets both my criteria. Young and experienced."

He didn't want Shimira to say Naruto's name. It felt dirty. Felt wrong. He wanted to vomit. He was going to vomit. If he opened his mouth he was going to vomit. The world was spinning around. The colors mixed all around him.

Shimura licked his lips, "You have a refined taste already, Sasuke. Impressive at only seventeen years old."

"My faggot son received an goddamn STD!" Fugaku growled between clenched teeth as he slammed his fist down on the table. "If Shimura wasn't so convincing I would have beaten the faggot right out of you, Sasuke!"

"The mistake wasn't with Sasuke for getting syphilis, Fugaku. The mistake was with Zabuza. He didn't vet his kids. If he had just slipped them antibiotics between the drugs he wouldn't have had this problem. His transgression left a lot of his clients running to the clinic with their dicks dripping. It was only a matter of time before Haku and Naruto caught something."

Sasuke shoved himself and the chair back from the table.

"Sasuke!" Fugaku yelled and Sasuke turned to see his father's deadpan expression, and looked into his eyes which swirled with malice and disgust.

"I don't care if you chose to fuck other boys, or fuck other girls, but I want you to continue to date Sakura. You continue to publicly date her until I am sworn in as Hokage...you continue to show up at events with her by your side. You will continue to date her until I say otherwise. And if by some chance your little discretions make it to the media I will beat you within an inch of your life! Do I make myself clear?"

It took all of Sasuke's strength to nod his head yes.

Fugaku grabbed his mobile phone and began creating an email where he attached a video before he sent it to Sasuke's email address. Sasuke's mobile phone vibrated. Sasuke looked at Fugaku as he placed his phone back down on the table, and nodded, signaling for Sasuke to check his email. Now.

Sasuke hesitated, but brought the email up, and downloaded the attachment. It was a video. Everything inside Sasuke emptied. He was running on autopilot functioning only out of the reptilian part of his brain.

He pressed play.

The video quality was clear 1080 interlaced. It was the recording of the interrogation of Uzumaki Naruto. The video started with Naruto, his attorney, Obito and Fugaku sitting around the square metal table in the interrogation room.

Sasuke quickly paused the video before it went any further, and looked up at Fugaku.

"I want you to watch this video, and I want you to release this video to everyone of your classmates at school."

"I-I-can't!" Sasuke protested. The words spilled out of his mouth before he could think.

"I never understood your obsession with that brat! It's unsightly!" Fugaku growled angrily and he stood up and rounded on Sasuke.

Fugaku grabbed him by the arm, and yanked him into a standing position. He punched Sasuke with all his strength into the abdomen. When Sasuke was bent over Fugaku slammed his elbow down against the back of Sasuke's head. His vision went black. Salvia flew from Sasuke's mouth as his organs scrambled around the impact. He was coughing violently and began to dry heave.

"But you will do this for me Sasuke and that is an order," Fugaku growled as he grabbed the back of Sasuke's hair and jerked his head back.

"You're continued obsession with Naruto is disgusting, and will only ruin the Uchiha name, and here I thought you severed your bonds with him when you transferred. You disappoint met," Fugaku spat in Sasuke's face as he shoved him backwards, and slammed him onto the floor. The pain in his gut, and in the back of his skull was all he could think about.

"Fugaku...timing is important. It is good to have information, but how you utilize that information is where true power comes from."

Sasuke pulled himself up and sat back down in his chair his eyes glaring at Shimura who continued to sit, unaffected, and with that unnerving smile.

"Sasuke, do not release that video just yet...you will be notified when that time comes." Shimaru paused and took another drink of the red wine. His eyes trailed Fugaku as he sat back on in his chair at the head of the table.

"Fugaku, Sasuke's continued relationship with Naruto may prove to our advantage in the future," Shimura explained his voice sounding like nails on a chalkboard.

"When was Itachi's last report?" Shimura asked.

"I ordered Itachi to assassinate Uchiha Shisui three weeks ago," Fugaku answered. He brought the wine glass to him mouth, swallowed, and continued, "Itachi's whereabouts are currently unknown. It would appear Shisui's influence on Itachi was stronger than I anticipated."

"I would be wary of Itachi, Fugaku. My suggestion for you is not to go anywhere without protection. I'll have members of my organization, Root, protect you from the shadows. Shisui's loyalty and allegiance to Minato is unnerving. There is a possibility he is planning your assassination."

"...and that is precisely the reason why I ordered Itachi to remove him from the picture. Itachi is still my son, and his loyalties lie with the Uchiha. Both my sons are loyal to the Uchiha, and will do whatever is necessary to keep the Uchiha in power."

Sasuke didn't watch the recording of the interrogation. The memory became so vivid it was as if he was experiencing it.

Sasuke had climbed on top of Naruto, pinning him down, his body felt warm. Naruto's left wrist handcuffed to the gurney, his right arm bandaged and in a sling. Sasuke had attempted to disrobe Naruto. He had peeled the hospital gown to reveal the smooth muscles of his chest.

'WHAT DID YOU DO NARUTO?' Sasuke screamed as he pinned Naruto's shoulders down as the blonde wiggled and squirmed beneath him, but wasn't able to escape. Handcuffed. At the time Sasuke felt like he was on the verge of tears but instead blind wrath took hold. 'Do you really want to know every single detail of what I did?' Naruto screamed back. Challenging Sasuke. Calling his bluff.

Sasuke didn't want to know the details, and didn't want to watch the recording of the interrogation. Instead he downloaded the video onto his laptop, and deleted the email.

He leaned back in his desk chair and stared up at the ceiling. He felt like he was dry drowning. Invisible water was filling his lungs making it difficult to breathe. Everything swirled around in his head. From Fugaku, to Itachi, to Shisui, to Sakura...to Naruto.

Sasuke thought to last night outside the elevator in the lobby of Cypress Hall. Sasuke standing in the elevator and looking at Naruto who was leaning up against the wall, and refusing to step into the elevator. No, no, no that wasn't right. Naruto didn't refuse he was giving Sasuke space. He was doing exactly what Sasuke wanted...so why was Sasuke so upset that Naruto didn't get on the elevator with him?

'I'm sorry Sasuke, Naruto voice echoed, 'For hurting you.'

Things were better off this way.