A/N: Hey, look! A chapter! Where'd that come from? *looks around suspiciously
Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Naruto franchise, nor am I making any money from this story.. but it would be nice, just once.
Naruto Uzumaki stared at his trembling hands instead of at the imposing, empty jury box. His lawyer, Neji Hyuuga, one of Shikamaru's best people, snapped at him not to fidget.
"I am confident in my abilities, Mr. Uzumaki, as is Shikamaru Nara; otherwise, he would not have assigned me to your case. I know what I am doing, and I wish you would at least pretend to believe me when I say that everything will be fine. It is not your fate to be locked up like a common criminal."
"But I am a common criminal," Naruto muttered as he hung his head. "I did kill that guy."
"Who had a gun, had already shot one person with said gun, was threatening the life of you, your lover, and the lives at least two other people," Neji ticked off on his fingers. "Not to mention that Mr. Hoshigaki was a member of an organized crime unit. Now sit still!"
Naruto perked up when Neji mentioned "lover." "Have you guys found Gaara?"
Neji paused, then sighed. "Shikamaru is trying his best."
Naruto deflated. "Oh," he said, his voice becoming lifeless. He slumped, head so low it almost banged on the table in front of him. He missed Gaara, and worried about what his absence meant. The redhead had not appeared in front of him since their single, disastrous phone call. Naruto had no idea where he was, if he was sleeping, if he was in trouble, and it tore at him. He felt like a chunk or his heart was missing. That, combined with the guilt of stabbing Kisame had led to many sleepless nights of his own. His lively blue eyes had dulled, and his smiles were few.
Neji sat back in his chair, twirling a pen around in his fingers. "I do not think, in these months we have spent together, that you ever told me what you and Gaara fought about during that phone call."
Naruto raised an eyebrow at his lawyer and sort of friend. "Because it's none of your business."
"Naruto…"
"Sasuke," Naruto admitted with a sigh. "We fought about the Uchihas. And the possibility of my going to...away. Gaara thought…" His voice cracked. "He thought that my life would be better if he wasn't around, that my meeting him, getting involved with him, was causing problems in my life. That this whole thing," he spat, swinging an arm around the rapidly filling courtroom, "is somehow his fault."
"But that is the truth, is it not?"
"No!" Naruto yelled, slapping his hands on the table. He winced at the sound and the sting off his palms making contact with the polished wood. "No, it's not." Calmer, he explained, "I probably still would have went after Sasuke, if I'd known the first thing about how to find him. He was my- you know what? Forget it. Let's just get through this. You said you could keep me out of jail. Let's see how good you are."
Conversation ground to a halt as the uniformed bailiff strode out of a hidden door behind the judge's desk. "All raise!" he snapped, and the people present in the court struggled to their feet. "Court is now in session. People versus Uzumaki, The Honorable Tsunade Senju is presiding."
The judge, a young-looking, blond-haired woman stepped up to his desk, picked up the wooden gavel, and banged in down with such force that a loud crack! echoed through the silent room. "Sit down," she growled as she flopped into the soft, leather, high-backed chair behind her desk. With a heavy sigh, she picked up the file folder in front of her, flipped it opened, then slammed it shut. "Whatever," she muttered. She glanced to her left, at the bailiff. "Is the jury back?"
"Yes, Your Honor, they have reached a verdict."
"Well, what are you waiting for? Send them in!"
Sasuke Uchiha sat in the very back of the courtroom, hat pulled low over his eyes. He didn't need to be recognized by anyone, least of the reporters that were taking bets on how long "Kyuubi's kid" would get locked up for. The Uchiha male sneered in their direction, then proceeded to ignore them. He looked around, taking note of people he once knew that had come to support the idiot Uzumaki. An eyebrow rose, and his eyes narrowed, when he noticed a distinct lack of red hair on any of the packed benches. He tapped his foot and looked at his watch. Surely...
His attention was drawn to the rude judge when she ordered the jury to be brought in. A strange, tight feeling stuttered in his chest, and he scoffed. "What is this?" he muttered. "Gas?" He watched the people chosen to decide Naruto's fate as they trooped in, carefully, seeking a sign of their decision, then chastised himself for bothering to care. Naruto meant nothing to him.
"Then why are you going to watch his trial, foolish little brother?" Itachi had asked from his isolation cell at ANBU headquarters.
Sasuke did not have an answer then, nor did he have one now.
He did, however, better understand why his brother had done the things he had done. Itachi, once out of surgery to remove the bullet from his shoulder, had spilled the whole sordid tale.
"Father was planning a coup," he told his younger brother. "He wanted to control Konoha, and Fire Country beyond it. Mother, while not agreeing with his plans, did nothing to stop him. It was her idea, actually to send you away, just in case. The problem was, the place she wanted to send you...I could not allow that."
"Why, Itachi? Why'd you kill them?"
"They were making deals, Sasuke. Highly illegal, back room deals. One that included you being fostered by Orochimaru and trained as fighter. But because of my blunder -killing both of our parents- you ran to his arms on your own." Here Itachi sighed. "I am a spy, little brother, and have been since I was in high school. I work for ANBU. I was tasked with removing the threat to our government."
"And that makes it better?" Sasuke screamed. "That made it okay to kill mom and dad?"
"Mother was not supposed to die," Itachi said, his voice strained. "But she saw me dispatch Father, and screamed at me, calling me a traitor to the Uchiha name. Our great uncle Madara began this madness, this campaign against Konoha's leaders. Several of our relatives were swept up in it." His words were slurred, a sign that the drugs were working, and that he needed to rest.
"Did you kill them all, Itachi? Is that why we're the last ones?" Sasuke asked in a whisper, afraid of the answer.
But Itachi, worn out from his ordeal, had fallen asleep, never hearing Sasuke's question, never getting the chance to answer.
Sasuke snapped back to the present, leaning forward in his seat, as the jury's forewoman stood and handed a neatly folded square to the bailiff, who handed it to Judge Senju, who unfolded it, snorted, and shoved it back at the uniformed guard.
"Well, let's have it," she snapped, looking at her watch.
"Yes, Your Honor," the forewoman said. She accepted her paper, and sneered at it, before remembering where she was and schooling her features. "We, the jury, on the charge of the murder of Kisame Hoshigaki, find the defendant, Naruto Uzumaki…," she sighed, then continued. "Not guilty," she finished in a mumble.
The court erupted with noise. Sasuke, forgetting himself, smirked in relief. Reporters rushed from the courtroom to call their editors and file their stories. A few disbelieving shouts of "WHAT?!" and "No way!" ricocheted around the room. Judge Senju, annoyed, banged her gavel. It shattered, and she threw the offending pieces into the crowd, narrowly missing putting someone's eye out.
"SHUT UP!" she roared. The court quieted. "You, brat," she said, pointing at Naruto, "may be free, but you will be watched. Shikamaru Nara has agreed to take full responsibility for you. You follow his orders, and trust me, I will know if you get out of line. Is that clear?"
"Yes, ma'am," Naruto said meekly, rubbing the back of his head.
"Now get out of my sight!"
No one had to be told twice, Sasuke included. Unnoticed, he slipped out of the courtroom mixed into the crowd, and fingered the cell phone he'd smuggled through the metal detectors. A favor was a favor, after all, especially when it was owed. He just hoped that his message was received in time. He stepped onto a waiting elevator just as the doors were closed, taking him away in its belly.
The court cleared quickly. Naruto grinned sheepishly at Neji. "I guess I owe you an apology. Or maybe I should pay you? How much was-"
"If you have to ask," Neji stated with a smirk, "you can't afford it."
"Right, Heh." He turned to leave, spirits rising when he saw Shikamaru coming toward him. "Hey, Shika! Did you...I mean- Any, um…"
We'll talk in the car," Shikamaru said. "Shino is bringing it around. We're taking you out through the tunnel. Some people aren't happy with your verdict." They exited the courtroom, not by conventional means, through the front door, but through the door behind the judge's desk that lead to her chambers and the secret tunnel.
"Because I killed a guy," Naruto murmured.
"Because 'Kyuubi's kid' killed a guy and is getting away with it," Shikamaru fired back. "Look, I know this is hard for you. I know it sucks to be treated like this. Just a little longer, Naruto. Bear with me, please?"
"I trust you...Boss," Naruto said, trying out the term. "I'm really going to be working for you at ANBU?"
"It's part of the deal I made with Judge Senju if the jury returned a 'not guilty' verdict. Of course, people still won't be happy with it, us accepting a 'monster' on our roster," he huffed as he descended the stairs at a light jog. "But some people will never be happy."
"Isn't that always the way," Neji muttered, lost in thought, as he fumbled with his phone.
The three-man group pushed through a heavy metal door, nodded to the guard stationed there, and entered the parking garage. A large black SUV sat idling. Shikamaru opened the back door, motioning for Naruto and Neji to slid in. He then opened the passenger door for himself. Dropping into the heated leather seat, he patted his pockets, and cursed as he remembered, again, that he no longer smoked.
He waited until they were speeding away from the courthouse before addressing his friend.
"Just before your verdict was delivered," Shikamaru said, "I got a text."
"Oh?" Naruto asked, his heart thumping in his chest.
"We've found Gaara. I'm taking you to him now."