Misery Business

Author: Ladelle

Rating: M, though I'm beginning to wonder why...

Comments: I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaack! Thanks for all of the reviews and support. More author stuff at the end, as usual. :)

Chapter 37: The Lion's Den

Naruto hissed as the feeling of cold steel bit into his back. His wrists hurt from the rope Kankuro had tied around them and his eyes could barely make out the smooth metal interior of the vehicle's truck bed. It figured, he thought, that he would go nice and easy and be chucked into a dark trunk space in return. And how Kankuro had managed to smugglean astro car into Nivae he would never know, and to be honest, he wasn't in the mood for contemplative thinking.

A sudden rush of air caused Naruto to jolt back against the interior of the trunk, his head slamming absently against a cold metal surface. He grimaced as he phased in and out ofconsciousness, briefly noting that he probably had a concussion. It made him upset, but only momentarily. He had asked for trouble when he decided to leave alone with the assassin, so there was hardly any excuse for him to complain. His nerves, on the other hand…

Naruto shivered and his heart tightened. He had no idea what to expect. He had no idea what Fang truly wanted from him. Even though he had been targeted for so long, it seemed pointless since the company had already created a working cryonic chamber. So why were they so intent on keeping him in their custody?

As his shifted onto his back, he grimaced as he felt his hair become matted against his face, sticky with blood.Definitely a minor concussion, he presumed, and he propped his knees up as far as they would go, attempting to maintain a position that would make the ride a little less bumpy. His motion sickness wasn't helping things and he swallowed the urge to throw up as the vehicle jerked to the left. He refused to embarrass himself more than necessary, especially when he planned on looking as composed as possible in front of the bastards that had wronged him.

After all, worse case scenario was death, and he sure as hell wasn't going out without a bang. And if that took all the self control and focus he needed, he would manage. Especially because it wasn't just himself he was protecting, but Sasuke, Jiraiya, and Neji as well.

The car twisted again and he planted his feet, proud when he barely slid across the slippery floor. He grinned and shook his head; he would manage. Even though he was nervous and didn't know what to expect, he would make it. He would figure everything out whether it killed him or not.

The only problem was, what did he want to know? The thought seemed to open a door in his mind, and questions surged forth.

How didItachi get into the past? What happened to Sarutobi? Why didthey want him?What were their intentions? And most importantly, why hadItachi killed Sasuke's family?

He frowned as the car began to slow and he felt his heart rate speed up, wondering if it was anxiety or adrenaline that fueled the tingling in his fingers and chest. He felt the car stop and he nodded. They were there.

Wherever there was.

He grit his teeth as the car landed, his brain doing back flips in his skull with the sudden drop in pressure. As the vehicle collided with cold hard earth Naruto's head riveted again, bumping against the solid interior of the trunk. He growled and clenched his eyes closed in an attempt to bear the pain.

The trunk opened and there was a bright light. Naruto could see the burning sun through his eyelids, playing a wicked shade of orange across his mental visionary. He let his eyes open slowly, feeling discombobulated. It took him moments to make out the sky and a few hovering trees, and a few moments after that, Kankuro's figure was above him like the grim reaper, face hidden under the dark hood of his sweatshirt.

"Bumpy ride?"

He seemed to find amusement in the small pool of blood swelling at the rear of Naruto's head where he had been repeatedly bashed. Naruto only glared passively as the stranger yanked him out of the vehicle and stood him up. Naruto felt the nausea of his motion sickness swell in his gut and he teetered back against the car, groaning slightly. He caught himself before he fell over, remembering that he had to do his best not to show weaknesses. And as far as Kankuro knew, Naruto only had a head wound.

"Didn't think it was that bad." The figure noted, his eyes looking slightly perplexed. Naruto snorted.

"Skulls and metal interiors aren't meant to collide repeatedly."

Kankuro almost chuckled, but didn't, merely because the presence he felt from Naruto was very threatening. He had expected a young student from his employer's description, and one that wasn't incredibly manly. A softy, as she had put it.

But this man—the real Naruto—seemed anything but a pushover. His eyes were daunting and narrow—two furious Caribbean colored eyes glinting from behind uncharacteristically dark lashes. He was incredibly tactile for someone with such a small build, standing in a very reproachful way even with rivulets of blood trickling down against his white shirt. He didn't look scared and Kankuro convinced himself that it was only because the blonde had no idea what he was getting himself into—or with who.

"Follow me." He said coolly, ignoring the repressive stare that the younger boy gave him.

Naruto followed his orders, though reluctantly. He had let his anger take control of the situation, overrunning his straining nerves. After all—he had already braved an assassin once before and survived.

The taller man led Naruto to a tall building, old and fading in color. The paint was chipping and it looked suspiciously like a warehouse, though Naruto hardly felt the inclination to ask about it. He simply entered briskly, matching his leader's pace.

His eyes wandered lucidly over the interior of the building, noting the pale white walled hallway that reminded him of a mental institution and propped open doors that gave small peek atscientific equipment. His mind registered.

"This is Osington."

Kankuro snapped his fingers in what Naruto took to be an affirmative.

Why on earth would they take him to a research facility?

He buckled his lips and breathed hard, intent on not asking Kankuro anything. He wanted to hear it from the masterminds themselves, wherever they were hiding.

The duo sifted to the third floor by elevator and Kankuro stepped aside, letting Naruto enter first. He pointed to a room only a few doors down, one sheathed in all glass. Inside was a lounge with interesting furniture—but that's not what drew in his attention. His eyes immediately darted to a flurry of pink that was nestled above couch pillows—someone facing away from him. He almost growled. Sakura.

Kankuro pushed him forward and into the room, letting out a long winded sigh. The girl didn't turn but as the two men walked closer to her, Naruto could see that she was playing a word game in a small travel magazine.

"You're back." She said smoothly, her voice sounding satisfied. Kankuro let out a hearty laugh, one that made Naruto flinch.

"Ha. Didn't put up a fight at all."

There was a moment of silence and Naruto heard a clock ticking. Kankuro shifted uneasily which made Naruto wonder just what type of person Sakura had become. If she could make a person as bulky as Kankuro shaky, he could only imagine what her actions would be towards him.

"You can leave." She said lightly, and she waited until the gentle thumps of sneakers on linoleum faded before closing her book.

Naruto stood, impassive, his hands still tied tightly behind his back and his expression grim. There was a weight in the room, and he savored the feeling of it. His mouth felt dry and his mind felt blank—all except for an anger that was sending coldshivers up his spine. If his hands were untied…he wasn't sure what he would do…

"We meet again." She turned her head from her seated position and smiled, a charming smile that Naruto would have once found attractive. He didn't respond.

After a few moments her expression dimmed and her eyes sank into a narrow stance, and she licked her lips. She stood up and paced towards him, her eyebrows furrowing in anger. Without warning, she slapped him.

"You should have just died." She said firmly, her voice wavering. "You're the reason I lost everything."

Naruto's eyes clenched from the sting of the impact and he felt his cheek go numb in pain. Volleyball had done wonders for Sakura's right hook, and Naruto only turned back to her with an equally irritated expression.

"I fail to see how any of your stupidity is my fault."

Her head whipped up to glare at him and her lips twisted in what Naruto could only assume to be words unable to form. Her hand crept up to the collar of his shirt and she yanked his head down to be level with hers.

"I gave up my life for you—I came here because you should have fucking died!"

Naruto snorted, his anger obvious in his serious tone. "If you hadn't been fucking a murderer behind my back, I'm pretty sure a great deal of this could have been avoided."

Sakura backed up, looking affronted. Her eyes went wide like a cat's and she almost cracked a smile as the realization set in. "You went back, didn't you?"

Naruto didn't bother to nod, knowing that the action was meaningless. It was obvious, after all.

"And he's not a murderer." She added slowly, her voice strangely compassionate.

"But you don't deny fucking him."

Sakura's eyes fell into a smirk and she tiptoed closer to him, pressing her body against his. She stood tall so that her breath could dust across his lips and she curled her eyes upward in a provocative glance.

"Why Naruto, are you jealous?"

Naruto rolled his eyes and continued to glare, unfazed by her ministrations. It was funny how he felt no attraction to her anymore, no matter how sexual her actions could be.

"Do whatever you want. Just don't try to pin it on me when it backfires."

Sakura's eyes narrowed again and she pushed him backwards with a strange amount of force. He fell back onto an ottoman and she climbed between his legs, running a careful hand across the crusty clump of matted hair at the base of his skull.

"You're bleeding." She said emotionlessly, and she knelt forward, pulling his head closer to hers. She ran her tongue across his lips and pressed her chest against his, her hand raging through his hair as she breathed hard into his mouth. He grimaced as he felt the bruise on his scalp open, though he hardly believed that she noticed. He felt nothing as her hands ran from his knees to his thighs, squeezing lightly.

"Do you…not want me anymore?" She said in between kisses, and Naruto sat, eyes open, almost bored with the display. A part of himself wondered if she had lost her mind. Another part of him wondered if she was just toying with him.

"I don't love you anymore, Sakura." He said firmly, forcing her lips away from his. A twinge of hurt crossed her face and she left a few inches between their figures. She frowned.

"I get it."

She ran her hands back to Naruto's knees and pushed herself forward, a large Cheshire grin playing on her features. She laughed.

"Hilarious! You're a fag…just like all of them." She shook her head in humor and bit her lip.

"Who is it? Neji? I hear he's a great fuck…"

Naruto blanched at her language, having never thought about Neji that way. After a moment of his silence, she glared.

"It's Sasuke." She said coolly, her eyes meeting his. "After all, Sasuke has to get a piece of everyone in this godforsaken town…"

Naruto frowned, not quite understanding her meaning. She glanced up to him, her expression more angry than playful. She knelt forward and pecked his lips, a dangerous smirk poking at her lips but not reflecting in her eyes.

"How has he touched you, Naruto?" She pushed her hands up to his thighs and pressed against his abdomen, and action that made him catch his breath. In love with Sasuke or not, hands moving so sensually across his body were bound to get a reaction.

He glanced down at her and she seemed to be examining his reaction.

"Disgusting." She said and pushed herself up. She wandered over to a phone on the wall and dialed a number.

"Come up here." She demanded and she slammed the phone back onto the wireless receiver. She turned to Naruto and he merely glared.

"Don't get cocky," She said. "I got bored with you a long time ago."

Naruto heard the faint clunking of heavy footwear and turned his vision towards the entryway, where his eyes widened. Even though his last encounter had been in complete darkness, he still recognized the slim figure that had entered. Jeweled green eyes and striking red hair. Subaku Gaara.

He felt his heart catch. Sakura—strangely, he could handle her. But Gaara was a different story.

He glanced at Naruto vaguely before eyeing Sakura who was standing casually near the phone.

"Get him out of here. I want Itachi to be surprised when he gets back."

Naruto could have sworn he saw a flash of annoyance crossthe assassin's face, but if it had happened, it disappeared has soon as it had come. The redhead turned to him and Naruto stood up, not wanting to be toted around or manhandled like with Kankuro. He walked towards the door and turned to Sakura, his eyes tapering in contempt.

"If it's any consolation, Sasuke got bored with you a long time ago, too."

He didn't miss the look of fury that crossed the woman's face or the fist that clenched at her side. He was almost grateful when Gaara tugged him forward out of the room.

Sasuke shifted uncomfortably. Something was wrong. He had felt it since the meeting had ended and the feeling had kept growing and growing, tugging at his stomach in nervous pulls. He tapped his fingers on the table, a nervous habit, which seemed to draw the attention of the other few members at the table.

"Are you alright?" Neji's voice was calm and collected, as always.

Jiraiya and Lee glanced over to him, breaking their conversation. Sasuke knelt backwards into his chair and bit his lip.

"Something isn't right." He stood up from the table and paced towards the door, Jiraiya giving Neji an inquiring glance. The long haired brunette shrugged and stood up to follow, jogging close behind his corporate rival.

"Sasuke, wait."

Sasuke didn't though, he only walked faster down the tight-knit hallways of the adobe building towards the kitchen area. He peeked inside and sauntered out, shaking his head.

"Sasuke." Neji was growing impatient as he jogged behind him.

"Where's Naruto?" Sasuke asked, though it came out as more of a statement. Neji stopped and looked baffled for a moment, before his eyes narrowed. He pushed forward to match Sasuke's pace and followed him into Naruto's bedroom which was just asempty.

"Where is Naruto?" Neji repeated.

Sasuke felt sick. He had a bad feeling. His head was urging him to keep looking—to remain calm because Naruto was probably just wandering around the miniature premise. But a deeper part of him couldn't stop the quell of knowing anxiety.

"He's not here." He said softly, and Neji glanced up at him.

"You're kidding. He's got to be—where's he going to go?"

Sasuke twisted past Neji and out of the bedroom, walking with a characteristic sense of power towards the single bedroom that was Chouji's. Without knocking he shoved open the door, his eyes impatiently searching the room for occupants.

Chouji sat on the floor in the middle of a rather intense looking strategy game. He peered up, his eyes inquisitive.

"Have you seen Naruto?" Sasuke demanded.

Chouji immediately looked intent and glanced back and forth between the two business tycoons. His features grew harsh as a gravity settled on the room, and within moments, Rock Lee rapped on the door behind them.

"So this is where you guys went. What did you take off for, Sasuke?" There was a light pause before Lee spoke again, his voice high and dramatic.

"You won't believe what one of the neighbors just told Jiraiya—someone spun an astro vehicle through the main courtyard…it killed my bonsai plant."

Sasuke's attention snapped backwards along with Neji's and Chouji looked worried as he breathed hard.

"What?" Lee asked, his eyes wide. "Did I say something?"

Sasuke cursed and Neji shook his head.

"Did he run away?" Shikamaru asked, his voice low. Sasuke shook his head.

"He wouldn't have. He was waiting for me."

"Fang?" Neji offered, and a heavy silence blanketed the room. From the floor, Chouji spoke.

"But…how?"

Sasuke ran his hands through his hair and turned towards the door, his expression turning violent. He balled his fist and slammed it hard into the wall, ignoring the gasps as the wall cracked under the force. He pulled his hand back as if to repeat his action and Neji caught his wrist, spinning him around so that they were facing each other.

"Sasuke, that won't help anyone." Sasuke glared into Neji's eyes briefly before looking away, massaging his knuckles as soon as his wrist was released.

From the doorway, Lee looked concerned. "Is Naruto gone?"

Chouji nodded, choosing to answer for the group who appeared to be in too much shock to notice. "It seems so."

There was a hasty silence before Lee jogged out of the room, most likely to retrieve Jiraiya, and Sasuke cursed.

"I should have known. It was so obvious! Of course they would have discovered this place already…" His voice was harsh and low and Chouji shook his head.

"Even if we had known, we had no other place to go."

Neji shifted on his heels and knelt against the doorframe, his eyes narrow. He shook his head and glanced at the ground.

"I don't even know what they want him for."

Sasuke was quiet as Chouji offered up an opinion. "Before Naruto left…wasn't he discussing some kind of alternative for his research? To choose gender or something?"

Sasuke nodded. "Something like that."

Neji hissed. "Just imagine…if a company had the ability to create synthetic procreation…"

"They would dominate the economy." Sasuke finished.

Neji's eyes got wide and he glared at Sasuke. "And if they already have working chambers, if they got the findings—they could travel permanently. I'm sure with Naruto's knowledge they could even build their own Gamabunta."

"They would change things in the past to benefit them in the future." Sasuke almost cursed.

"But that's only if Naruto helps them, right? And he wouldn't. Naruto wouldn't help them do anything like that." Chouji said nervously.

"Unless…" Neji's voice was soft and Sasuke glanced over to him. "Unless what?"

"Well, what if they offered something to him that he wanted really badly?"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "That's stupid. Naruto isn't material—he wouldn't sell out for his own benefit."

"What if it was the chance to save your parents?" Neji's eyes met Sasuke's and the raven felt his eyes go wide. He hadn't thought of that course of events and it made his heart beat faster. Would Naruto do that for him? He hoped not. But Naruto had been so upset…

"We need a plan of action." Chouji said quickly.

"Alright. Let's think."

Sasuke breathed hard and Neji gave him a comforting glance. From behind them Lee and Jiraiya appeared, Jiraiya looking much older than usual with worry plastered on his face.

"What's the plan?" He said quickly, and Chouji licked his lips.

"Have a seat because we're about to figure one out."

To be honest, Naruto had half expected Gaara to kill him. His presence was overwhelming and his posture was loose and uncalculated, and Naruto couldn't help but wonder why Gaara hadn't at least punched him.

After he reviewed his vague memories from their previous encounter, he saw no reason for the redhead to be kind to him at all. Though it had been Rock Lee who had bested him. Naruto frowned at the memory. Really, all he had done was crawl around on the gravel pavement in an attempt to escape.

Naruto was lead to what he guessed to be a basement and he followed Gaara past a long row of equipment boxes to what appeared to be a holding cell. It was gated and contained a small bed and toilet, and he noted the flickering light that hovered above it. It looked as though it would go out at any moment, and Naruto knew that if it did, he wouldn't be able to see anything in the darkness.

Gaara paused before opening the door, and turned to Naruto. His expression was threatening and strangely attractive. The boy's green eyes were misted with heavy black mascara, and his clothes were netted and leather—an ensemble that would have made Naruto blush if he weren't used to the odd apparel of the future. He stared as intently as he could back, trying not to give away the anxiety that had taken over his body when his adrenaline with Sakura had faded.

"You're stronger now." Gaara said, and his voice reverberated with icy tremors.

Naruto raised an eyebrow, not quite understanding the boy's meaning. "I haven't changed." He said quickly, though he wasn't sure why he felt the need to speak at all.

Gaara tilted his head to the side, his eyes examining. It made Naruto feel like an ant under a magnifying glass, and he frowned.

The redhead stepped forward, causing Naruto to step backwards a couple of steps. There was a dangerous feeling in the air and it felt like an incredible gravity. Gaara's hand came forward and grazed Naruto's cheek and the blonde closed his eyes, nervous for the contact.

This is it, he thought. He's going to punch me…

But instead, Gaara's fingers sifted through his hair and to the back of his head, running deftly over the gash he had acquired only a few hours earlier. Naruto hissed and bit his tongue, surprised when Gaara trailed a smooth run of blood down his neck and towards his collar bone. He was even more surprised when Gaara pushed him back against the holding and ran his tongue along the same contour, sucking the sticky red substance from Naruto's smooth skin.

Naruto felt his heartbeat quicken and he wasn't sure what to do. He wanted to push Gaara away, but at what cost? He knew very well the power Gaara had—and how easily his neck could be broken by the redhead's small wrists.

He tilted his neck up, allowing the redhead more access, guilt flooding through him. He wanted to stay alive though—he wanted to help Sasuke. He wanted to destroy Itachi.

He felt his breath hitch as Gaara found his adam's apple and ran a tongue delicately over the surface. Naruto closed his eyes.

"Please stop." He said, and the figure beneath him glanced up.

"They won't let you have any pleasure." Gaara said, and Naruto assumed he was referring to Itachi and Sakura. He nodded.

"I don't want any…if it's not from Sasuke." The words left his mouth so easily that he wondered if he had even said them out loud at all. By the expression on Gaara's face he had though, and he narrowed his eyes, ready to take a stand for himself.

"I don't need your favors." His voice sounded confident and Gaara stepped back, a smile creasing his delicate features. He pushed Naruto back so that he was inside the holding cell, and pulled the door closed. After locking it, the redhead spoke.

"You've become stronger." He repeated.

The redhead drifted away and Naruto sighed, eyeing his new homestead. After a minute he sat on the bed and buried his head in his hands.

In the back of his mind he wondered when Itachi would arrive.

A/N--

Hurrah! She returns!

Again, I am SO incredibly sorry for the two and a half week wait. I needed it though...You'll all be happy to know that I am doing really well with my classes and that my stress factor has dropped from like a 9/10 to about a 7. ::cheers::

I have to admit though, I haven't had a chance to write any more chapters. As of now, you are all officially caught up with me. Therefore I will be updating once a week, every sunday. I'm balancing quite a few stories and I really want to finish this one and get started on the sequel.

Ha--my roomie called this story my 'white whale'.

FUNNY STUFF in the LIFE of ME

Ladelle's not-so-scary Halloween adventure...

My roommate and co-workers all went to Thornton (a suburb closer to the mountains) to go through a 'haunted corn maze'. It was frickin' cold though (ugh, damn CO and it's ridiculous winter weather) and we had like a 20 person group. So, we had to divide up into smaller groups and I ended up with Retta-J, her boy, his sister, and my roomie Jaxx. It was really unfonrtunate that we all had to split up, but eh, you know how it goes.

So another one of my co-workers, Jaquie, is a screamer...Haha, she gets scared so easily. Her group went first and we could hear a shriek pierce the air ever couple of minutes and we knew where scary stuff was coming. It was like an alarm or something...We went in though, and let me lay this out for you.

The cornstalks were maybe...seven or eight feet tall? They weren't redwoods by any means. And these huge stadium-type lights were at each of the four corners of the corn maze so it wasn't really that dark, either. So you could see the little people wandering through the cornstalks, tripping over foliage and stuff...and then they would jump out like you didn't know they were coming--and they wouldn't even scream, they would growl. And not like Naruto-turning-into-the-Kyuubi type growls, like some guy jumped out and went, "Grrrrrr."

And Jaxx, being the witty person that she is, said, "Oh, hello."

He looked SO said. This poor little grim-reaper wannabe...he sauntered back into the cornstalks in defeat.

So by this point in time we weren't even really scared, we were just laughing it up. We hadn't heard Jaquie's familiar scream in a while which seemed odd, but it all made sense when we ran into her around the third or fourth corner. Apparently her husband lost his glasses because he was clothes-lined by a cornstalk when they were running away from a werewolf with a chainsaw. HA.

So all of us pulled out our cell phones and were scouring the earth for these spectacles...and as we were doing so, the last of our original twenty happened upon us and joined in the search. We heard a chainsaw roar and heard another group running our way and we all sidelonged the path as the group ran by, only the chainsaw guy stopped to antagonize us. And Shane, Retta-J's boyfriend, just stared at this guy. Like, a REAL face-off man. Nicholas Cage ain't got nothin' on this kid.

Anywho, he eventually gave up and leapt back into the conrfield and I'm pretty sure I heard him trip and fall. And well, on the glasses side of things, they weren't found and we all continued on, the weight of the missing glasses weighing on us like the ring to Frodo. So we walked around and not much else incredibly scary or funny happened until Shane decided he wanted to scare Retta'J's sister. So he leapt into a cornstalk grove and squatted down only to realize that he was seated right next to another grim reaper who had chosen the same place as a hideout. And the grim reaper said, "Um, what are you doing?"

Shane scooted out and we found our way out after that...but man. What a night. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time.

Need to Knows

Updates every Sunday now.

Check my DA account on Monday for some...you guessed it...fanart! Hurrah. 'Bout time, right? (oh, and my DA account is wwwOcomikimOdeviantartOcom)

Love to you all!