Full summary: Uchiha Sasuke is a prodigy in his field. He takes pride in being one of the best spies in the nation, never once failing a mission he's been assigned. Hinata is a loyal hard-working daughter, learning the trade of her father's business, a centuries-old crime organization. When Hinata's uncle is killed, his death unleashes a laundry list of questions that gets Sasuke placed inside the belly of the beast: The Hyuga Syndicate. AU SASUHINA

family affair

one:

the palace itself

"You're very very beautiful you know," the man said as he closed the checkbook over his credit card and handed it to the waiter, all without looking at him. Instead, he was making intense eye contact with Hyuga Hinata, his purple gaze an all-encompassing river of adoration––or lust––she couldn't be sure.

Between them, two candles flickered romantically. Mulled wine was served in hearty ceramic mugs beside their expansive feast of roasted duck, pomme potatoes, and parmesan encrusted kale. The feast was scarcely eaten, only picked at; evidence of a lively conversation.

"I'd love to take you out again," he said and grabbed her hand across the table. He rubbed circles into her palm with his thumb.

"R-r-really?" Hinata asked, blushing despite herself. "S-suigetsu, I'd be h-honored."

It was mostly true; she would be honored. She liked Suigetsu. She liked that he opened car doors for her and pulled out her chair before she sat down. She liked that he knew what wines paired with what meats. She liked his ensemble of dark suits and golden watches––a different one for each date. They'd been on four, by the way, and he always asked if she would like to see him again after each one.

She liked getting dressed for him. Her sister helped her pick out which dresses usually, and they were all sexy in a way that suited her. Long-sleeved in light colors, heavy fabric showing only slivers, suggestions, of her skin, modest numbers that still showed her curves, and square heels that made it easy for her to walk in. If she stumbled, Suigetsu was always an arm to grab. He was a comfortable presence whose time she enjoyed more than other men she'd dated.

It had been a while since she'd actually dated someone she liked. It had been over a year since her last relationship–– a tumultuous one full of varying shades of pain and drama, half of which she blamed her teenaged brain. Though a couple of years had passed since she was a teenager, it was December and her 22nd birthday was quickly approaching. She felt far older just by knowing what month it was.

She didn't like thinking about those days and often felt a darkness close over her with the thought of the color of her ex's eyes. Sometimes she would glance upon this or that and would find herself thinking, that's just like his eyes, and then she would get angry at herself for thinking it. It was just that thinking about his eyes pulled other thoughts from the very corners of her brain that she thought she had packed away neatly. Never far from the eyes was the touch that followed a look––one that made her cheeks tinge pink.

They tinged pink here. Suigetsu's lips pulled into a smile, misinterpreting her reaction, but Hinata didn't mind the assumption. He reached across the table to tuck a piece of hair behind her ear, his hand just hovering there just long enough for it to be considered inappropriate, but short enough that she couldn't say anything about it. Hinata let her head fall into his palm just as he was taking it away. The gesture was sweet, and she could tell he liked it.

"Are you busy Saturday?"

"Hm, S-Saturday? No, I've got m-meetings," Hinata said dreamily, her gaze full of Suigetsu's perfect teeth and dimpled chin.

"Meetings on a Saturday? What work do you have, woman?" His hand was traveling. In an instant, she felt his palm on her thigh.

"F-family affairs," Hinata said languidly, feeling her body turn to liquid at his touch. Without meaning to, her body jerked forward. It had been a while since she felt this way. "S-surely you understand?"

"Of course," he said. "How about Sunday? We could go to the aquarium."

"T-that sounds l-lovely," Hinata said as he drew closer. "I w-would enjoy that."

Nothing happened after that. Suigetsu dropped Hinata off at home for the very first time, jumping out of the car to open the door for her.

When she got out, they both stopped to stare at the Hyuga Estate, though Hinata herself wouldn't necessarily call it that. It was an above-average sized home with beautiful facades, a garden, and a pool, but that was it, really. She'd seen bigger. That didn't stop Suigetsu from gaping open-mouth as he drove past the shining gates, up the circle driveway, and around the bend of a bubbling porcelain fountain.

Hinata watched a figure flicker in the third-floor windows and sighed. Suigetsu probably didn't notice, but a camera in the doorway had turned in their direction with an almost-indiscernible swivel of its small head. Hinata turned her head to look at her date, but instead, he was looking at the Christmas lights that had started to accumulate on the bare-leaf trees in their front yard.

"S-Suigetsu?" She called his attention and he snapped his head back to look at her as if startled.

"Sorry," he shook his head to clear his thoughts. "If you don't mind me asking...what do your parents do again?"

"My m-mother ran her father's b-business until she died," Hinata thought of her mother's slender, manicured hands as she stacked cash as wide as honeydew melon and stuck it into a silver currency counter. The machine whirled quietly, and every once in a while, Aoki would stick her hand in, take out a stack of crisp yen, and slap them against the granite kitchen countertops.

"Oh," Suigetsu looked startled and a little embarrassed. It was cold out so the two of them stood close together, huddling for warmth. He put his arm around her thick fur coat and when their eyes met, he asked if she was okay. She nodded. "I'm so sorry for your loss, Hina."

Hm. Hina. That was new. She leaned into his touch, feeling the curve of his arm against her back. It was warm there. "It's o-o-okay," Hinata said. "Y-years ago. A-anyway, my father is almost r-retired. He's a s-surgeon."

Once, on vacation, she'd opened the front door of their island vacation home to see a dead dog laying on their porch. She thought it was some type of household hound, but when her cousin Neji reached the door after her gasp, he shook his head and said it was just a coyote. Her father had been standing behind them when she opened the door, saying nothing. He silently picked up the animal and brought it into his office.

"Children, come." He'd said. Neji and Hinata were a pair of silent footsteps after him. Hanabi had been too young at the time. Hinata stood at his right, and Neji stood at his left as he took a medical-grade scalpel to tear open the dog's stomach. It was a clean, bloodless, cut that snipped away stitches someone had placed there earlier. "Who wants to do the honors?"

"Me!" Neji said eagerly.

"Y-you did it l-last time," Hinata said quietly, unenthusiastically, but with a tinge of curious yearning in her voice.

Hiashi handed his daughter the glove and she put it on over her small hand. Then, she reached into the animal––cold by now––and pulled out a bloody, heavily wrapped pound of cocaine. Then she pulled out the second. Then, astonishingly, a third. She proudly stacked them on top of her father's desk.

"Ah," Suigetsu said as if he were trying not to say that explains it! Hinata watched the figure in the window begin to pace. She stifled the urge to roll her eyes, instead choosing to turn her body into Suigetsu's warmth. She borrowed her head under his chin, taking in his deep scent of hospital-grade cleaning supplies and pine-sol. This had been her first warning. She really wished he had smelled like anything else. Even in this second, she couldn't pretend. She hated him for it.

He wrapped his arms around her tighter, giving her a big squeeze. When he lowered his mouth to hers, she returned the kiss naturally. It was pleasant. He was a good kisser. He was good at a lot of the things he'd done with her.

When they parted, the curtains on the third for twitched with finality. Hinata rolled her eyes this time and bid the man goodbye.

-:-

The kitchen was warm when she entered it. Neji, Tenten, Kiba, and Ino were there talking loudly about their weekend plans that involved skiing off of a mountain somewhere north. They were set to leave Saturday after the Affair and were all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed about it. It wasn't like they didn't travel often––they did. They were just eager for the competition of it all. They'd invited Hinata of course, but she'd declined, knowing that she'd probably be in a depressed sort of mood. She was right.

"Hey baby, how was it?" Ino called. She was sitting on the counter licking chocolate off a spoon. Beside her, Tenten was icing a three-tier chocolate cake and Kiba was going in after her, dutifully adding rose petals per her instruction. Ino and Kiba were Hinata's best friends in the world, so they were sure to greet her after any date, especially one like this. Tenten, too, was one of Hinata's closest friends, but she was also Neji's girlfriend, which made her more like family.

Hinata made a gesture that they all intuitively knew to mean to "say no more." She pulled up four fingers, and then wiped the back of her hand across her mouth as if to wipe away invisible crumbs. Typically, this gesture meant "be careful, someone is listening." Everyone stood still for a millisecond before they continued with their movements like nothing had happened.

"I-it was g-great," Hinata said, smiling. She dropped her coat onto the floor in the middle of the kitchen. "I'm r-really starting to like Suigetsu..." She grabbed a frying pan off the stove that had leftover raspberry compote in it. She guessed it had gone into the cake.

"Ah!" She cried as if she were pretending to stumble over something and fall. Then without even a moment to blink, she raised the frying pan over her head and slammed it down upon the fur coat. It made a resounding TWANK noise against the tiled floor.

"Okay," she breathed. "We c-can talk now." Everyone was trying to act like they weren't sending her pitying looks. She ignored them as she bent to peer into her coat's hair. Its mink fur was now stained with compost, and her slender fingers became sticky as she combed through it. "It s-should be right..." she continued to pick at the jacket. "here!"

Triumphant, Hinata pulled out the tiniest piece of technology. It was a black ball, shaped like a bug, and hidden amongst the thick fur of her coat. It had happened after Suigetsu asked about her mom. She was sure he already knew that she was dead, but was just looking for one last chance to touch her. She scoffed softly to herself. Asshole.

Kiba whisted. "Damn, that's a small wire," he grabbed it from her palm to examine it, its tiny wires exposed after Hinata had brutally murdered it, along with her favorite coat, with Tenten's used frying pan. "He put this on you just now?"

"Y-yeah," Hinata jumped onto the counter into a sit. Neji rubbed her shoulder comfortingly and looked proud. "H-he asked about m-my parents' work, t-then l-looked all sad when I t-told him my mother d-died."

"That's very audacious," Tenten snorted as she continued frosting. "Good riddance."

"I wish he could die under mysterious circumstances," Ino said.

"It's t-too soon," Hinata looked at her fingernails. They had been painted cream but were now stained red from the compote that remained on the floor. "It w-would be suspicious. He was an a-awful spy, anyway. The man practically s-smelled like a sanitation unit."

"It still sucks," Tenten said empathetically. "I mean...it seemed like you really liked him."

Hinata shrugged, not meeting any of their eyes. "I did like him." She took the bug from Kiba and tossed it into the trash. "I like them all, at least a little."

They all collapsed into silence. Ino took out her phone, Kiba continued placing petals on the cake, Tenten took yet another baked good out of the oven, and Neji began mixing a bowl of dry ingredients into a bowl of wet ingredients. They were all preparing desserts for the Affair on Saturday.

After a few minutes of pointed sulking, Hinata finally jumped down from the counter. She pulled down the hem of her wool sweater dress and was getting ready to pull an apron over it when soft, even-paced steps padded toward them. Every single one of them stopped what they were doing.

Hanabi walked in first. She was a young, sullen face of almost 16 years, with tear-stained cheeks, holding on to the arm of an elder, who waddled in on swollen feet. His long black robe fell to the ground around him, and he clutched onto Hanabi like she were the only thing tethering her to the ground.

Immediately, everyone dropped into a bow, Tenten, Kiba, and Ino going as far as to touch their knees to the ground. Hinata and Neji bent deeply at the waist, withdrawing their eyes sharply, "Grandfather Miroku," they addressed in unison, Hinata without even stuttering.

"Neji, my boy," Miroku said gently. Slowly, Neji lifted to face him. The old man put a scarred, wrinkled hand on his face. "My son...your father...has died in prison."

It was always the same dream. Him running through a wide-open field with his chubby nine-year-old legs chasing a golden soccer ball. It was golden because of the time of day. It was golden hour. He had hated that shit ever since.

The dream started off fine. He ran after the ball. There was almost nothing in his way. He could see the goalpost as it once stood on the Uchiha grounds, a pearly white structure that he and his brother practiced with mercilessly from day in to day out. Only this time, he was utterly and completely alone.

He ran drills. Up and down and up the court. He passed the ball between his legs. He avoided the goal post entirely until something, always something urgent, something he could not deny, called him forward toward it. His body moved as if gravitationally pulled. He didn't want to. He didn't want to because he knew what would come after. But despite his wants, he still moved his foot back, and then sent it pushing forward, all of his energy into the tip of his sneaker, sending the golden soccer ball spiraling into the goal. When it struck: POP! POP! POP! POP! POP! POP!

Gunfire erupted all around the Uchiha compound, relentless and loud. POP! POP! POOOOP POOOP PEEEEP PEEP PEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP! Sasuke woke with a violent jerk and sweat on his brow. He swung his arm in a wide arch, capturing his alarm clock in his grip, and catapulted it into the ground.

Silence.

The dream was a memory and he wanted the memory in the ground. He got out of bed with heavy shoulders, feeling like he had been struck by one of the bullets, though that hadn't even happened in real life. He stepped over the damaged technology and got ready for his day. He had to buy a new alarm clock. Again.

-:-

The drive to the office was uneventful. Sasuke dressed in dark business-casual wear that was simultaneously nondescript and stylish, dressing in a dark green turtleneck under his gray peacoat to combat the cold. On the expressway, snow flurries brushed the glass of his window and melted upon contact. Traffic was slow. He glared at the weather and the line of cars in front of him.

Downtown, Sasuke tossed his keys to the valet. Normally, he'd park it himself for safety reasons, but he was feeling lazy today after that nightmare. When he looked in the mirror after brushing his teeth, his eyes were ringed red. It was pathetic. He thought he was pitiful. He thought that he should be having other feelings instead of the fear that crawled at his insides like the legs of a thousand tiny spiders. Itchy, itching, breaking through is his skin. He wanted to wake up furious, but even in vengeance, there was great fear.

Not that he would ever admit that to anyone, not even himself.

The Uchiha walked through the glass doors of an office building that looked like all of the other office buildings in the area. It was a normal, modern, glass monstrosity of about 50 stories. Security officers greeted him from behind their tall desks, and at the gated entry, as was routine, he briefly flashed his laminated litigation lawyer badge at the scanner. It beeped and the transparent gates opened. He always thought those things were funny. Four feet high plastic doors would never be enough to stop his entry, but he entertained it because he had to.

He got into the last elevator on the right and hit the floor 12 button with the pad of his thumb. These elevators had flatscreen TVs attached to the walls, God knows why, and the busy screen drew his attention. On it, a mugshot of none other than Hyuga Hizashi appeared. The sight of it sent a wild feeling through Sasuke's body.

Publicly, he was a well-known businessman turned convict; privately, however, Sasuke knew more about his activities than the average citizen. The screen showed a grainy video of the Hyuga walking away from the courtroom in a bright orange jumpsuit. Below it, the caption read:

BREAKING: FORMER BUSINESS TYCOON, HYUGA HIZASHI, MURDERED IN FEDERAL PRISON. STORY STILL UNFOLDING AS INVESTIGATORS EXPLORE POTENTIAL MOB-RELATED INFLUENCES.

"Hm," Sasuke hummed. The elevator dinged on the 12th floor. He stepped off, took out a tiny pocket knife, and gently stabbed the tip of his finger so that a red dot of blood sputtered out. He wiped it across a small square of tile that was exactly 37 tiles off the ground, and 6 tiles left of the elevator, before stepping back into it.

A computerized voice rang out once the doors closed: "Hello, CROW. Please enter the password."

Sasuke typed in the 40 digit password with robot-like fluidity using the elevator buttons as guides, as the elevator began to sink back down into the building. He grabbed his mask from his briefcase and slid it over his face once the metal box dipped below the ground floor, and the lights shut off. He looked up at the screen before he did so, and Hizashi's frozen face stared down at him hauntingly.

His mask was shaped like a crow's head and its beak jutted out from his nose. The elevator doors slid open, but before he stepped off he carefully evaluated the positionality of the tripwire––which changed every hour––and casually jumped over it. After that, he took off his jacket, finally able to be comfortable.

He typed in one last password, did one final hand scan, and walked into ANBU Headquarters to report for duty.

"Yooo, finally!" A large body suddenly interrupted his vision. Sasuke crouched to duck the fist that eagerly came towards his face, and grabbed Fox's shoulder, pushing him away. His shocking trickster mask set him apart, but Sasuke would know Naruto anywhere, mask or not. Fox didn't stumble at all from the push––he never really missed a beat––and slung an arm around Crow's shoulder instead. "You hear the news?"

"What news?"

Fox pivoted their bodies so that they were both looking at one of several screens across the room. On the one bottom left, the news story about the Hyuga was on display. The updated headline said: KNOWN AKATSUKI MEMBER HIDAN ALLEGEDLY USED SHANK TO STAB HYUGA IN NECK

Akatsuki. Sasuke felt his heart stutter at the name. He felt sudden, intense, intrigue as he fixed his eyes on the screen. Hidan's mugshot flashed on the television next and he struck a sinister smile at the camera. Beside him, Fox was muttering "Fuck those guys."

Next to the TV displaying Hidan's face, someone had pulled up Hidan's file in jest. Mouse was jeering at his arrest report, listing things like, "Possession of six pounds of heroin," "aggravated assault and battery," "vehicular manslaughter," and again, "possession with intent to sell."

"It's perplexing," Sasuke muttered quietly. Fox ignored him, already knowing of his borderline obsession with the gang. The obsession had started the first time he watched one of them drive away from him in one of their dramatic long coats. Asshole put six bullets through Sasuke's window. He was lucky to be alive. "How is Hidan locked up but they still can't find these guys' headquarters?"

"Well, we can't find them either," Pig walked up to them then, her pink locks pulled away from her mask and into an elaborate bun. She had a heavily stuffed folder in her arms.

Sasuke was of the opinion that ANBU had never really tried, never having a reason to, but he kept this to himself. They were a network of spies and assassins, taking on missions when they were paid to do so, and occasionally taking on some government work...when the price was right. Few people even knew they existed, few people ever needed to.

To ANBU operatives, the Akatsuki's activities were just another form of daily entertainment. Sure, they kept watch and gathered intel when they could, but they had no personal beef with the mafia, and it wasn't protocol to start wars where they weren't needed. In any case, the Akatsuki had piqued the interest of a few ANBU who wanted to know how they were operating on such a large level, but not making any noises around the city. Besides Hidan's obviously loud personality, there was rarely a peep from the Akatsuki. No one really knew who was a part of it. No one knew what their goal was.

Sasuke was one of the interested ANBU, though he tried to keep his curiosity to himself. The thing was...when he'd almost gotten shot two years ago, on a mission he had been informed had nothing to do with the Akatsuki in the first place, he swore he saw a tattoo of an Uchiha fan on the leg of one of the running assailants.

The curiosity itched and dug into his skin like an open wound, and Sasuke scratched until it festered into obsession. Itachi hadn't been seen or heard from since the massacre, but a week before the tragedy, he'd come home with a new tattoo. At almost nine, Sasuke watched in awe as Itachi told him not to tell their parents. "It's nice, right?" Itachi said, lifting his pant leg to reveal his calf, still shiny with ink. "It's like what they would do back in the day." He was a teenager of 15 years, bright, talented, and eager to make a difference. "Branding. Loyalty. Uchiha forever."

"Uchiha forever," Sasuke responded seriously, knocking his smaller fist against his brother's.

"You listening, Crow?" Pig elbowed him and cocked her head to the side inquisitive. "Are you okay? You're not usually so..."

"Out of it," Fox supplied, putting one finger in the air. "You're out of it, dude. You wanna get some ramen after this, on me?"

"You don't have any money," Pig crossed her arms over her chest. "Remember? You lost it all in a bet you had no business making with fucking Owl of all people. Owl! Seriously, his name is fucking owl."

"What?" Fox growled, "Are owls supposed to be smart or somethin'?"

Sasuke rubbed his head, "Yeah, stupid," he muttered. "They're wise."

"Whatever," Fox said. "Anyway, Crow, you're not going to believe this mission we got, you wanna do the honors, Pig?"

Pig shook her head, not interested in showing as much excitement as Fox was. "I don't care. Ox doesn't want me on the field for this one so I'm lousy fucking backup." She said that to say: "you tell him."

Fox pulled up his tablet; on its screen was an image of a picturesque home and a large plot of land. Sasuke recognized it immediately.

"We're going to the palace itself," Fox was grinning beneath his mask.

It was the Hyuga estate. Excellent, Sasuke thought. Excellent.

an. i've always wanted to write a mob story and a spy story so i decided to save time and do both.