A/N: Must... kill... ruler... option...
Disclaimer: Naruto and Sasuke changed their minds about being mine and ran back to K. Masashi, insisting he was nicer and didn't hurt them like I did.
Also, Lauryl, I got a message from you with an email, and you asked me a question. I've tried emailing you five times, but the message keeps failing. If you could please give me another address I could reach you at so I can answer your question, that would be appreciated. :smiles:
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Naruto fell down into one of the empty seats at the large table and slammed his head on the wood before him. Neji cocked an eyebrow, his beer halfway to his mouth, and then looked at Sasuke over the blond's head.
"What's wrong with him?" he asked the other firefighter.
"He's just tired." Sasuke smirked, taking his seat beside the blond. "It's been a while, Neji. How's it going?"
"It's crazy." The Hyuuga sighed. He looked around before leaning closer to Sasuke. "Tenten is driving me nuts with all the wedding arrangements. I'm beginning to think it might not be worth it."
Neji let out a cry as Tenten smacked him across the back of the head before sitting beside him. "Hello, Sasuke. Naruto."
"Hi, Tenten." Sasuke laughed slightly, Naruto merely raising one hand from his position, his head still on the wooden table.
"Is he okay?" Tenten motioned Naruto.
"Tired." Sasuke replied, rubbing the blond's back. Well, that was what he was doing with his visible hand. While that hand was rubbing smooth circles up and down Naruto's back, his other had snuck under the table, and Naruto jumped for the second time that day, slamming his knees on the underside of the table again.
"Fuck!" Naruto turned to Sasuke, punching him in the shoulder. "Will you stop hanging out with Genma! I do not have a sign that says 'molest me' stuck to my back!" Naruto batted Sasuke's hands away before glaring and crossing his arms.
"Aw, but you just look so cute when you're like that." Sasuke whispered, inching closer until his mouth was right beside Naruto's ear. "And you know you like it, whether we're in public or not." He licked the shell of the blond's ear and the other firefighter shivered.
Tenten watched on with avid interest while Neji winced, looking anywhere but at them. He'd been around when Naruto had been dating that weirdo, Sai, but he still wasn't comfortable watching two men make out—even though they weren't really making out.
"Hey, so I heard tomorrow is Tomato's last day." Kiba said as he sat down, Hinata right beside him. Tenten cocked an eyebrow at him, and he frowned. "What?"
"No 'hello,' no 'how's it going,' no 'can I sit here'? No nothing? Just 'I heard Tomato's leaving'?"
"I'm sorry, Tenten, do I have to whip out a trumpet and give you a special greeting?" Kiba grinned. The paramedic cuffed him lightly across the back of the head.
"Hey, lovebirds, did you hear me?" Kiba grabbed the table in his hands and shook it until it caught Naruto's attention, forcing the blond to look at him.
"Huh?" Sasuke glared at Kiba for being interrupted, but the brunette just smirked.
"Tomorrow is Tomato's last day with us."
Naruto gasped. "Yamato's leaving? No! I loved that guy!"
"I hope you mean in a platonic way." Sasuke warned. Naruto just laughed.
"Of course, of course. You're my number one, Sasuke." Naruto pecked his cheek lightly.
"You know, I never knew you and Yamato were close." Tenten said with a frown. "I mean, I've seen you talking to him a few times, but are you really going to miss him that much?"
"Are you kidding? I'm going to cry when he leaves." Naruto sighed. "When he was around, I didn't have to deal with Genma."
Kiba snorted into his beer, choking. Hinata patted his back, a look of worry on her face as he continued to hack the beer out of his lungs.
"Hey, Naruto, I'm going to the bathroom." Sasuke said, standing up and looking down at the blond.
"Okay." he replied, not catching the hint.
Sasuke shifted, and then coughed, causing Naruto to look at him again. Sasuke motioned the bathroom with his head, and the blond cocked an eyebrow. The raven began nodding his head towards the bathroom with a 'come on!' look on his face, so Naruto sighed, figuring it would do him no good to play dumb.
"You know, I kind of need to pee, too. I'll come, too."
"Way to word it, Naruto." Tenten grinned. "I'm come, too. I have no doubt that you will."
"Dude!" Kiba covered his ears with both hands as Sasuke and Naruto made their way to the bathroom.
As the two men disappeared inside, a few more people entered the bar before one of them ran towards the bathroom, slamming through the door. He was shoved back out a second later, two voices screaming the same thing.
"Go away, Genma!"
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Iruka rolled over in bed, his hand reaching out for Kakashi. He frowned as he was met with nothing but air, and forced his eyes open. He glanced at the clock, noting the time was close to four in the morning. He sat up and looked around the room, not finding his lover anywhere.
The brunette threw the covers off himself and stood, yawning as he padded across the room to the door. He walked down the corridor and noticed a light on in the kitchen as he descended the stairs. Kakashi was sitting at the kitchen table, his back to the door. Iruka walked up behind him, wrapping his arms around the grey-haired man's neck.
"Couldn't sleep?" he murmured as his eyes drifted closed.
"No." Kakashi whispered.
Iruka frowned, opening his eyes at the tone of Kakashi's voice. He pulled away from him and sat down, noting the cup of coffee in front of the firefighter. Kakashi was also sitting with his hands clasped together and resting in front of his mouth, something he only did when he was worried, or something was bothering him.
"Kakashi, what's wrong?" Iruka whispered, running one hand up and down Kakashi's closest arm.
The Captain sighed, raking his hand through his grey hair before leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms, a frown on his face.
"You know, I've never been one for believing in fate or those stupid meant-to-be things people sometimes feel, but I've always trusted my gut." Kakashi whispered. "Like when Zabuza and I—when he died because of the flashover, I felt something in my gut telling me something was wrong."
"And what's wrong now?" Iruka asked.
"I don't know." Kakashi admitted. "But my gut feels like it's being wrenched apart, so whatever it is, it's bad—and it's going to happen soon."
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Itachi unlocked the door to a house he hadn't entered for over a decade, looking around. He was amazed to find it was still in pretty good condition. He moved aside to let his cleaning lady pass, the woman looking around terrified. After all, who wouldn't be scared if someone like Itachi had shoved them in a car and driven them out to a house in the middle of nowhere?
"I want this house cleaned before tomorrow." he said monotonously before closing the door behind her and walking back towards his car. She could find her own way home, he had other things to set up.
The elder Uchiha got back into his car, starting it, and drove down the dirt path. He knew exactly where he needed to go, and exactly what to do for tomorrow. Everything had to be perfect and timed to the second. He trusted the firefighters to act the way they always did, and he trusted the Captain to make the same stupid mistake he did every time there was a fire.
Itachi smirked as he thought of the look on old Scarecrow's face when he found out that it was because of how predictable he was.
He parked at the end of a long street of buildings and got out of his car. He opened his trunk and pulled out a large bag before slamming it closed again and walking calmly down the street. He'd have to move his car later, or else things wouldn't work the way he wanted them to, but that would only take a second.
The elder Uchiha entered a building and began going about setting up his new trap.
Itachi couldn't wait for the morning.
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Sasuke stared out the front window of Engine Seven as they careened down the street, Kiba hollering angrily from beside him about disrespectful people not moving for the fire truck.
"What, you think these pretty lights are here for show, move you fucking idiots!"
"Kiba, they can't hear you over the sirens." Naruto reminded with a small chuckle.
Sasuke just smiled, shaking his head as they continued down the street. Kakashi whistled, making the three in the back look out the front window. Naruto cursed as he saw the building on fire. The only thing he could think of was The Fan. Even if it was a normal fire, Sasuke's elder brother was the first thing he thought about all the time.
"Let me guess, Naruto and I are going in first?" Sasuke asked as he began to get his gear ready.
"You're so smart, Sasuke." Kakashi smirked over his shoulder as they approached the burning building.
"He wants to kill us, doesn't he?" Naruto inquired as he snapped his mask into place, turning on his radio.
"Yup." Sasuke agreed as he did the same.
They stopped in front of the building and the firefighters jumped out of the Rig, Sasuke running around to grab the hose with Naruto while Kiba ran to the gages to check the water-pressure when the hose was turned on.
Naruto and Sasuke ran towards the building with the hose, Sasuke kicking the door open and then crawling into the gloom. Naruto was right behind him. As they moved, trying to locate the source of the fire, Sasuke realized it was mostly smoke. They'd have to find the fire before doing anything else.
As they moved further into the building, Sasuke opened a door, and his eyes widened. "We've got a civilian in here!" he hollered into his radio as he and Naruto abandoned the hose at the door, crawling into the room.
"We'll get Wolfgang and Godd in there right away." Kakashi assured them. "Is the civilian still breathing?"
Sasuke reached the figure, who was lying on its side. He reached out one gloved hand, and the second it touched the person's shoulder, an arm came around, swinging a lead pipe at him. The pipe smashed into Sasuke's mask, breaking the front of it as he toppled backwards, his helmet flying off his head.
"Sasuke!" Naruto hurried towards Sasuke as the figure stood, a mask on the person's face. Sasuke's eyes widened as he stared up at his brother, able to see the smirk through the elder Uchiha's mask.
Itachi said nothing as he swung the lead pipe a second time, this time, hitting Naruto across the back of the head. The blond fell forward, a crack in his helmet. The blow had mostly been blocked by the helmet, but it still left Naruto disoriented.
"Good bye, little brother. Enjoy your final seconds as a firefighter." Itachi swung the lead pipe across Sasuke's unprotected head, knocking the raven out and causing blood to spatter across the floor from the blow.
Naruto turned and his eyes widened as he saw the blood. He struggled to get back to his feet, but Itachi kicked him in the back, forcing him back to the ground. Naruto groaned as he was slammed into the floor, his mask digging painfully into his face. Itachi reached into his pocket, extracting a while cloth. He then bent down and pulled Naruto's mask off his face, his knee still pressed into the blond's back, forcing him to stay on his stomach.
Naruto struggled as his mask was pulled off, and replaced with a white cloth. He tried his best not to breathe, but it was hard when someone was crushing your lungs. He had no choice, and the second he started inhaling through the cloth, he felt himself getting dizzy until his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he fell unconscious.
Itachi grabbed the blond's radio and Scott pack, throwing them across the room before pulling the firefighter over his shoulder and casting one last glance at his little brother. He smiled.
"It's been fun, Sasuke, but it looks like I've won."
Itachi turned to the window in the room, which he'd left open specifically for his escape, and jumped through it with Naruto.
When Kiba and Izumo arrived a few seconds later, they were greeted with the sight of an unconscious and bleeding Sasuke with a cracked mask. The raven had undoubtedly been inhaling smoke since he'd fallen, and with the wound at the back of his head, this required immediate attention.
They never found Naruto.
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A/N: Short, I know, but y'all know me and cliffhangers :3 Next chapter will be out tomorrow, I promise. It's the least I can do for the cliffhanger.