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Chapter 11: Vultures

"So, I guess this is goodbye?" Sasuke said sadly. He felt a tear rolling down his cheek at the thought of Naruto going on yet another tour. Things had been going so well for them during his break, but they always seemed to fall apart each time the man left. He knew that Naruto loved him, but that didn't make it hurt any less when he felt the pain in his arm of his boyfriend cheating on him. He thought that people didn't do that to the people they loved, yet there he was not dreaming of Naruto but knowing that Naruto was cheating on him. No one really knew how the soulmate bond and dreams worked, only that when people fell in love the dreams went away. It wasn't clear if they continued not to dream about each other if one of them fell out of love. He wanted to believe that they would start dreaming of each other again if the love faded for one of them because that meant that Naruto did still love him, but his actions made him doubt everything.

Naruto wiped away the tear from Sasuke's eyes. They were standing outside of their apartment building. The blond had his suitcase full of things he'd need for tour, ready to leave for months while Sasuke remained at home. "It's not goodbye, it's a see you later. We'll talk on the phone, I promise."

Sasuke frowned, they never really talked much when he was gone. Perhaps that was part of the problem. It wasn't like there was an easy means of communication. People had pagers and cell phones were becoming a thing, but those were expensive. It wasn't something that they could afford when they were basically living mostly off of Sasuke's income while Naruto tried to break into the music industry. He always promised that this tour would be the tour to provide them the exposure to make them big, but it never was. Instead tours always seemed to lead to the same thing: Naruto falling off the wagon after Sasuke worked so hard to help him get clean.

"I promise, it'll all be okay," Naruto assured him and Sasuke just nodded. "I'll call you as soon as I can, but I've got to go," he kissed him one more time before joining the rest of his band in their van that acted as their tour bus.

Sasuke sighed as he watched them driving away. Deep down he knew it was an empty promise. Eventually Naruto would fall back into drugs and subsequently into someone else's bed. None of his friends understood why he stayed with him and put up with the lying and the cheating. He tried to explain that just the thought of losing his soulmate hurt worse than anything Naruto did. He told them that Naruto was fighting his demons and trying to get better. He couldn't find the words to explain how good it felt when Naruto was home and his. How things were when he was sober somehow made up for all of the pain when he was away.

Sasuke woke up to the sound of his alarm. He hated that dream, it always reminded him why he had never wanted a singer as a lover. Yet there he was agreeing to slowly work on his relationship with a singer. He let out a deep sigh as stared at the ceiling. Sasuke rolled out of bed to get ready for the day.

As he stared at his closet he wondered what he was doing with his life. He wanted so badly to prove his family wrong that he was in a job he never wanted just to prove a point. It had been about a week since they'd decided to take things slow and they'd gone out after work almost every night. Their conversations seemed to flow so easily and he found himself talking to the man about things he hadn't talked about in a long time. It usually wasn't easy for him to open up to new people, yet with Naruto it all felt so simple, like it they had known each other for years. He had heard that happened with soulmates, but he hadn't really believed it until now. Thinking about his conversations with Naruto made him question his life choices. He had fought against conforming to his father's standards for so long, yet jumped at the chance to prove himself.

His mind was at war. One part of him was screaming that he should be grateful for the opportunity to prove himself. That Naruto would be going on tour and probably forget about him while he was gone. That's what singers did, right? The other part of him said that Naruto wasn't like the Naruto of his past life. It was easier to keep in touch in this life. They had cell phones and could text, call and even FaceTime. He had the money in this life to fly out and see Naruto's shows whenever he wanted. Hell, he could go on tour with him if he really wanted and leave the corporate life behind.

Sasuke grabbed a suit from his closet, still lost in his thoughts as he got ready. He felt as if he were on autopilot with the way he went through his morning routine. He hadn't realized that he had just been staring at the wall, ignoring the eggs he'd made for breakfast until Suigetsu came into the room, "You okay?"

He snapped out of his thoughts and looked at his best friend. "Huh?" he hadn't heard a word his friend had said. "Why are you up so early?" he deflected whatever question the man may have asked.

"Nice try, you know I have a photo shoot in about an hour" Suigetsu shook his head, sitting across from him at the kitchen table. "What's on your mind?" he asked, knowing that something was wrong. Usually Sasuke would have been out of the house and at work. He'd started overworking himself ever since he'd gotten the new position and Suigetsu hated the way he'd worked so hard just to impress the asshole he called a father.

"I feel like I'm going fucking crazy," he admitted. "I thought that I had everything figured out and then he came into my life and I just don't know anymore," Sasuke started pushing the eggs around on his plate but not actually eating. "I don't know what to do."

"What do you mean? I thought you guys were going to take things slow and see how it goes and that from the way you're out with him every night I figured things were gong well," he was confused by his friend's sudden change of heart. Sasuke had seemed so happy when he told him about Naruto over the past week.

"I'm not talking about Naruto," he frowned. "At least not only about Naruto, I guess it does have something to do with him." Suigetsu remained silent, waiting for Sasuke to explain. "I thought I didn't care about what they thought but here I am in a suit just to impress them. Why do I care?" he let out a shaky breath. "Then I had this stupid dream about Naruto going on tour and it just makes me question what's going to happen when that day actually comes in this life," his words came out fast, but Suigetsu understood.

Suigetsu leaned back in his chair, "I have an idea." Sasuke looked up at him with a raised brow. "You're not going to call your past lives by your names. Let's call that Sasuke Sam and that Naruto Ned."

"Sam and Ned?" Sasuke chuckled, unimpressed with the names he'd chosen.

The other man rolled his eyes, "If you don't like those names then you think of something better. The names aren't the point as long as they aren't Naruto and Sasuke. If you keep calling them that then you're going to continue thinking about them as you and Naruto." Sasuke hadn't thought about the fact that using those names alone would make him think about him and Naruto. "Just humor me, for one week don't refer to them as Sasuke as Naruto. Don't refer them as your past lives, they're just two people in your dreams. Like you're watching a movie that has nothing to do with your life. If it helps then you keep doing it, if it doesn't then at least it was worth trying."

Sasuke thought about it for a moment. It was true that the more he referred to that Naruto as Naruto, the more he associated it with the Naruto in this life. "Okay, and what about my father and brother? They feel like vultures just circling waiting for me to mess up," he frowned as he thought of the way it always felt like one of them was hovering over him, watching his every move so they could say I told you so.

"Is proving a point really worth your happiness?" Suigetsu asked, knowing that Sasuke wasn't truly happy with what he was doing. Sasuke had rebelled when he was younger, but with the exception of his tattoos, he ultimately ended up doing what his parents wanted.

Sasuke lets out a frustrated groan, "I'm supposed to be the smart one in this friendship."

"How do I put this nicely? If I need to solve a math problem, I'd come to you. Relationship advice? I'd go to literally anyone else," Suigetsu teased. "Scratch that, I might go to you before going to your brother because I'm one hundred percent convinced that man has no emotions."

"You've come to me for advice before," Sasuke scoffed.

"Yeah, when I wanted someone to tell me to break up with someone," he laughed. "You're my go to for that cause you'll be all fuck em, relationships suck so why bother?" he mimicked Sasuke's tone. The light haired man laughed harder when he saw the glare on Sasuke's face, "You should know that doesn't faze me at all anymore."

"You're useless," Sasuke grumbled. "I've got to get to work," he frowned as he tossed his uneaten breakfast and put his plate in the dishwasher. "I'll see you later."

"Think about what I said!" Suigetsu yelled as Sasuke walked out the door.

Sasuke soon realized that the dream was a sign that he should have just stayed in bed. It was one thing after another that had to have his attention. He was already in a bad mood from his never ending thoughts and the people around him were just making it worse. In short, running the entertainment division of a large company sucked. He was ready to snap with he heard another knock on his door, "Come in."

"You looked stressed," Kakashi said as he walked into the office, shutting the door behind him. "You know, most people in your position keep alcohol of some sort in their office for days like the one you seem to be having," he was only half joking as he sat in the seat across from the other man's desk. "Though with your distaste of alcohol I'm assuming that's out of the question," he looked around, not having really been in Sasuke's office since he'd taken over the position.

"What do you want?" Sasuke sighed, already annoyed with the older man. He kind of envied the way the man was dressed in a simple pair of jeans and a t-shirt, hating the feeling of the tie around his neck and stuffy suit he had to wear. His father had already told him that taking off his jacket and rolling up the sleeves of his dress shirt was out of the question because his tattoos were completely inappropriate for the work environment.

Kakashi frowned, clearly not happy about breaking the news. "Your father has given a Naruto a deadline to get the album done by the end of the month so he can send him out on tour," he figured it was best to just rip it off like a band-aid. There was no point in stalling the news he'd inevitably hear about. "I'm surprised Naruto didn't tell you."

Sasuke blushed a little as he admitted, "He's been blowing up my phone today so I kind of muted him. Don't tell him that though." He pulled his phone out of his pocket, looking at the many text messages that ranged from cheesy messages to him being annoyed with having to rush his album for no reason and finally him knowing the reason his album had to be rushed, finishing off with a 'I hate your father' paired with an angry emoji.

"I didn't think that was my father's decision to make, I run the entertainment sector," he huffed.

Kakashi rolled his eyes, "And I'm sure that you're super excited about sending your soulmate on tour." He knew Sasuke well enough to know he wasn't happy with the idea of Naruto leaving when they were just getting to know each other. "Look, I'm on your side here, but only because I don't want him to have to rush this album, he's too good to fall victim to the sophomore slump," he sighed. "This is how it always happens, people are so eager to ride the success of their first album that they put out a shitty or mediocre second one," he shook his head. "So don't worry, I'm going to talk to your father about it."

"Why are you telling me instead of talking to him?" he asked as he sat back in his chair.

Kakashi frowned, "Because I think you're the reason that he's making him rush this album. He's never done this to other artists, usually they're the eager ones and we have to rein them in."

Sasuke sat up, suddenly very interested in what the older man had to say, "What do you mean I'm the reason?" He was upset at the thought that his father would potentially hurt a person's career just because of him.

"I'm just saying it's suspicious that you two start working on potentially having a relationship and suddenly the album must get finished as fast as possible," he said nonchalantly. A smirk appeared on his face when he saw Sasuke's eyes harden, clearly getting angry. He was getting the exact reaction he wanted and expected.

Sasuke stood up, "You know what, don't worry about talking to my father, I'll talk to him." There was a knock at the door that made him sit back down rather than rush out of his office to confront his father. "What?" he angrily called out.

The door opened to reveal a certain blond and Kakashi grinned at the way Sasuke's eyes softened when he saw him. "Is that any way to talk to your soulmate? I'm hurt," Naruto said dramatically before noticing that Kakashi was sitting in Sasuke's office. "What are you doing here?"

"Just catching up, it's been a while since I've talked with little Sasuke," Kakashi took the opportunity to tease the young Uchiha. He knew better than to mention what they had actually been discussing, not wanting to get Naruto's hopes up.

"Baby, can we talk later?" his eyes widened when he realized the pet name he'd used. Naruto grinned as Kakashi held back a laugh. "I mean," he started, only to be cut off by Naruto.

"No take backs," he teased. "I just wanted to know why you weren't answering any of my text messages, honey," he couldn't stop grinning.

"Naruto," Sasuke said in a warning tone, though it didn't seem to faze the blond.

"What? It hurts when my sweetie doesn't answer," he continued his teasing, also trying not to laugh at Sasuke's reaction.

"Stop it, I was busy," Sasuke became flustered, yet still tried his best to look intimidating with a glare.

Naruto smirked, "The blush really makes the glare lose it's effect, sexy." He winked at the other man, only making him blush more.

"And this has taken a turn that I don't want to be present for," Kakashi got up. "Let me know how it goes," he told Sasuke. "Not whatever is going on when I leave this office, but the other thing we talked about," he clarified, which he could tell pissed off Sasuke. After years of dealing with the Uchihas his reaction just made Kakashi laugh as he walked out of the office.

Naruto fully walked into the office, shutting the door behind him before walking over to lean on Sasuke's desk. "You know I'm just teasing you, right?" he asked. "Though I wouldn't mind if you continued to call me baby."

Sasuke took in Naruto's appearance for the first time that day. He seemed so out of place for the office setting, obviously having been recording. He was in grey sweats and white t-shirt, yet he some how looked good. His hair in its usual messy style and blue eyes had a mischievous glint. "What was so important in those text messages that you had to come see me?" he asked leaning back in his chair so he faced the blond.

"Sit like that and I'm going to take it as an invitation to sit in your lap," he teased, loving how easily the other man got flustered when it came to flirting. "I'm kidding, kinda," he laughed. "I just wanted to see if you'd heard about the tour," he said shyly.

"I've heard," Sasuke frowned. "Any idea when they're announcing it?" he asked, curious as to how long he had before he had to talk to his father to try to change his mind.

"I think Friday, so in a few days. I guess I'm just a little nervous about having to get the album out so fast," he admitted, fiddling with the hem of his shirt. "I mean, I have the songs, I just wanted more time to make it perfect and I'm not that happy with some of them so I was thinking of writing new ones but I don't really have the time," he started rambling.

Sasuke wished there was something he could do to make the blond feel better about it, "How much more time do you think you'll need?"

Naruto shrugged, "I'd prefer like another month at least. Plus this doesn't give us a lot of time to talk, I'll be so busy finishing the album then I go on tour." He hated the thought of having to leave when they were just getting to a good place. It had only been a week and yet somehow it felt like months, at the same time it still didn't feel long enough.

"Either way your album will be great," he assured him. Sasuke stood up and looking him in the eyes, "I really do have to go. I have something important I need to do." He looked at the blonds lips before looking back into his eyes.

"Can I kiss you before you go?" Naruto asked. "You just look really good in this suit," he grabbed the lapels of his suit, pulling him closer. Sasuke just nodded with a small smile. Naruto leaned in and kissed the other man. It was a chaste kiss, keeping in mind that they were still in Sasuke's office and anyone could walk in at any moment. If Naruto were honest, that thought turned him on more than it should. He liked the idea of bending Sasuke over his desk, maybe gagging him to keep him quiet. He pulled away, mostly to stop the thoughts before he got hard just thinking about the possibilities. "I'll see you later?" he asked softly.

"Yeah, I'll see you later," Sasuke agreed, kissing him one more time before they left his office and parted ways. Sasuke had been the one to say they'd take it slow, yet he was pretty sure that they weren't exactly going slow. Maybe they were compared to other soulmates that had their kind of bond. It wasn't like they were official or even came close to anything sexual, it was just a few kisses and some hand holding.

Sasuke started getting nervous as he walked towards his father's office, but he wouldn't let himself back down. Luckily his father's door was open and he was alone in his office. Sasuke didn't even bother knocking, he just walked in and shut the door. He knew he should probably sit, but he was too anxious to sit so he stood by the chair in front of his father's door. "He's not ready to release his album and go on tour," Sasuke cut to the chase.

"Hello to you too, son," his father looked up. It was clear by the look on his face that he'd been expecting this conversation. "Sit down," he ordered, not expecting his son to argue.

"No," he shook his head. "I don't expect this to be a long conversation," he told him, trying to rein in his anger. His father wanted him to be unable to control his emotions, to be able to tell him he wasn't ready. Sasuke wasn't going to let that happen though. "What makes you think it's a good idea to rush this?" he asked, keeping his tone firm and calm, despite the war going on in his head.

"He's been with us long enough, he should have had it finished long ago," his father calmly told him. "What's the big deal? You told Itachi you didn't care about him, were you lying?" it was obvious that he knew what was going on between Sasuke and Naruto.

"I'm pretty sure you know the answer to that," he retorted, refusing to let his father get the best of him this time.

"I'm disappointed, I thought you'd gotten over this rebellious stage," his father shook his head, standing so that he was taller than the other man. As if his height gave him some extra power. "I thought you were going to finally be like your brother," he scoffed. "What happened to not caring about your soulmate?" he gave off an aura of superiority. He knew that in the end he controlled what happened, not Sasuke.

"Things change," Sasuke responded, a part of him yelling at him to back down. Telling him that he'd just gotten a little bit of approval, now wasn't the time to rebel. He shoved that part down, "I thought you were a better business man than this. Rushing an album out will only cause it to fail. Do you want him to fail? That reflects poorly on you if an artist has a hit album with one company and comes to yours only to flop." It had been awhile since he'd really stood up to his father, the last time being when he started getting tattoos. It felt good to have a sense of control.

"Don't argue with me son," he commanded in return. "One bad album is on the artist considering he was so adamant about writing and helping produce his songs," he shrugged. "It'll just show he should have listened to the company rather than have complete artistic freedom," he calmly argued.

"Don't bring him down just because we have issues," Sasuke could feel his anger starting to boil over and knew his father could see it as well.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," the smirk on his father's face told otherwise. "I know what's going on, you're both just distracting each other going out each night," he walked to the other side of the desk so he was hovering over Sasuke. He wasn't that much taller, yet the difference felt so large under his stare.

Sasuke's eyes widened, "You're having someone follow us, or at least one of us." He realized the only way his father would know that something was going on would be having someone watch them. His father didn't have time for such trivial things and Kakashi and Iruka weren't going to run and tell him. They had made it pretty clear they were hoping Sasuke and Naruto would work things out.

His father let out a condescending chuckle, "If you had just walked away from him, we wouldn't be having this conversation. I have eyes everywhere, don't forget that." He knew by the tone of his voice that if it weren't for laws against separating soulmates, he would have done just that. He'd found a loophole with making Naruto go on tour. "Aren't you worried what will happen while he's on tour?"

Sasuke clenched his jaw, "Aren't you worried what'll happen when mom finds out about you interfering with my love life?" It wasn't a secret how much his mother loved the soulmate system and idea that there was someone out there for everyone. It devastated her when her oldest didn't have a soulmate mark.

"So you're going to run to your mother now?" he asked mockingly.

Sasuke shrugged, "Only if you make me. Don't mess with my love life and I won't mess with yours, father. Give him as long as he needs." He didn't leave any room for argument before walking out of the office. If his father wanted him to be cut throat, he'd be cut throat, just not in the way his father had anticipated. Two could play that game.