A/N: Guess who's back, back again?
Sorry it's taken me a few months. I hope you enjoy!
"Whoa, y- you can't be serious about this," Naruto stuttered, eyes wide in shock. "I know he kinda hated your dad, but-"
"I…" Sasuke hesitated. What could he say? "I… it can't be anything else. Nothing else makes sense."
"I know he's evil, but stooping to kidnapping and murder? That's a bit far-fetched, and even I hate him!" The blond continued to insist.
"Just… please, trust me on this!" His friend argued, grabbing his hands with a pleading expression. "Naruto, you have to trust me."
Naruto struggled to form words for a few seconds before heaving a sigh and gripping his hands. "I do trust you, Sasuke. I trust you with my life. But maybe we should retrace our steps a little bit before we outright accuse him of murder. How do you know he's out to get you?"
"I- I just do!" He insisted, narrowing his eyes. "First my parents, then Shisui, then Itachi, and now Izumi? Nothing about that adds up at all! Not to mention, he won't listen to me or Spider-Man-"
"Wait, you know Spider-Man?" Naruto's eyes positively lit up and he bounced up and down.
"I-" Crap, now his secret identity was in danger. "I've met him once or twice…"
"Even Spider-Man, huh…" the blond sighed once more, sitting back. "Welp. This is a conundrum, isn't it?"
"How the hell do you know the word 'conundrum'?"
"H- hey! I'll have you know I can talk smart once in a while!"
Sasuke raised an eyebrow at him.
After several seconds of pouting, he admitted, "... I learned it from Sakura-chan…"
The light mood slowly began to dim as the two remembered her. Sasuke's smirk dropped and Naruto's shoulders sagged.
"... we have to rescue her somehow," Sasuke admitted quietly. "But how?"
"We need to be smart about this. The guy who took her is probably waiting for us to do something by now." Naruto's brow furrowed into a frown, and he smacked his fist into his open palm. "We need a plan. We need to talk to her cousin tomorrow. He may be a little creepy, but he's the only one we can trust."
The rest of the night passed uneasily, and neither one could stop tossing and turning until the dawn broke on another gloomy morning.
Naruto and Sasuke dragged themselves to the kitchen for a cup of coffee and breakfast. Luckily, more leftovers were in the fridge, and both boys made themselves a plate and a cup and hunched over the kitchen table in thought.
Sasuke chewed thoughtfully, staring at the wooden surface. There had to be something they could do on their own. For each hour they wasted, Izumi and Sakura could be in more and more trouble. And if they died…
No, he thought, shaking his head with narrowed eyes. Don't think about that. Izumi wouldn't want you wasting time ruminating on her death.
"I wonder if Sasori is awake yet," Naruto contemplated, breaking him out of his thoughts. The blond yawned widely, scratching his stomach as he stabbed his fork into another piece of tofu.
"Who knows…" Sasuke mumbled, taking a sip of orange juice. "That guy defies every stereotype and yet still feels like one."
The blond giggled at that, shaking his head in amusement. "I dunno, looks like a stoner to me!"
To the teens' surprise, Sasori opened the door when they knocked. His eyes seemed to have darker circles underneath than usual, and his bright red hair was a little more unruly, but he beckoned them inside anyway.
"Why did you decide to visit me so early today?" He asked boredly, yawning into his sleeve. "Not that I wasn't awake already…"
"We need to make a plan to take down whoever took my sister-in-law and my friend," Sasuke declared as he sat down on the couch.
"We aren't taking no for an answer!" Naruto added, folding his arms across his chest.
Sasori heaved a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Didn't I already tell you two to stay out of this?"
"You never said we couldn't be backup in case your main plan fails," Naruto countered.
"And you know I'm not backing out," the older teen added, raising an eyebrow at the man before them in the recliner. "Not when it's my family they're messing with."
"So what are you suggesting? That I have the deaths of two fourteen-year-olds on my conscience?"
"I'm thirteen," Naruto piped up.
"Whatever." Sasori dismissed him with a wave of his hand. "Like I said before, no. The most you can do is help us plan our dealings with the Snake. Otherwise, stay out of it."
"C'mon, there has to be something we can do!" Naruto exclaimed, throwing up his hands. "What about Spider-Man?"
Sasuke tensed, eyes darting to him. "What about Spider-Man?"
"Yeah, what about him?" Sasori raised an eyebrow as he pulled a cigarette out of his sweats pocket. "In case you don't know, Danzou isn't exactly on his side either. What's a random vigilante going to do against easily the most powerful man in New York?"
"We could tell him what's going on and that he needs to keep a closer eye on who he deals with!" Naruto explained, gesturing wildly. "We need to flag him down and recruit him as a spy!"
"Don't you think I've tried ?" Sasuke suddenly spoke up, startling the blond and making Sasori take pause in fishing for a lighter.
"You? Talking to Spider-Man?" Sasori chuckled after a lengthy pause, glancing down as he fumbled for the object. "Why am I not surprised at all?"
"I know you've tried before, but-"
"Naruto, what on earth could he do?" Sasuke snapped. "He's just one guy. New York is huge to begin with, and tailing every single suspicious guy that Shimura Danzou interacts with on a daily basis in Queens alone? Impossible."
"Not to mention, the guy's got bodyguards practically crawling out of his ass." Sasori grumbled, heaving himself from the armchair with a grunt as his back popped. "They'd shoot you down before you followed 'em a block down the street."
"Well- well there must be something!" Naruto spluttered. "Anything!"
"Face it: it's hopeless." Sasori retorted, his grip on the door handle tightening. "All we can do is wait and hope he doesn't decide to take another person as leverage."
The two teenagers stared at him as he yanked the sliding glass door open and stepped outside, the curtain fluttering slowly back into place behind him.
A/N: Please tell me what you thought. See you next time!