Chapter 24

Naruto walked toward the café where he and Sasuke would regulary meet for coffee. He was getting a bit apprehensive about meeting with Sasuke now that he was investigating his brother and uncle. He liked Sasuke, a lot, and didn't want to jeopardize his friendship with the man.

No, he didn't just like Sasuke. Like wasn't strong enough. He couldn't wait to see Sasuke, for their coffee dates, training Aoi, or even Friday movie nights. It was so easy being around Sasuke. Two months and the man has become a fixture in Naruto's routine. Naruto thought about asking him out, but pushed that idea aside. The man had just came out of the hospital, surviving God knew whatever kind of torture. He needed time to acclimate back into his new life before dumping a dating proposal at him.

As he neared the café, he smiled when he saw Sasuke at their normal seat. Always on time. Sometimes Naruto would be late, and Sasuke understood because being a cop meant Naruto kept crazy hours, but he always called if he was going to be uber late, and amazingly enough, Sasuke would either wait at the café, or bring coffee at Naruto's so they'd get together there. It didn't matter how late Naruto was, Sasuke would always be waiting with coffee in hand.

Walking into the diner, Naruto was about to yell out when he saw Sasuke's face. The man was deathly pale, paler than usual, and withdrawn. He looked like he hadn't slept in days and the worry lines made Naruto worry.

He hurried over to the booth and leaned against it in concern.

"Sasuke, are you okay? You look sick, man," he said.

Sasuke looked up at Naruto in surprise. He didn't even hear the blonde walk up. Since his time as a dog he had excellent perseption with his surroundings but Madara's threat from a few days ago had shaken him up. He saw the concern on Naruto's face and felt bad for what he had to do next.

"I'm fine, Naruto," he said with what he hoped to be a reasuring smile. "I've just got a lot on my mind."

"Are you sure? You're not sick are you?"

Naruto placed his hand on Sasuke's forehead to check his temperature and Sasuke had to force himself to not lean into it. Instead, he leaned away from the touch and shook his head.

"No. I start working with my uncle in a couple of days and will be very busy. I won't be able to help at the shelter anymore."

Naruto gaped. Of all the things he thought Sasuke would say, that wasn't it.

"But you said you never wanted to work in your family's company. That you wanted to find your own way."

"I know," said Sasuke looking away sadly. "But my uncle made some very good points. It's a family company, and family has to run it."

"But, surely you can take time off for what you want to do," said Naruto. Why was Sasuke acting like this? He loved working with the puppies and he seemed to have a connection with the abused and stray dogs. When the handlers had trouble with calming them down or restraining them, Sasuke just gave them a look and they'd freeze long enough for the handler to work with them. The thought nearly made Naruto laugh. If only he could get Aoi to do the same, but she was a puppy. Puppies don't listen to anybody.

"Can't you compromise?" asked Naruto. "You love working at the shelter. Surely he can understand that?"

"I doubt it. Madara has me on a pretty tight leash. I can't see a way to loosen it just yet." Sasuke closed his eyes and took a deep breathe for what he was about to say next. "In fact, I won't be able to see you for a while either."

"Why?" asked Naruto in confusion. "Won't I still be helping you train Aoi?"

"No, Madara got me another trainer. A professional. His name is Zetsu."

Naruto opened his mouth to argue that he was a professional when a thought struck him.

"Sasuke, is someone threatening you?"

Sasuke looked up and saw a man with conspicuously reading a newspaper, watching him. He had silvery grey hair andbrown eyes. Sasuke knew it was one of Madara's men, making sure Sasuke followed the rules. The man was truly dispicable, using his own nephew and threatening a baby to achieve his own ends. Sasuke wished he could take the man down, but Madara had more resources than Sasuke and had no morals. He had no obligation to the family except what he interperets and cared for nothing except achieving his own ends. During his time on the street, Sasuke had learned how to identify people like that and avoided them when he could.

Sasuke wished he could use those lessons now, but he had to protect Itachi, Konan and Yahiko. He didn't know if Itachi knew about Madara's dealings, but he couldn't take the risk, and by the way Madara spoke, Itachi likely didn't. If Itachi had known, he would have put a stop to it long before now. As smart as Sasuke was, Itachi was smarter. If anyone could stop Madara, it was him.

Sasuke stood and looked sadly down at his friend.

"I'm sorry, Naruto," he said.

He walked out of the diner. Each step he took felt like lead, making him want to turn around and tell Naruto everything, but if he did, then Naruto and everyone in the diner would be at risk. He couldn't take that chance.

Sasuke had no doubt Madara would go through with his threats. Growing up, he saw very little of Madara, but the few times he was mentioned, Fugaku had gotten an anxious look to his eye and looked like he was going to jump out of his skin. If Madara was someone that scared fearless Fugaku, Sasuke was sure that Madara was not someone who heard "No" as an answer.

Sasuke paused outside the diner and looked through the window to Naruto. Out of everything Madara ordered him to do, cutting ties with the blonde hurt the most. He turned and walked down the street.

Naruto satin the booth deep in thought, something most people would be shocked to hear, but being an officer meant connected dots and that took a lot of thinking, and right then, he had his gears on overdrive.

Sasuke was pulling away from his friends and working for an uncle he barely knew. Naruto was good at reading people, and although Sasuke had been the hardest he had ever read, he seemed nervous, devistated, and scared.

Naruto went over their conversation. Sasuke said Madara had him on a "tight leash". That probably meant Madara was holding something against Sasuke, but what? There wasn't much that everyone didn't already know about Sasuke, unless it was something that happened while he was on the street. He only spoke a little about that time and nobody pushed. If that was it, Sasuke would have said something, so whatever Madara's threatening Sasuke with was very important.

Placing a bill on the table, Naruto left with more questions than answers, and very worried for his friend.

XXXXXX

Sasuke walks down the street a block before stopping and turning to the man following a few feet behind him.

"I suppose now you'll report to Madara that I'm obeying his orders?" he asked.

"My job isn't to make sure you obey Madara's orders," said Hidan. "My job is to make sure you don't run away."

"And if I did run away?"

"I take care of problem."

From the look on the man's face, Sasuke knew the man was completely serious. His eyes were dead cold. The eyes of a stone cold killer.

"Madara has my nephew virtually hostaged. I'm not going anywhere."

"Mr. Madara believed you will. You ran before."

Sasuke turned to Hidan and stared him down. Truthfully, Sasuke knew how to deal with punks as a dog and never interacted with killers like Madara and Hidan, but Sasuke knew he wasn't going to let anyone harm his family and friends and that determination shown in his eyes. Hidan didn't flinch, but Sasuke did see slight hesitation in the man's eyes.

"I was running from my father, and I'm done running. Stay away from my friends and family or you will see exactly what I learned on the streets."

XXXXXX

Itachi stared at the far wall of his office in thought. Sasuke had just announced that he was moving out of the house and into an apartment of his own. For the last three months, he watched Sasuke slowly turn back into the happy boy Itachi remembered from their childhood, but with the experience of an adult. He didn't know what experiences Sasuke had on the streets, and Sasuke seemed intent on not speaking of it, but what Itachi did know was that whatever happened opened Sasuke's eyes and made him into a better person. He had been open and talkative. Something that Sasuke hadn't done since the truth of his birth came out. Itachi was happy to find out that it was partly Naruto Uzumaki's fault that Sasuke was opening up more.

But over the last few days, he suddenly became distant. Not like he had before, but in a way that worried Itachi. What was even stranger was that he barely let Yahiko out of his sight, even when he was with Itachi or Kanon. Something had scared him over Yahiko's safety.

Itachi didn't become a capable CEO after liquidating his father's less than savory businesses by being stupid. He knew when Neji and Naruto came in asking about his uncle and shell companies, something was going on.

"Mr. Uchiha, your two o'clock is here."

He presses a button on the intercom.

"Send them in."

The door opened and two men walked in. Well, one was definitely a man, with his spiked brown hair and brown eyes looking around the room as if to find any attackers while the other was a lot younger, long hair pulled back in a bun and a feminine smile on his face. When they first met, Itachi thought the second person was a woman, but the shirt and jeans showed the lack of feminine parts.

"Zabuza. Haku," he said, greeting the two men.

"Mr. Uchiha," said Haku politely as Zabuza merely nodded.

Itachi first hired the duo ten years ago to locate the dirty employees and backstabbers in Uchiha Enterprises and its shell companies. A huge job for two people, but it turned out their street network was large and in less than three months, they gave Itachi a detailed list and files on each employee doing illegal activities.

He had also hired them to search for Sasuke, but that had came up empty. Not that he blamed them. Apparently, Sasuke had became very good at hiding himself.

Itachi handed them a file.

"This is a list of all the warehouses and shell companies abandoned, but still connected to, Uchiha Corp," said Itachi. "I want every person connected to them monitored and every information reported back to me. I understand this is a big job..."

"Very big," said Haku. "It will require all of our resources and more."

"Which is why I will pay you five times your current rate," said Itachi. "And double for each new information you give to me."

Haku and Zabuza glanced at each other. Itachi waited for their silent conversation before Haku turned back to him and nodded.

"Agreed," said Haku. He was the one who usually did all the talking. He took the folder and they turned to leave.

"One more thing." They turned back to Itachi. "I'll pay you ten times for information on Madara Uchiha."

"Your uncle?" said Haku and looked at Zabuza curiously before turne dback to Itachi. "Why?"

"Family business," said Itachi. Haku nodded and walked out. Itachi waited until they left before breathing the rest of the sentence. "And I hope to God I'm wrong."

TBC

Sorry for such a late update. I just moved and still getting used to the new place and a new job. I'll update each chapter as soon as I can and thank you for your patience.