When the alarm rang, I wanted to throw my phone out the window. When I was showering, I wanted to lay down and fall asleep under the water. When I was eating my breakfast, I wanted to watch TV. When I was brushing my teeth, I wanted to go back to bed. I know I sleep a good amount, but I've had insomnia ever since I was 12 and it only went away recently cause of Sakura. Basically, I had years of sleep to catch up on, so forgive me for being tired. She wasn't tired, she was happy as always, the crazy woman.
Who in their right mind can smile at 7 AM?
We went to the car and took off for work, reaching the station with barely any time to spare. We made our way inside and up to our floor, where we were greeted with an unfamiliar tension in the air. It seemed off on there, everyone was almost silent, which was unusual for the place. Sakura glanced at me questioningly but I had no explanation for her. We went over to our desks and were almost immediately greeted by Jugo, who was sporting a couple of bandages on his face.
"The hell happened to your face?" I asked the big man.
"Hiruko," he answered.
"The man who came in recently?" Sakura inquired.
"That's the one, turns out he was a spy working for someone you two might know."
"I didn't trust him the second I saw him, something about him was off."
"Well you were right, once news spread about you two getting Sasori, Hiruko ran into the bathroom and started vomiting. I went in to check on him and he attacked me with a poisoned blade. Suigetsu heard us from outside and shot him in the stomach twice."
"You're ok, right?" Sakura asked him.
"I'm fine," he answered gratefully, thankful for her concern.
"How'd you figure out he worked for Sasori?"
"We swept his apartment and found a radio set on only one channel. We also found an encrypted laptop that took our techs hours to crack containing information on where bodies of people Sasori killed were buried as well as a chatroom with another user who we traced as Sasori. But that's not the part that we found interesting."
"What was?"
"I tried calling you yesterday but you didn't pick up."
"So?"
"On his laptop there was something else, future targets. Files included info on top business executives, daughters of politicians, some really big people, but there was someone else on the file, someone only Ibiki, Suigetsu, and I know of."
I had a feeling I knew who that person was, but I asked him anyways.
"Who?"
"You."
Sakura and I exchanged a knowing look that threw Jugo off-guard.
"You knew?"
I nodded in response.
"Wait, what? How?"
"It's best I explain it to all three of you," I replied while standing up. Sakura got up after me as Jugo went to get Suigetsu.
"Are you sure about this, Sasuke? The Akatsuki specifically said they didn't want the FBI or any other agency involved," The pinkette reminded me.
"I know, I'm only telling these three, the conversation won't leave Ibiki's office."
We walked on to our waiting boss's office, followed briefly by Jugo and Suigetsu.
"I don't know what you've been doing, Sasuke, but you've attracted the wrong crowd," Ibiki started.
"To be honest, I don't know why this crowd is attracted to me either."
"First Deidara, then Sasori, then this Hiruko turns out to pass all of our security protocols and become an agent, all three of these people are high-end criminals, the people that keep those in power awake at night. All three of these people have been apprehended and all three have on thing in common: you. Now I suspect from the bored look on your face that you knew all of this, so can you explain to me what the hell is going on?"
"First of all, these words never leave this room, is that clear?"
The other three men in the room exchanged glances before nodding in agreement.
"Hiruko is an underling of Sasori, in the grand scheme of things he's not important. Sasori and Deidara, however, are a different story. They are, or were, part of an elite criminal organization called the Akatsuki. Keep in mind that these people are so secretive that no major agencies know of them. They have connections everywhere to cover up their tracks, even police departments."
"How do you know?" Jugo asked.
"Back when we got Deidara, I talked to him alone in the interrogation room, no one listening from the outside or anything, just me and him with everyone else relying on only what I told them for information. He told me about the Akatsuki, yet that conversation hasn't made it to the public or even the police, how else could our entire conversation just disappear?"
"There's no way something of that magnitude wouldn't reach the press unless the evidence was cleaned up," Sakura added.
"Ok, so they have people everywhere and are a part of a criminal organization that no one knows about, but what does that have to do with you?" Suigetsu inquired.
"Well it turns out the Akatsuki have specific goals that their members work toward like assassinations. In this case, the target they want dead is me."
The three men's eyes widened simultaneously as expected. Ibiki blinked slowly and cleared his throat, regaining his composure while looking at me as if I was playing a joke on him.
"You're serious?" The scarred man asked.
"Yep."
"You're not just messing with us?"
"Nope."
"Why?"
"Don't know."
"How do you know?"
"Deidara."
"And you believe him?"
"Don't see why he would be lying, besides Sasori pretty much confirmed it."
"Holy shit."
"Yep."
"Ok, this is what we're going to do. Sasuke, I'm putting you in one of our safehouses," Ibiki told us.
"Pretty sure that counts as getting involved."
"No, only we know about this, I'm not reporting this to the higher ups, no one will know except for the people in this room."
"What about me?" Sakura asked.
"What about you?" Ibiki responded.
"You can't expect me to leave him alone."
"What're you talking about? Sasuke's always lived alone, he's used to it."
"Uh, boss?" Suigetsu piped in.
"What?"
"They've been living together," Jugo explained.
"Huh?"
"It's true," I confirmed.
"You mean you two are a thing?! I told you not to get distracted, Uchiha!"
"You're the one who wanted to give me a partner."
"Why can't you follow my instructions? I'm your boss for God's sake."
"Because I don't want to."
"Still, even if you two are together I can't permit both of you to leave."
"Mr. Morino?"
"Yes, Sakura?"
"It wasn't a request," she told him while smiling. Poor Ibiki paled and tried looking to me for help.
"Don't look at me," I smirked.
"Alright fine," the man sighed in defeat, "I'll come up with something to cover up your disappearance. Jugo and Suigetsu will be staying at the station for the duration of however long this goes on, so if you need anything, contact them. Under no circumstances will you two ever leave that safehouse, are we clear?"
Sakura and I nodded our heads in response.
"Good, here you go," he said as he handed us a set of keys to our temporary new home, "They'll drive you to your place. Pack some clothes and toiletries and leave your cars there."
"Which safehouse you putting us in?" I asked.
"Lucis Tower."
"Seriously?"
"Lucis Tower," he repeated while handing me keys to our new place as well as a couple of fake ID cards for Sakura and I.
"Where's that?" Sakura asked.
"I'm in heaven," I sighed. Lucis Towers were where the rich lived, as in the really rich, and the FBI's place there was on the top floor too.
"Sasuke?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.
"You'll understand when we get there," I responded.
"Alright, now go, make sure you're discreet as possible. Take the side entrance so no one sees you go in. Stay safe and good luck."
"Thank you!" Sakura chirped.
"See ya," I told the scarred man. With that, we walked out and to the elevator. We made our way out of the station and to Jugo's car. I kept my eye out for any tails but there were none. From my naked eye's perspective, we were clear, though that didn't rule out anyone watching us from afar. Jugo pulled into our garage after a little while. All 4 of us looked around but there was no one in sight, just empty cars.
"Let's go," Sakura told me. We exited quickly and entered the building avoiding every person we could. Once we made it up to our place, we quickly packed clothes and toothbrushes and any other necessities. We left the windows closed and left the place, entering the hallway while keeping an eye out for anyone. We had switched out our tops for hoodies to cover our identities better, so as we climbed down the stairs, we kept our faces hidden as best we could. Best not to let anyone see us leaving. Once we made it to Jugo's car, we threw our bags and ourselves in and removed the hoods.
"All good?" Suigetsu asked.
"We're good, take us to the Tower of Money," I told them.
"Bastard gets his life threatened and gets rewarded cause of it," Suigetsu mumbled.
"Not my fault I'm in high demand."
"I knew you would say that," Sakura said, shaking her head in disappointment.
"I'm just saying there's only one of me, that's not enough for everyone."
"Maybe we should just give you to the Akatsuki," she suggested, earning a glare from me. She grinned back at me victoriously while Jugo turned on the radio. After another 15 minutes went by, a bunch of skyscrapers became visible, but one stood out above the others. It was Lucis Tower, an enormous white building with golden and silver details painted onto it as well as a bunch of windows and balconies overlooking the beach and the city. When Jugo pulled into the garage, there was a security booth with a couple of guards manning it. They looked at Jugo's Toyota like it was trash, and when I looked into the garage, I could see why. It was littered with foreign cars, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Porsche, you name it, they got it.
The net worth of a couple of these cars could probably buy mine and Sakura's building and the property around it with cash left over.
"I'm sorry, sir, this is private property-" The guards began.
"My name is Kabuto Yakushi, and this is my wife and associates," I interrupted, giving him a pointed look while flashing mine and Sakura's fake ID cards. Kabuto Yakushi was the husband of Ibiki's closest friend, Anko Mitarashi, who moved away to New York City. They allowed Ibiki to put the FBI safehouse at the top of Lucis Tower under Kabuto's name as their connection to the Bureau is only known to few.
"Of course, sir and ma'am. Forgive me," the guard responded, opening the gate to us. Jugo drove inside and parked close to the elevator up. I put my key in and called the elevator down. Once it arrived, we went upwards to the 50th floor, where our safehouse was located. The elevator was lined with golden designs inside and a marble floor. It was one of those elevators that opened up right into the place, too, no doors required. This place was already impressive, and we hadn't even made it to our actual room yet. When the elevator opened, we were greeted with an enormous penthouse. The windows were giant, but they were closed off, so we couldn't see outside. It was a smart decision though because nobody could see us either. The maple wood floors were spotless, we could probably eat off of them. There was a rug in the middle of the area with two sofas facing a 4K Ultra HDTV. A round coffee table sat in front of each couch. A spherical chandelier hung above the area, making it look complete.
The kitchen counters were a clean and black granite while the cabinets were a pristine white. The faucet looked like it was made of bronze and the fridge was gigantic. However, when I opened the silver refrigerator, I found it empty, meaning we had some groceries to buy. There were a set of stairs across the entrance that led up to the bedroom and bathroom. A door led to the bathroom, which was complete with expensive checker-patterned tiles and a pearly white shower/bathtub and sink with a white toilet outlined in a silver and golden color. The bedroom didn't have a door or anything, it was just an open area with a huge king-sized bed as the centerpiece. Other than that, there was just a couple of dressers and a bedside lamp. The entire place was clean and well-kept, any person would dream of living here, to spend just one day here in this luxurious penthouse.
Yet, I didn't want to be here. It was all too much, I just wanted to be in my little apartment with Sakura and my best friend next door. This place wasn't home, even if it had the most expensive things anyone could afford, it wasn't for me.
"We'll go get you guys some food," Suigetsu announced, taking Jugo with him. I walked up the stairs and threw my bag aside before falling onto the bed with a sigh. The pinkette did the same thing, landing next to me on the enormous bed.
"We won't be here for that long, Sasuke," she told me.
"Hn."
"Turn that frown upside down."
I frowned even more when she said that, eliciting a laugh from her. She moved closer to me and rested her head on my shoulder.
"Think of it like a long vacation," she murmured.
"At least we don't have to wake up for work."
"Exactly. Look at you being positive."
I smirked as we lay there on the bed, waiting for Jugo and Suigetsu to return with our groceries.