It had been over a week since Sakura and I had moved into the FBI safehouse. We spent our time just relaxing with each other, confined to the penthouse. Jugo and Suigetsu bought anything we needed for us, kind of like our own personal servants. It was nice here, and taking off from work was always a plus, though the threat that constantly loomed over us was definitely unwelcome. Talking about it with her was alright, even if she got all worrysome about my health, she was still easy to talk to. However, we'll be attending Minato and Kushina's weekly dinner via webcam since we can't leave Lucis Tower, and Sakura and I had resolved to tell them about our current situation. It wouldn't be easy, but it was necessary.

"It's almost time," she told me as she opened up the laptop.

"Yeah."

"We can't even tell them where we are."

"I know, but I guess the less they know, the better."

"Should we even be telling them about this in the first place?"

"Probably not."

"Ugh, this is hard."

"We'll be fine."

The icon for an incoming call appeared onscreen as I said that. Sakura glanced at me before accepting the call.

"Hi guys! Solve the case?" A cheerful Naruto greeted.

I had told him that we were on a case and in Arizona for the last week so that he wouldn't question our whereabouts, that's why he was asking about some case.

"Yeah, um, is everyone there?" I asked him.

"Pretty much, we're just waiting on Kakashi right now."

"How far is he?"

"Like 5 minutes."

"Tell him to hurry up, we gotta talk."

"You and Kakashi?"

"Everyone."

"For what?"

"Just tell him to hurry."

"Ok, Jesus."

I muted the chat and looked to the pinkette who grasped my hand out of view from the camera. After a little while, Kakashi had finally arrived, completing the group. Naruto set the laptop so that we were overlooking the table and in view of everyone.

"Hi, you two!" They greeted, smiling widely at us.

"Hi!" Sakura greeted back while I offered a nod.

"How's the case?" Minato asked us.

"We...uh...solved it actually," Sakura replied.

"That's wonderful!" Kushina exclaimed.

"So, how are you guys?" Sakura asked, quickly diverting the center of discussion.

The entire group engaged in a lengthy conversation with her while I sat there, contemplating on whether I should tell them about the Akatsuki or not. A plus is that they would know about mine and Sakura's current predicament, and if the Akatsuki tried using them to lure us out, they would be better prepared. Though none of them except for Kakashi and Naruto have been trained in martial arts, and only some of them can handle a gun, so they would be vulnerable even if they knew the Akatsuki were after them. However, if I didn't tell them, they wouldn't be burdened with this information. After all, there was no guarantee that the Akatsuki would come after them anyways.

I sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of my nose. Of course the Akatsuki would come after them, that's pretty much a given, it was stupid of me to think otherwise for even a second. That pretty much leaves me with no choice. There was no hiding this, and the more I thought about it the more it made sense to me.

"So the guy went all in and thought he won, but-" Kiba was saying.

"There's something you all need to know," I interrupted.

The table fell silent and the girl next to me gave me a look that was asking, "Are you sure?". I nodded to her and sat up, running my hands through my hair and sighing heavily again.

"There's no easy way to put this," I began, "so here it goes. First of all, there was never a case that Sakura and I went on, that was a lie."

"What?" Naruto and Kakashi asked simultaneously while the rest of them looked at each other in confusion.

"Shut up and let me finish," I told them before continuing, "Second of all, Deidara and Sasori were both part of a criminal group known as the Akatsuki. The group is made up of elite criminals and specializes in chaos and mass murder. They also target specific people when it suits them."

"Sasuke, why are you telling us all of this? What's going on?" Kakashi asked.

"They are currently targeting me. That's why Sakura and I are in an FBI safehouse."

"What?! Why would they want you dead?!" Kushina half-yelled.

"I don't know, yet. They also went to extreme measures to ensure that outside interference would be limited, so don't even bother trying to get the FBI or anyone else, it's too risky."

There was a pindrop silence after that. No one said a word for a minute until Naruto spoke.

"Is this some sort of sick joke?" He questioned me.

"Do I look like I'm joking?" I snarled at him, catching even myself off guard with my sudden hostility.

"Calm down, Sasuke," the pinkette next to me whispered. I took a deep breath and relaxed myself before speaking again.

"I'm sorry, Naruto, but this isn't a joke. I'm currently a target, that's why we've been gone."

Again, silence followed. I didn't want to ruin the mood or anything, but there wasn't much of a choice.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Minato asked us after a while.

I pinched the bridge of nose again, this was the hard part.

"All of you could be in danger because you know me, so the Akatsuki could use any of you as bait," I told them.

"W-what?" Ino stammered.

"Yes that makes sense," Kakashi concluded, "using those who are close to you is the best strategy."

"So what do we do?" Neji inquired.

"For now, it would be best if you all stayed together under one roof, that way no one will be an easy target. Minato and Kushina, is it ok if they stay in your guest rooms?"

"Yes, of course," they replied immediately.

"Ok, then I need all of you to go back home and pack everything you need as quickly as possible then come back immediately. I'll give you Jugo and Suigetsu's numbers, they'll get you anything else you need from now on. Only talk to them or us, contact no one else under no circumstances," I told them.

They nodded in return and another silence followed for another minute before I spoke up.

"I'm sorry, all of you are in danger because of me, and I'm sorry, but this all for your safety," I said.

"Don't apologize, Sasuke, we got your backs no matter what," Naruto reassured me, his trademark grin returning to his face.

"Yeah, man, we understand, you don't gotta apologize for anything," Kiba seconded.

"We're here for you," Hinata assured.

"Yeah!" Ino supported.

"You'd do the same for us," Shikamaru said.

"One question, though," Minato inquired, "isn't the technology you and Sakura are using trackable?"

"No, all the stuff here is on an encrypted server," Sakura answered for me.

I couldn't answer because I was kind of confused at the moment. I had underestimated them, all of them were encouraging me and supporting me, even though I was responsible for all this mess. I had surrounded myself with good people, that was for sure.

"Let's go guys!" Naruto shouted, "we'll meet back here as soon as possible!"

They all echoed in agreement before getting up and leaving the table to gather their things. I stared in shock as Kushina and Minato shouted about getting their rooms ready as well as grabbing some movies to watch. What's going on right now?

"Hey, kid," Kakashi's voice snapped me out of my daze, "be safe out there. I'll coordinate the PD to be on the lookout for new arrivals from the airport and to keep an eye out for any suspicious individuals. You know what the rest of the Akatsuki looks like?"

"No, on the Most Wanted list only their names are listed because we don't have any recent photos of them, but the Akatsuki consists of the FBI's Most Wanted."

"Alright, then I'll circulate their names. Don't worry about us, we'll be fine as long as we're in Minato's mansion. The security guards he's got are no joke."

"You kidding? I could've taken those idiots out when I was in high school."

"Thanks for reassuring me."

"Oh yeah, sorry."

"Alright, make sure you stay off the radar. If these guys want you dead so bad then they'll have to come here, that's when we'll get them, until then, just relax and don't worry about a thing."

"Be discreet. Don't circulate anything with their names in it. Just tell the police to keep a closer eye out to ensure another bombing like Deidara's doesn't happen. Keep the Akatsuki name a secret."

"Relax, I won't mention any Akatsuki. I'll just say to be alert in order to avoid another situation like Deidara's. I'll contact all my techs personally and tell them to look for any suspicious activity or individuals. I can handle this perfectly, it's what I'm here for."

"You gonna keep me safe, old man?"

"Keeping you safe is what I've been doing for all these years, Sasuke. I think I've gotten pretty good at it."

"Don't get sentimental, you still got a couple of decades before that."

"Whatever, kid, talk to you later."

"Make sure you double the patrols in your area."

"Oh yeah, good call."

I reached out and clicked off the call before slumping back in my seat. She massaged my scalp while I closed my eyes and laid my head on her shoulder.

"That went better than expected," she pointed out.

"Yeah," I agreed.

"As long as they stay together, the Akatsuki will have a hard time getting to them without setting off any alarms. But didn't they say if any law enforcement get involved they'll detonate those chemical weapons?"

"I trust Kakashi to keep things discreet, he knows how to run a police department better than anyone in the world. All the cops there admire him like he's their hero or something."

"Really? What'd he do to earn so much respect?"

"He just gets things done. He took only 6 months to go from cop to detective and has one of the highest arrest records of a homicide detective, second only to mine and Naruto's. He's also got a reputation for keeping a cool head under even the most stressful situations."

"Really?"

"Every hostage situation he's been in charge of has never failed, meaning he's never lost a hostage. He's the one who encouraged me to do law enforcement."

"I've never heard you talk about him so highly before, Sasuke."

"What can I say? I can't deny the fact that he's the best at what he does."

"Have you ever told him that?"

"No and if you tell him I'll throw you out the window, Haruno."

She giggled in response and switched on the TV.

"If they're gonna watch some movies, we might as well, too," she announced as she scrolled through the channels.

"Hn. I'll get the food," I told her as I got up and walked to the kitchen.

"I already made food, it's in the fridge. Heat it up a bit."

I did as I was told, returning with a couple of plates and forks along with a tray of some new Italian looking dish she had made with a name I didn't even try to pronounce. It had tomatoes, so I wasn't about to complain about it as she put on some movie with an evil looking bunny and Jake Gyllenhaal.

"What is this?" I asked.

"Donnie Darko," I heard her say.

"Bonnie Barko?"

"Donnie Darko, you idiot."

"You're an idiot," I muttered under my breath.

"Come again, Sasuke Uchiha?"

"Nothing."

"I could've sworn I heard you say something."

"Just your imagination."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Sasuke?"

"Hn?"

"You're an idiot."

"Am not!" I replied defensively.

"You sound like a 5-year old," she giggled as I blushed in embarrassment.

"So annoying," I muttered as she grinned at me and settled her head onto my chest.

I was relieved that our group had taken my news well and even more so that they would be together for the time being, so at least they weren't out alone. I still hated forcing them into a situation like this, but the alternative would be far worse. Sakura and I would be staying in this safehouse for the time being while Ibiki, Jugo, and Suigetsu worked from behind the scenes to locate Akatsuki members. The Akatsuki had made their first move with Deidara and Sasori, and that move failed because of me and the emerald-eyed woman beside me. Sasori had said that the next Akatsuki members worked in a pair, but that was our only clue for now. We had no faces to go off of, which will definitely prove difficult, but I was never expecting anything to be easy.

For now, all Sakura and I could do was simply wait together and be on the lookout in case any of Kakashi's cops spot anything, so that's what we're doing. Nonchalantly watching films while there's a killer gang after us is the best way to waste time, after all.

This'll be the last update until vacations starts since I have Finals coming up, but things will definitely get interesting in the next chapter!