0Chapter 8

"You're still working?"

A brown haired man exclaimed as he stood between the doorway of Kakashi's home study, a resigned expression on his face, his big black eyes shining in disapproval and lips twisted into a frown. He was dressed in house clothes, a simple pair of black sweat pants and a military green t shirt, Kakashi noticed, as Tenzo approached the desk, bare feet padding on thebhard wood floor and a fuming cup of black coffee in his hands.

"Here, you look like you need it" he spat, resting his fingers on the desk, as he glared at the grey haired man from under his long lashes.

Everything in his stance indicated that he wasn't happy, and Kakashi could only sigh, his hand carding through his tousled hair, his muscles aching as he stretched up from the chair.

He must look like a mess, he had been working like a maniac these past days, never catching a break, barely sleeping or eating, so immersed in his work, he had barely seen Tenzo at all these days. He felt incredibly guilty for that, he had never thought of himself as a perfect boyfriend, actually he was the furthest thing from it, even before all the shit that had ensued, he had always been relatively distant, Tenzo always the one taking steps towards him, accepting him for who he was, taking care of him with love and patience, but as he stood in front of him with a frown on his face, and evident anger in his eyes, Kakashi started to fear that his brunette boyfriend had finally had enough.

" did I spend the night in here again?" he asked the other man, who rolled his eyes in answer Obviously…

Kaashi sighed, eyeing all the scattered papers on his desk, it would take him a long time to put them in the right order, but he had been on a roll lately, after finding some important pieces of information in the old archives, where documents related to old cases were stored. Kakashi wasn't sure what had given him the idea to look in there , but after Hiruzen had revealed the existence of secret documents left behind from the old mayor, something had sparked in him. He was sure the police forces weren't the only ones after the Kyuby code, and he, along with his team were trying to find anything that would lead them to the lost files.

"Kakashi, you have been spending your nights here for a week now" Tenzo approached the desk, leaning his palms on it, his dark eyes scanning the various files.

"I… I know I'm not acting as a good partner to you-"

Tenzo cut him off with a sharp glare, and the grey haired man's words were cut in his throat.

"How long have we been together Kakashi? You know I used to work in the secret services and we worked together in the special forces! If anything, I would like to help you, I am tired of seeing you dragging yourself around the house"

His voice softened, as did his expression, even if Kakashi could tell that he was still mad, underneath that calm exterior.

He met the black eyes of his partner, lips pulling in a small smile, Tenzo was too kind for his own good. Even pissed at him, he still wanted to take care of him, offering his support, and Kakashi knew that he didn't deserve the gorgeous and kind man in front of him.

"I didn't want to burden you"

The brown haired man sighed, scowling in disapproval, turning around the desk, leaning his hands on his boyfriend's shoulders now, and Kakashi let out a breathe at the contact, making Tenzo smile tenderly.

"I hate seeing you like this. This case is slowly consuming you, and I can't stand the thought of you spending another night like this"

"What did I ever do to deserve you, hn Tenzo?"

Kakashi looked at him from under his lashes, and smiled in delight as he noticed the faintest tint of pink on the younger man's cheeks. He loved how after all these years he could still make the man blush like at the beginning of their relationship. He reached for one of the man's arms, managing to pull him into his lap, winding both his arms around the other man's torso, and resting his nose under the crook of his neck

"Tsk…. Now you want to act all lovey dovey?

Tenzo commented but didn't do anything to push him away, instead reaching for some of the scattered documents, and starting to read them with attention. Kakashi scoffed, kissing the soft skin of his lover's neck, trying to distract him. It had been too long since he had felt the heat and closeness of the other's body.

"And you really want to think about work now?" he whispered in the other man's ear, and he smiled, as he felt the shivers run across his younger lover's body.

"It's all I've been doing lately, so a distraction would be more than welcomed… didn't you want to help me?" Kakashi continued, but Tenzo was determined to not give in to him, one of his hands gripping the edge of thedesk tightly, as he kept reading the document he was holding, ignoring his partner's attempt to seduce him.

"That's not the kind of help I meant"

"Mah Tenzo…. You're so mean" the grey haired man complained, nuzzling his nose on his lover's back.

"Consider this as your punishment."he replied amused, aware that Kakashi couldn't really see his expression grinning at his partner's dejected sigh once he realized Tenzo was being stubborn and not giving into his advances.

His black eyes scanned what was written on the piece of paper he was holding in his hands, and his eyebrows shot up in surprise, his face slowly turning towards Kakashi to look at him in the eyes.

"So, why am I holding Kushina Uzumaki's autopsy papers? Wasn't she the-"

"Yes, she was Minato's wife. She was murdered with her husband on the same night… actually they were hit by the same bullet, it went completely across Minato's stomach and through Kushina's meaning that, whoever pulled the trigger was close, for it to have enough strength to hit them both"

Kakashi explained with a grimace on his face.. He didn't like to recall the crime, he had arrived on the scene along with Hiruzen and Captain Uchiha, and had seen Kushina die in the old mayor's arms, she had been trying to tell them something, but unfortunately she didn't have enougg strength, and had collapsed almost immediately.

"Hmm, so, why are you checking her medical records?" Yamato asked, reading the words written and frowning at the graphic pictures that were attached to the file.

"Well… there was something that didn't look quite right that we overlooked the night of the murder, murder. At the moment we dismissed it as not relevant to the case, but now…. I don't understand why we made such a big mistake"

He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose with two fingers, his shoulders sagging a little bit under the weight of all those years of investigation.

"What do you mean? Was there something here that could have helped the case?" Tenzo asked, putting down the files, turning to look at his boyfriend's tired face.

Kakashi sighed again, giving a slow nod with his head..

"No one had noticed or could have imagined it at first….but the doctor who examined her body…. Well, he told us that there were some indications that suggested that she had recently given birth. We were all shocked at first, and after he confirmed his theories after a thorough examination, ordered by mayor Sarutobi we were even more, but how could we not be? there was no baby, or nothing that made us think that she had ever been pregnant. Sure, Minato kept his private life completely enclosed from everyone, but, hide a pregnancy… It seemed something completely out of logic for someone like him….We even started to consider abortion or some accident that had lead to a miscarriage but, the doctor was convinced that wasn't the case… "

"We're talking about mayor Namikaze. He surely had connections and if he wanted something to remain top secret, well, there are ways he could have gone about it"

Yamato poined out, scratching his head as he thought about it, and Kakashi considered his boyfriend's words, and felt stupid for never figuring it out on his own.

"You mean, he could have asked someone to keep the files confidential?"

"Well, he was close to Tsunade Senju, and she is one of the best doctors in Konoha, I'm just saying that she could have kept the secret if asked. From my point of view, Minato knew he was in danger, look at all the trouble he went through to make sure no one found out about the Code, or his wife's pregnancy."

"No, Tsunade Senju might have been close to them, but, she was kept in the dark just like we all were, she hadn't seen Kushina in months and was completely shocked when we told her about the results of her autopsy. She actually wanted to see for herself and examinated the body a second time with our doctor, believe me, Minato really went out of his way to assure himself that no one knew of the pregnancy"

Yamato hummed in acknowledgement, he understood the situation was pretty messed up.

"So no one ever thought this was important during all these years?" he asked, shocked that the police department wouldn't investigate something like that further. It wasn't a small detail, because, if that had really been the case, than it wasn't just murder they needed to investigate.

"There were no records, nothing that made us suspect of child abduction. We had no elements to put up a case"

"But, if Kushina did give birth, what ever happened to that child?"

Kakashi sighed again, closing his eyes as he thought of a decent answer to his boyfriend's question. Many times across the years he had wondered about the same thing, he had racked his brain along with his teammates and superiors, even Fugaku, who had been as shocked as anyone else, couldn't find ananswer, and he, along with Kakashi himself had been one of the closest people to the Namikaze.

"Wait a second… " Kakashi muttered, gripping the handle of his chair with his fingers, as something came to his mind,his upper body jerking towards the desk, almost pushing Tenzo down from his lap as he reached for his phone, immediately unblocking it with his finger immediately searching through his contacts for the number, when he found it he dialed it and sighed as he heard the first ring,fortunately he didn't have to wait much to get an answer.

"Goddammit Kakashi, do you know what time it is?" Asuma's gruff voice answered, and Kakashi rolled his eyes at that, anytime before eleven o'clock would be too early for his colleague and friend.

"I'm sorry to disturb you at this ungodly hour, but I need to ask you a favor"

Asuma stayed quiet for a couple of seconds, and Kakashi almost feared he was going to hang up on him, it wouldn't be the first time it happened after all. He heard a sigh on the other side, before Asuma spoke again.

8"Fine, what could I possibly do for you?"

"I need mayor Sarutobi's personal phone number, I need to call him immediately about an important issue"

Even Yamato raised a shocked brow at that, and Kakashi could only hope his old friend would accept his request. Mayor Sarutobi didn't hand out his number to everybody, only a selected few had it, and he was not amongst them, although he had nothing but respect from the elderly man.

"What? You want my dad's phone number? Can't you call him in his office on Monday?"

"It's about the Namikaze case"

"What? Couldn't you say so immediately? Have you got a pen write it down it's… "

Kakashi reached for a pen, and Yamato offered a sheet of paper where he could write it down.

"Thanks Asuma, I owe you" Kakashi thanked his friend, knowing he would probably have to pay him back in some ways, after all, getting the mayor's number wasn't usually this easy, Asuma wouldn't just give it out that easily, unless he was sure it was important.

"What did you find that was is so important that you need to speak to my old man this early in the morning? Have you been up all night again?"

Asuma brushed him off, he was also working on the case with the rest of the team, and of course he would want more information.

"Don't worry Asuma, I will fill everyone up on Monday, I just need to investigate more"

"Damn Hatake, you really need to learn to enjoy your free time more"

Kakashi simply chuckled at his friend's words, he had been telling him the same thing for years now, and he knew as well as he did that he wouldn't listen.

"I know, I think Yamato agrees with you"

"Yeah, see ya Kakashi, and tell him that he should force you to take a break"

"I think he might do that, or kidnap me and isolate me from anything thay is closely related to work "

He smiled at Yamato's snort at his words, despite knowing that deep down he agreed with them completely.

"He should! You damn night owl! It's your day off! You can't constantly keep your mind on work! It will drive you crazy, and it won't bring back Minato, Kakashi, you know that"

The grey haired man sighed into the phone, he knew thar like Yamato, Asuma was just worried about him.

"Thanks, see you on Monday"

He didn't even give his friend time to answer, he was so impatient to make the other phone call, aware that the Mayor might not appreciate him calling so early in the morning and disturb his only day off.

Tenzo eyed him for a long moment as he watched him compose the number and then stood up with a sigh.

"I will go and make fresh coffee, this will probably be a long day"

Kakashi thanked him with a smile, his eyes lightning up when he received a small one from his boyfriend as he leaned back to kiss him on the forehead.

"You don't have to stay Tenzo, you should relax, it's your day off too"

The man shook his head as he ruffled the grey hair with affection, pressing his lips to Kakashi's.

"I will be back with more cofee" he simply said before exiting the room with a fast pace, followed by Kakashi's gaze, but he didn't lose time, as soon as the other man walked out, he dialed up the number, and listened to the rings holding his breath hoping Sarutobi answered.

"Hello? Who is this?"

The elderly voice spoke through the phone, sounding surprised and tired, as if he had woken him up, which he might have, seen the early hour.

"Mayor Sarutobi, I'm sorry to bother you at such a time, but I need some information from you that might help in the Namikaze case"

He hoped

The line remained silent for a few seconds, in which Kakashi Kakashi held his breath, before he heard a stifled yawn, before the mayor spoke

"Hatake? That is a weird request, since last time we spoke I was the one in need of information"

"Mayor Sarutobi, this is something only you could have, and it might lead us somewhere with the code you are looking for so desperately"

Kakashi explained, hoping that it worked. If he was correct, this lead might gave them the answers they had been searching for years.

"And what could it possibly be?"

"I need Jiraya's location. I know you know where he is, and I think he might be the only one able to answer some of our questions"

Itachi was feeling awful that morning, he hadn't slept all night, not that was something new, he rarely managed to get a goodnight sleep, but it usually never affected him that much. He could go days without sleeping more than two or three hours a nights and be completely fine.

Or maybe it was just that he didn't really want to be where he was, stuck in the room usually Akatsuki used for secret meetings, which was actually more of a bunker that smell of mildew.

Pain still hadn't showed his face, which was irritating since he didn't wish to stay in that place for more than necessary, and no one could leave till he got there and got this nonsense over

"What the fuck do you think this is about?"

Kisame had been quietly sitting next to him, when he finally adressed the raven, huffing as he tried to get comfortable on his chair. Itachi couldn't blame him for that, those chairs were uncomfortable as hell, and they had been sitting there for more than twenty minutes.

Itachi scoffed, and crossed his arms on his chest, as he closed his eyes, trying to soothe his headache.

"Who knows… Pain is unpredictable"

Kisame hummed in agreement, just like everybody else, he couldn't wait to get out of there, he was sure that Pain had a mission for them, and an important one too, or he wouldn't have called all of them to meet him there.

Hidan was the only one who was grinning, probably excited to get some action. The bastard was a damn psychopath, probably the only one in that room who enjoyed the missions Pain assigned them with, no matter how dangerous or cruel they might be. The man didn't seem to have a conscience at all.

"I hope we get to kill someone, it has been quite some fucking time since I got to feel the warmth of blood on my hands, Jashin is not happy with the lack of sacrifices, and neither am I" he scowled, leaning back on the chair, his arms crossee behind his head and his eyes closed.

"That damn God you so fondly follow is quite the serial killer, you're all psychos in that sect of yours"

Kakuzu, who was sitting next to him with his arms crossed grumbled. He was Hidan's usual partner, mostly because he was the only onr who could put up with his shenanigans, and also because Kakuzu couldn't actually kill him as he had killed all his previous partners, Hidan's fighting style complemented Kakuzu, so Pain had the bright idea to pair the two freaks up. Which everyone was glad for, since anyone, Itachi included, didn't really want to deal with the religious bastard.

"Don't you fucking insult Jashin you motherfucker! I will slit your throat open faster than you can bat an eyelash!"

Hidan clutched his scythe, aiming it towards the other's neck, who didn't even flinch at the gesture, he looked anything but scared, which was surprising since the damn blade pressed against his skin was impressive.

"Sit your ass down and stop acting like an idiot, the boss will be here any minute now"

Itachi raised a brow, and Kisame gasped, which was difficult not to notice, since it had been so damn loud.

"You're going to get yourself killed one day" the blue haired man muttered, and Itachi let out a snort at his words.

"Well, I'm not going to bury that shitty body, so Hidan better control his urges" he added, ignoring the Uchiha's glare.

"Tsk… as if he could really kill me" Kakuzu scoffed, his green eyes shining wickedly at Kisame who ignored him

"Want me to try again dick head?" Hidan pressed the blade a little more tighter against Kakuzu's slin, breaking through a surface making a line of blood trickle down the side of his neck, although no reaction came from the man, who simply pushed the offending thing away with a hand.

"Fuck, stop it, I'm not cleaning that shit up!"

"Assholes" Sasori muttered under his breath, sitting in front of them he looked completely bored,more interested on the nervous blonde sitting next to him.

"This is starting to get boring I have better things to do than chase people for the boss, or watching two idiots attemot to kill each other. Just do it and get it over with!"

he tapped his fingers on the table, huffing in annoyance, his blonde bangs covering half of his young looking face. He was the youngest of the group along with Itachi who was only a few years older than him.

"Stop complaining, I'm sure the shit that you call art can wait a couple of days, is not like anybody cares to see those ugly sculptures anyway"

Kisame chuckled loudly at Sasori's words, and even Itachi smirked at them, which irritated the blonde even more.

"You're one to talk, those damn dolls of yours are so damn ugly they give me the creeps!"

"Better than the things you create which you regularly destroy because even you know they are so fucking ugly, no one would want to see them!"

"I destroy them because that's what art is! It isn't supposed to last forever! Art is a moment, art is an explosion!"

Deidara stood up in triumph, his hands mimicking an explosion and a crazed look as he spoke passionately about his art, as he always got when he discussed about the subject with Sasori, who looked more than a little annoyed.

"Not this fucking shit again!" Zetsu tried to cover his ears with his arms in an attempt of suppressing the angry voices.

"What is all this confusion? I Can't leave you in a room for a couple of minutes that you're all at each other's throats. What a disappointment"

The calm voice broke through the yelling, and in a matter of seconds, everyone was staring towards the door, where a pale man with orange short hair, grey eyes with numerous piercings all over his face was staring at them with an unimpressed face. Behind him, a woman with blue hair was staring at them with almost the same expression.

Everybody immediately shut their mouths, Deidara the only one that rrsisted a little bit, and just glared at Sasori, clenching his jaw at the man and sitting back in his chair with a thump.

"So, why did you call us all here for, Pain?" Kakuzu leaned back in his chair, and crossed his fingers leaning his elbows on the table,his green eyes concentrated on the newly arrived man, that was apparently taking his time, since he still had to explain the reason why he had called them all for that meeting.

Usually he wouldn't even need to sit down, he would just tell them what he wanted them to do and would get out, he wouldn't even come most of the times, and had Konan tell them what to do in his place, other times he would just call the person he wanted to do the job and that was it.

"I was just about to get to it, you know I don't like to waste my time in pleasantries."

He finally sat down, taking out a folder from under his jacket, and rested it in front of him on the table, as he eyed all the men that were now staring curiously at the file, Itachi, who was one of the closest, sittibg right at Pain's left, raised a brow once the man opened and a picture of a very familiar person was on the first page.

"I rarely like to take assignments, as you know, I don't offer my services to anyone, but, I have been contacted by a very influential person that apparently really needs our abilities to solve a problem for him. I don't know who this person is, he wouldn't reveal his identity, but I assure you he has enough power to put all of his in jail if he so wished for, after all, he is the ond that has been protecting our freedom for so long. Apparently now he wants me to pay him back"

There was a very heavy silence after he finished speaking, only broken by Deidara's loud gasp and Hidan's scoff.

"We owe the man a favor, right, so, who do we have to kill?" the albino was itching to leave, and he gripped his ax tightly obviously nervous. His body stiffened more at Pain's sharp gaze, which was pointed directly at him. Konan, who had been still for all the time glared also.

"There's no one to kill. For now at least." She explained, and Pain sighed at her words, directing his gaze at the folder in his hands and finally opening it, taking out some files.

"You all know who Minato Namikaze was right?" Pain asked, not raising his eyes from the papers in his hands.

"Of course, what does he have to do with anything? The man has been dead for over twenty years" Kakuzu leaned back in his chair, he was the oldest of the group, and of course would remember the events that had occurred years before.

"Apparently, before his death he left behind some very important documents that no one had known about until they mysteriously appeared in the hands of the police department of Konoha, before disappearing again four years ago."

Pain's gaze pointedly stopped on Itachi, who looked back with a pointed look of his own.

Pain looked away again, clearing his throat and handing everyone a stapled block of papers.

"We need to find those documents before the police does" he paused looking at every single person in the room with his grey deep eyes. No one moved, tensing the atmosphere even more than it already was.

"The search for code Kyuuby starts now"

Author's note:

Hello to everyone, I have been meaning to post this a little while ago, but unfortunately I had some things to do that got in the way, so I had to delay.

I am not very satisfied of this chapter but it's necessary for the story's progress and also because it explains a few things, like how the Akatsuki managed to avoid getting arrested for this long.

Anyway, I hope you like it! And I hope ti hear from you with thoughts and criticism!

Read and review folks!

Till the next time!

Darkshadows92