Chapter 20: Mind Games pt1
Parings: Naru/Sasu….duh.
Rating: K-T (first) M-NC-17 (later)
Disclaimer: I do not own the sheer genius "Naruto"; Shippuden of other. The honours go to Masashi Kishimoto and his genius brain that created this masterpiece.
Summary: Remember the summer camp you went to; that quaint place out in the woods, by a lake, sitting around a campfire telling ghost stories and eating s'mores? Well this summer school, sure as hell, isn't that. Three months, Sasuke, teenage delinquents, illegal alcohol, prescription drugs, annoying shrinks, escape plans, a Shitzu from hell, and new relationships; welcome to camp. NaruSasuNaru.
OH MY GOD: I've spent the last three days watching, re-watching and re-re-watching every episode in all the seven seasons of 'The Big Bang Theory'...I don't recommend this but if nerds are your thing, (like they're mine XD) then go for it.
A/N: Calm down people: Madara is not hideously, incorrigibly evil in this one...weeeeell not so much. And the drama continues:
Shucking his robe on Madara made his way to the small library and pulled the book down from the shelf; it was an old leather bound photo album. He hesitated for a minute, running his deft fingers over the binding then snapping out of the reverie he started to flip the pages. Reaching the intended place he then stopped and stared at the leaf's content for a minute.
He plucked the large photo out from behind the protective cover. Smiling slightly and with a swift scribble on the back dropped the picture in the envelope.
On the flip side of the brown package he wrote in flowing script; 'To; Uchiha Sasuke.'
The harsh knock on the room's door jostled Sasuke from the deepest sleep he had ever been in. After being brutishly jarred awake; everything in him protested moving. He was so incredibly relaxed that it seemed like a crime of the highest order to move. For once that seemed in weeks he was completely tension free, revoltingly comfortable and deliciously warm; it was like he was propped up against a portable space heater.
He shifted and a curious sensation on his cheek made him frown; it seemed like hair was tickling his nose. Fully opening his eyes he came into ultra-high view of Naruto's tan and slightly freckled face; his short burnt golden eyelashes and broad bitten peach lips closed tightly.
Wait...what?
Then the memories came back in a rush and he remembered everything; the party at Kankuro's, the alcohol, dragging Kiba to his room, breaking his denial about his attraction and the kissing; the hedonistic kissing that had escalated to devouring each other. Everything went fuzzy after Naruto had bitten his way down his smooth flat stomach; after that complete blank. They had fallen asleep after one of the lengthiest make out sessions of his life.
Instantaneously then came the mental battle; his ingrained reaction was to overanalyse every minute, infinitesimal facet of what had happened between them; but for some reason he just didn't want to. He didn't really admit it to it but there were times he just wanted to crumple his paranoid brain like a sheet of paper and live in the moment.
Sitting up he took a second to check himself; there was a slight buzz in his head and his clothes reeked of smoke but both were easily ignorable. He took a glance at the peach lips and shuddered internally; remembering how they had suckled at his neck until he lost track of time. Reaching up to his tender neck he dearly hoped his hair could hide the fire red marks he was sure were on the stretch of skin.
Mind skimming over the fleeting memories of last night he furiously hoped that even slightly drunk and high of weed fumes he hadn't said or done anything damning.
The knock came again. A stray thought ran through his head: why wasn't there any calisthenics this morning? Oh...right...the holiday weekend.
The door pounded again.
Grumbling darkly and fighting his way out and under the twisted blue sheet and Naruto's heavy arm wrapped around his waist he got up from the bed and immediately slammed a knee on the nearest desk table.
"Son of a bitch!" He spat stumbling over the protruding drawer and yanked the door open snarling: "What?"
The kid on the other side of the door actually 'meeped'; wide eyed and hands trembling as he stuttered out; "Uchiha Sasuke?"
He arched an eyebrow, "Yes?"
"T...this came f...for you." The kid said shoving an envelope at him and high-tailed it out of his vision field a second later.
Eyebrow still arched he re-entered the room after closing the door behind him while examining the envelope. Strange...his name was written on the reverse flap in English.
Bizarre.
Sitting back on the bed he shoved the blond a few inches over and crossed his legs. Blue eyes flitted open and golden brows contracted, "Something wrong?"
"Yes," Sasuke replied absently, "Your zombie breath... for the future of humanity, go do something about it."
"Sasuke..." the raven looked up to be met with a swift kiss and a canine grin. Glancing down at the envelope Naruto then asked, "What's in it?"
"I don't know." Shrugging the raven hooked a finger under flap and ripped the top open then upended the contents on the bed. It looked like a photograph. He flipped it over then dropped it like a blistering iron, eyes open wide he scuttled back to the headboard breathing hard.
Naruto reacted, sat up and grabbed at him. "What's wrong teme?"
Sasuke went silent, closed his eyes for a second, trying insanely hard to regulate his breathing which was now dangerously reaching hyperventilation. He reached out tentatively to take up the picture and stared at it. How...what...WHY?
"...this is impossible," he murmured eyes glued on the photo, "...who would send me this?"
Blue eyes peeked over his shoulder, "...what is it?"
Sasuke silently turned the photo to him; it was a faded but still clear photograph of a wedding; a beautiful slender brunette woman clad in a traditional white wedding kimono standing beside a tall, stocky darkly traditional clothed man.
"...my parents." He said almost silently. "...my dead parents."
Completely ignoring the visage of man who made all of their lives hell, he focused on his mother; Mikoto. The woman who had the heart of a saint; who had dedicated her life to helping sick children, the woman who behind his despotic father's back would spoil them; the woman who would sang to them as they did their homework on the kitchen table as she did the dishes, the woman who shielded them from their father's abuse, the woman whose smile literally lit up the room when she walked in.
His stomach sunk as something desolate ran through him.
"...Mother." he whispered.
"Sasuke..." Naruto said calmly a broad hand braced on the small of the Uchiha's spine, "...there's something on the back."
Flipping it over he read; "...Bushi no tamashi', 'The soul of the samurai'..." he whispered, "...that's our clan's motto."
Immediately a barrage of thoughts ran through his mind; who the hell was this mysterious person who knew so much about his family to know their motto and how in hell did they have a picture of his parents on their wedding day...and third; why would they send it to him? What the hell kind of messed up game were they playing and what did he have to do with it?
"I..." getting up from the bed he grabbed his white hoodie, "I think I need to go and talk to Kakashi...he should probably know something about this."
"I'm confused..." Naruto stated clearly muddled, "...Kakashi-sensei...the one who's always reading Icha Icha Paradise and thinks no one knows what it is...why would he know anything about this?"
He sighed while quickly changing his clothes, "I told you my father was a psychologist, right...the fact is he was a professor of psychology and Kakashi was his ace student."
"...weird." the Uzumaki murmured fluently getting off the bed and stretching the kinks out of his golden limbs, "...it's like seeing a ghost from your past."
"No." the raven grunted flicking up the picture, "...this is a ghost from my past...more like a zombie actually."
A grim smile shot across the blonde's face as he murmured darkly. "...I know which zombie from my past I wouldn't want resurrecting in my life."
Sasuke paused for a second before deciding to not ask; running a hand though his hair he said a quick "Meet me at breakfast." and left.
Clutching the envelope in his fist he tried to distance his mind from the task he was about to peruse and counted his steps until he reached the teacher's lounge. Knocking on the door he shifted agitatedly from foot to foot until someone opened it. He cursed inwardly; seems this day was destined to be horrible because the person who answered the door was Morino.
Fuck.
"Uchiha," the man growled, "...what can I do for you?"
Swallowing the bile that had immediately rushed up his throat he asked as civilly as possible; "I need to speak to Kakashi."
The man growled: "First of all; you address me by 'Sir' and second I don't care what kind of bond you have with him but let me remind you; to screw ups like you his name is Hatake-sensei."
Teeth grit in impatience; "I need to speak to Hatake-sensei...Sir...it's urgent." He managed to utter with a carefully blank face.
"Well, if it so important," the gruff man snorted, "...why don't you t-"
"All right Morino," Kakashi's voice sounded right behind the human goliath, "...that's enough. Sasuke... please... my office."
Breathing a deep breath of relief he brushed off Morino's vitriol laced glare and turned down the corridor; mind running a mile a minute. Stepping into the cold office he waited until Kakashi stepped in and spun around silently pushing the envelope towards him.
"What's this?"
"That's exactly my question," he replied testily, "Please... enlighten me."
The silver haired man opened the package and reached in and plucked it out halfway. Upon seeing three inches of the photo the man sank down to the nearest chair wide eyed, mouth halfway open. The whole photo was out now as the shrink perused the entirety of it.
"What the fuck it this?" Kakashi cursed nose flaring in anger; composure completely out the window. "...this is...impossible."
"My words exactly." Sasuke huffed while pacing agitatedly, "...which ponders the question: I have no relatives or anyone who knows me; so which psychopath would have this for over twenty-five years and then out of the thin air send it to me?" he paused as another question sprang up, "...and how the hell do they know where I am?"
"Obviously someone with a lot of time on their hands..." Kakashi replied absently spinning the photo over and scanning every detail as if he could spot an invisible fingerprint. "...and an obscene amount of patience..."
The Uchiha was still pacing the room until the seated man said, "... and based on the angle and the obvious enhancement, this picture was taken from a distance."
Sasuke spun around and started to carefully speak; the words coming out his mouth like thick molasses: "...you mean to tell me someone freak took an illegal picture of my parents and after twenty seven years sends it to me?"
He was repeating himself; so what?
Kakashi sighed; his face appeared to have aged ten years in ten minutes, "Apparently."
The raven stopped and after a second flopped on the nearest seat, head cradled in his hands as he murmured, "...Christ...I cannot deal with this right now."
Kakashi glanced up in that second and had to slap a hand over his wide open mouth as his eyes took in the fire red hickey blaring like a stoplight on the Uchiha's neck.
"...You can't deal with what, Sasuke?" he asked warily after regrouping his faculties.
Sasuke debated with himself for a split second: he could spill absolutely everything about Orochimaru, Pein, and the barbed net he currently was trapped in; but then he edged on the side of caution. The time would come to tell him; but it wasn't now.
"Despite the fact that you may understand," the Uchiha sighed, "...I'd prefer to keep it to myself for the present."
Stonewalled; damn.
"Sasuke," Kakashi urged, "... I know you don't have any relatives' alive or any close acquaintances but can you think of anyone who would want to hurt you...any of your father's former colleagues...past patients... anybody?"
'Orochimaru.' He instantly inferred but then he reconsidered, '...yes he is manipulative but his strengths are anything but this subtle... even so; what advantage would he have by giving me this?" He took a split second to analyse the variables and concluded; "...Considering all...this is not his doing.'
"No," he replied stonily, "not without analysing my father's notes or his recorded sessions."
Shit; another stonewall. Sighing as he held up the envelope Kakashi reassured the raven, "I'll get to the bottom of this...I promise."
Glancing up under his lacklustre bangs he murmured, "...thank you."
(*)(*)(*)
Needless to say his concentration went to total shit in every class; resulting in the majority of his teachers and classmates glancing concernedly at his brooding frame.
There was practically a black broiling miasma above his head that practically shouted, 'leave-me-the-fuck-alone,' combined with and 'If-you-approach-me-I'll-flay-you-alive.'
Since no one wanted an untimely death; the avoided him like the plague.
(*)(*)(*)
"Okay," Kin said placing a bottle of water on the table beside him, "...you should still not be squicking about the bra-gag last night, so what's really bugging in you?"
"Female undergarments do not 'squick' me..." he returned testily, "...mostly."
"So..." she asked eyebrow arched. "...you don't look hung-over or on cloud nine; so go ahead...spill."
"I have a stalker." He murmured.
Kin took a second to stare at him then burst out in raucous laughter; complete with hitching breath and crystalline tears falling down her face. Sasuke seemed to wait patiently despite his foot tapping an annoyed tattoo under the table.
"News flash Uchiha..." she chortled. "Haven't you heard of the official 'fan-club', pun definitely intended, that formed after less than five hours in the local town? You sir don't have a stalker; you have a mob."
"Kin; be serious..." He snapped, "...rabid inhuman mutant fan-girls I can deal with... stalkers who send me old photos of my dead parents, yeah... not so much."
She sobered, hazel eyes narrowing, hand closing tightly around her bottle of water. "...what?"
"This morning," he admitted quietly head slipping into his folded arms, "...I got a photograph of my parents wedding twenty-seven years ago...that's before my brother was born."
She went silent eyes slipping closed, "...And I'm guessing you don't know who sent it to you...that is... unimaginably creepy."
He grunted in non-verbal agreement, head slipping sideways.
They slipped into comfortable silence before she braved; "That aside... are you going to tell me about why your neck looks like it had a run in with a cattle prod?"
"Do I ask you about your sex life?" he returned unfazed and eyes closed.
"So it's official, you do have a sex life." She teased.
The lava searing glare he directed in her direction usually sent people into tachycardia and a localized cardiac attack.
"Calm down Uchiha...I'm not one of your fangirls...with all those impervious mental training, you know... the assassin's maxim of 'distancing-yourself-from-your-target'...after six years of that I'm positively asexual..." She grinned, "...I just like to be nosy in the love lives of people who do have them. So?"
After a minute he relented: "Go ahead...add it up," he replied softly while absently realizing he was spilling his secrets out to a girl, "... alcohol on an empty stomach, marijuana smoke, dark rooms, two weeks of lust addled dreams, hormones, a debilitating masochistic personality, a weakening will, a life-debt, and an addictive blond."
The assassin snorted, "About damn time."
His dark head shot up, eyes narrowed lethally, "...Come again?"
"Sasuke," she said calmly as if explaining the origins of a rainbow to a child, "...it's been painfully obvious the tension between you two...it was like watching dense storm clouds to finally erupt with its damn lightning...you two have this...crazy energy field around you."
He sat fully up: "You mean to tell me...people... noticed?"
She uncorked the bottle and took a sip; "Most people...no...people like me who can read others like books, yes."
He stared blankly at her for a moment then returned his head back into his arms. "Well that includes you, Shikamaru, Neji, Gaara, Shino and if I'm right...TenTen ... that's the whole damn camp...you know...the ones with enough brains to not fall through a sieve. I'm screwed."
"Not really...wait here." She said hopping up and went in the direction of the female dorms. Two minutes later, (yes he counted) she returned, perched on the desk's edge and held out her hand. Sasuke took a second to process what she was handing him then looked at her with a 'have-you-gone-over-the-edge' expression.
"Concealer...are you mental Kin?"
"So I take it you do want to parade around the camp with your hickeys shining enough to stop traffic; huh?"
His teeth grit; she did have a point...but make-up...really? Snorting he took the tube from her and twisted it around. "How the hell does this work?"
She leaned in and her wide grin was shark-like. "Bathroom, now."
Sasuke then wished he had just drunk battery acid instead of asking a question which was sure to be his demise. He grimaced.
Striding purposefully Kakashi strode into the main office building eyes narrowed. Stopping short at the secretary's desk he wrapped hard at the wooden surface to draw her attention.
"Tayuya-san." He said firmly, "I need to see the delivery records for the last two days, immediately."
The vapid mauve haired and bespectacled girl popped her gum and with a quick bend plopped a huge tome on the desk. "Where's the fire Hatake-san?"
Ignoring her he quickly flipped to the last recorded section and scanned down the list: packages were received for the kitchen, supplementary supplies for the gardening shed and tools for auto-shop but the majority were supplies for the infirmary. Each batch was received by the current overseer for each division.
No mention of Sasuke's package.
Damn it.
"Tayuya." He said again trying his best to sound genial even though the stressed undertone was blatantly obvious, "...did anybody personally drop off a package yesterday with instructions to give it to an inmate?"
She took a second to think, forefinger tapping her chin. Kakashi tried his best to not fidget until she finally brought up the memory from the miasma of vapid Cosmopolitan magazines articles in her brain. "Yes!" she crooned, "...a man; the hunkiest man ever; he was divine with all those piercings and tattoos crawling up his ar-"
"TAYUYA!" he snapped, "please save your man-crushes for anyone who has an iota of interest in them; now tell me; who was it?"
"Ummm," she said clearly cowed, "he said his name was Yahiko and that the package was for Uchiha Sasuke. I sent it to up to him this morning."
Bingo! All right, finally getting somewhere. "Did he give a last name?"
She flushed, red crawling up her face clashing horribly with her mauve hair. "...No, he didn't." she whispered.
A pale hand rose to massage his temple, damn these flighty girls barely out of high school that Gai insisted on hiring. "Damn." He murmured turning away; he had just two things to go on: a name and tattoos.
Wonderful.
"Ummm Hatake-sensei," she called to him just as he turned; "...I don't know if this can help...but he did mention that places like this made his skin crawl because he had been into a detention centre before."
A convict; excellent. Slightly giddy he asked; "Did he say where?"
"No." she replied shaking her head quietly.
"Damn." He cursed lowly mind racing turning away from the girl. "I guess I have to take a trip to town."
"Kakashi-sensei," the girl asked looking concerned, "...is everything alright?"
He managed a slight smile; "I sincerely hope so."
(*)(*)(*)
"Hatake-san..." the badged and decorated sergeant said upon seeing the silver haired and scarfed man enter the precinct's door. "...this is surprising... what can I do for you?"
"Oh, Yamashiro Aoba," he sighed in relief; two years ago he had helped his daughter with her abandonment issues after her mother just upped and disappeared; that issue had led to following connection they currently had. "I need your help." He admitted grimly, "I don't suppose you can allow me access to the FNC: the five nation's criminal database; could you?"
The man's looked was incredibly confused; "That's an incredibly unusual request...might I ask why."
"I'm kind of following a bread trail here, and a major piece is missing." He answered hoping it would suffice.
After a moment of thought the man answered and said, "You do realize that this is not exactly legal...right... and that mostly it is just senior detectives that have access to it?"
He nodded fingers twitching.
"...you also know that if you get caught we're both going to be penalized?"
He nodded again trying hard to not keep glancing up at the door about twenty feet away.
A sigh, "Fine..." he nodded towards the inner doorway, "You have fifteen minutes."
"Thank you." He said sincerely as while slipping into the room seconds after the man swiped his clearance card over the sensor.
Settling himself at the huge flat screen plasma console he brought up the search engine, typed in the filter requirements and started to sift through the records muttering; "Yahiko...who the hell are you?"
"How've you been?" Sakura asked him, setting a cup of steaming tea before him. Uncomfortable Sasuke glanced hesitatingly around the room; Sakura's private room situated in the employee's section.
"Sakura..." he said slowly, "...Isn't this out of bounds for me?"
She grinned pushing a strand of pink hair behind her ear, "Yes, but you can't follow the rules every time, yaknow."
Sasuke took a minute to look deeply into her eyes, the words Shikamaru had said about making sure his game with her didn't blow up in his face resounded in his head. Sakura was innocent and blissfully naïve; she didn't deserve this.
Damn it; when the hell did he develop a conscience?
It seemed like soft look he was unconsciously giving her wasn't doing his internal cause any favours because she went immensely silent and a soft rose blush was tinging her cheeks. Tilting his head sideways he reached out, plucked the lock of pink hair from behind her ear and mentally sighed.
Sasuke wasn't one for moral dilemmas but damn it...this wasn't fair; Sakura was a sweet, naïve soul and he was smearing it; this was cruelty on an extreme level; Christ, he was such a bastard; he could practically hear his mother's voice in the back of his mind rebuking the hell out of him; but the fact was that he needed her.
The heavy silence dragged on for the longest minute of his life; "Sakura," he said lowly releasing the hair while something in the pit of his stomach was roiling with every word; hating himself for the worst type of mind games he was about to play on her, "...you don't need this."
Her green eyes opened a smidgen; "I don't need what, Sasuke?"
He deliberately glanced to the left and whispered, "Me...you don't need me...I'm a criminal...you would be better off with someone steady... like Lee...Gai's son."
She paused and a wry smile tugged at her lips sipping her tea, "You've noticed that, haven't you?"
He nodded. "Honestly, I really like you," and this time he was deadly honest with her and himself, "... but I just don't like him... he acts like he is on some serious steroids and his eyebrows reminds me of a Himalayan mountain bear..." he paused for her grin, then continued, "...but think about it...he would be better for you that I would be."
He instinctively knew that his last words had just gone and cemented his place in her mind; which was why he was surprised by her giggles; "I do think he's cute."
His eyebrow skyrocketed;"...cute...you think a hideous bowl cut and eyebrows that can be used as a bear's scratching post are cute...it's official then," he smirked playfully, "...you're crazy." And dodged the slap.
"Sasuke." Naruto asked rolling his shoulders, "...do you still want to spar?"
The Uchiha tensed and turned to the blond carefully, "...are you sure you want to do... that?"
A wide grin slashed across the Uzumaki's face, "Definitely."
He got up and turned to the door and then turned back to the blond right behind him. Spinning around, back braced on the slab of wood, he placed a hand on the muscled chest and looking into sapphire blue eyes he said; "Naruto...let's set this...thing... we have straight..." he sighed, "I'm...I can't ge-"
His words were shut off with a kiss. Pulling back from the firm pressure against his lips he was surprised when the blond interjected; "Let me guess...no moonlight sonatas, no candle lit bedroom, no Romeo-and-Juliet act; right?"
"Exactly." He whispered still surprised how the blond had basically guessed what he was about to say.
"Don't worry," Naruto reassured him an enigmatic look on his face; "I... get it."
The only thing he could muster then was a small smile. "So about that spar?"
"And after the Industrial Revoluti-" the phone on Genma's desk rang; holding up a slender finger to the class he answered the call, cradling the phone in the crook of his neck. His brows contracted as he listened then asked, "Now?" apparently it the answer he got was affirmative so he nodded and complied with an "Okay."
Phone resting back on its cradle he glanced up and said, "Uzumaki, you're excused to go to the visiting room."
Naruto's own golden brows contracted in confusion, "That's...weird." he said shrugging while getting up and shoving his notebook into his backpack. After slinging an arm over his shoulder and with a quick salute to Kiba he left the room.
Trotting up the walkway he absently wondered who was visiting him; no one came to mind. Whatever though; he could probably deal.
Pushing the door open he went completely immobile as a seeming tidal wave of freezing ice encased his whole body. Slowly turning around a tall, lean redhead with a short spiky hair cut grinned, amber eyes alight with thinly masked sadism. "Well you ill-mannered heathen...aren't you going to say 'hello'?"
It took a massive amount of will to utter the next word: "...Kyuubi."
TBC.
-smirks-
Uchiha; shame on you!
The plot just got reaaaaallll yo'! Naru-centric chap next; for those wishing for his P.O.V well, ya'll got your wish. Oh and YES there is going to be a sequel for this fic; come on; an awesome idea like this needs to be continued.
And:
REVIEW DAMNIT!