Chapter 22: Paradigms

Parings: Naru/Sasu….duh.

Rating: K-T (first) M- NC-17 (later)

Disclaimer: I do not own the sheer genius "Naruto"; Shippuden or 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.

DAMAGE CONTROL:

It wasn't my intention to ruffle any feathers when I did the Arab scene in the last chapter. Please note; I do not support any social construction/classification whatsoever; racial, sexual or religious. Discrimination is total dumb-assery; it's ugly and wrong. Should've slapped myself for not writing a waiver at the beginning of the last chapter. I apologise to anyone who was offended.

Listening to Tsunade rant was like listening to a thunder storm combined with the shouts of pissed off Valkyries. After the fight the woman had barged into the room, grabbed them by the necks of their shirts and personally hauled them into her infirmary, threating every test known to man and then proceeded to follow through with it. She was exceptionally competent with the medicals; very thorough but damn the woman how to curse from the base to the treble.

Propped up against the headboard of the starched hospital bed; he tried to tune her out. The head medic had gone overboard with the tests, including everything from body temp, x-rays, pulse rate, blood pressure, percussion checks, respiratory examinations, optical examinations, blood sugar tests, blood plasma tests, cranial nerves tests, sensory system checks and reflexes. Sasuke had silently allowed her madness until she proposed a prostate exam.

He had glared so hard that he was surprised that something in the room didn't spontaneously combust. She left laugh quietly to herself.

Glancing out the window he took in the darkening gloom of the evening. Kakashi had been absent all through the abnormally long day. Maybe the man had found a lead to this Yahiko person. The raven leaned back; fatigue was crawling through his veins like oil. The day felt extremely, unbearably long; like someone had combined all the hours of three days and smashed them into one; and the problem was, it wasn't over yet.

(*)(*)(*)

Apparently being in isolation in the infirmary wasn't enough to discourage the issuing of calculus homework. Twiddling his pencil he flipped back to the previous page just as:

"Sasuke!"

The Uchiha looked from the problem to see a darkly seething Kakashi striding into the infirmary, face set like it was cast in iron. The man was clearly bristling with indignation as he stopped a mere foot from the ravens' bed and leaned into a mere six inches from the prodigy's face and snarled; "What the hell were you thinking Uchiha?"

"I wasn't actually," he sighed while laying the pen down as he faced the silver haired psychologist in the eyes. "...you of all people should know that situation like that doesn't require thinking."

"Yes," he snapped, "But a fight?"

"What is the primary rule to dealing with extra-dimensional rage(1)?" Sasuke returned piercingly.

The man glared for a moment then deflated while looking oddly impressed, "Physical confrontation ...but that still doesn't excuse you from beating yourselves up."

Christ. Worry wart much?

"Tell me, in the same situation, you wouldn't have done the same thing." He challenged. "I knew what I was doing Kakashi; you know I don't do anything without a plan."

It was true. A pause. "How was it today?" Sasuke asked.

Kakashi looked up; visage going sombre; "Not as progressive as I hoped. I went to check out the origins of the package you got. Tayuya, the secretary that received the package, told me that a man named Yahiko personally delivered the envelope. She is a complete airhead but somehow she got to know that he was a former convict; so acting on that I then went to the local police station."

He pulled out a folder that was tucked under his arm, opened it and pulled out a photo of a man; short spiky orange-ish hair, brown eyes and extremely pierced; both ears were pierced fully, his bottom lips sporting small rings and his nose bridge shot through with studs.

"Deva Yahiko: an Amegakure orphan, but adopted by a young couple in Iwagakure twenty five years ago. When he was seventeen both his parents were mysteriously found dead; he was the prime suspect, but was never convicted. After the trail he went underground when he was nineteen and resurfaced after he was found and charged with assault and larceny. Five years ago though he was caught smuggling contraband across the nation's border and was sentenced to ten years in prison; here is where it gets weird; three months ago he was released on a technicality after an independent inquiry found that the chain of evidence against him had been compromised and they, under law, were forced to release him. He has no address, no school records, no phone number, no contacts; nothing...he's totally off the grid."

Sasuke's mind tripped into overdrive. "Do you know who ordered his case to be reopened?"

Kakashi shook his head. "It didn't say; all it records it that an anonymous source ordered and funded the review."

"Anonymous source..." he murmured, closing his eyes for a second, "... could he have gotten the photo from that source?"

"Possibly." The man agreed running a shaking hand through his hair. "Sasuke...this is...I feel like I'm walking over a bed of hot coals here...out of the blue a convicted criminal suddenly shows up with a picture of your parents and no one knows where he could've gotten it...its eerie."

The Uchiha took a moment then smiled slightly. "Don't stress about it Kakashi...personally; I don't feel...threatened by this."

Grey eyes cut sharply into his; "You don't feel...threatened...Sasuke are you insane? There is some psycho out there clearly interested in y-"

"You do realize that this is just an opening move, right?" he cut in "...if, IF it was a threat the picture would be defaced; slashes over the faces or something. I'm dead positive that this mysterious person is going to contact me again and based on that paradigm, we'll have enough info to make a profile of this person. It's a game that is going to take time Kakashi...time."

"...If you say so." The man acquiesced, because Sasuke was absolutely, infuriatingly right; "...I don't like it though."

He was getting so sick of staring at the white ceiling.

A shuffle and a tall tan form placed himself gingerly on his bed's edge. Under his bangs he took in the blonde's appearance; forehead wrapped with a crisp white bandage, left elbow the same, the knuckles of both hands similarly wrapped.

"You look like you've been through hell, dobe." he said quietly.

"Back at you, teme." came the response with a sigh, "...granny is going to kill me for getting out of bed."

"Hn." He snorted, "...so you do know you two are related."

Muscled shoulders shrugged, "Yeah...my dad's brother's, second cousin, sister-in-law, third aunt twice removed or something."

"...something tells me you're here for another reason." Sasuke added quietly.

"...How do you deal with it?" the flat eyed blond said hair shadowing his eyes; the unspoken words were 'the rage'.

The million dollar question. "Actually; I don't...deal with it..." he answered honestly; "it's not something that can be dealt with like the majority of stupid psychologists say...you have to either succumb to it or find a way to get it out of your system; there is no in-between."

Peach lips quirked, "So what we did was getting it out, right...but a fight?"

How was he going to put this across properly so Naruto could understand?

"It's like physics, baka." He replied feeling like he was having the conversation with Kakashi all over again, "Imagine that rage is basically energy and since energy cannot be destroyed, it has to get a medium to be converted to something ..." he paused, "...something flexible, that you can work with."

"Oh..." he murmured staring off into space. "...that makes more sense."

Sasuke smirked teasingly; "When will you learn that everything I say makes sense."

A tan hand flung a loose pillow to his head; "Screw you, you know-it-all bastard, you."

SMASH!

Sasuke spun around on his heels just as he was returning to his bed and rushed out to look through his infirmary room's door. His eyes widened. "...Gaara..."

The manic looking redhead Sabaku was being manhandled by three burly porters as they tried to restrain him. Sasuke took one look at Gaara's eyes and went static. The usually calm jade was replaced by dragon-fire lit emerald.

"Let me go." he hissed homicidally; pining them under his gaze.

"Sabak-" the closest man to him fell to the ground gurgling after quick jab to the throat and a swift roundhouse kick.

"I said LET ME GO!" Gaara shouted spinning around bristling. The hair on his head was literally standing up on end. "I DON'T BELONG HERE! THE RACOON IS COM-"

"Hold him." Tsunade ordered briskly, tapping a hypodermic needle. The remaining two men grabbed pale arms and held him down.

"You," Gaara hissed at her, pupils completely dilated, "kare ni ba(2)-"

The head doctor sunk the needle in his arm; Gaara went still; the tension left his body and he sunk to the ground, red hair shadowing his eyes.

"Room five, NOW!" Tsunade snapped striding after the men bearing the unconscious burden. "Get me the idiot who was responsible for the Sabaku's medicine; I'm gonna put him on ancillary duty for a mont-"

Sasuke calmly closed the door and leaned back on it; eyes trained on the ceiling. "Gaara..."

It was nearly lunch time the next day when Tsunade, grudgingly, released them from the infirmary. Happy to be out from the nauseating antiseptic prison, Sasuke gratefully made his way to the mess hall and in a far corner spotted the Nara and Sabaku; silently playing a game of Shogi. He made his way over to them; silently observing.

"NARA!" Came a shout from the opposite door. "Front office; package for you!"

Sasuke watched as Shikamaru looked up from the game he was playing a now extremely calm Gaara, his usually apathetic expression then got riddled with trepidation. Sasuke was slightly confused at the genius's look; it was like he was facing a noose.

Ever since the hacker had made known the presence of the temple to Gai and subsequently the corresponding authorities; he had been shoved, extremely unwillingly mind you, into the international spotlight.

He had tried, unsuccessfully, to pander off the majority of the attention to Naruto and Sasuke but after the two firmly (and sadistically) agreed that he was the literal discoverer of the landmark, he Nara scion was now being stalked by newspaper journalists, archaeological fanatics and the Japanese arm of National Geographic.

"Troublesome." He mumbled pushing away from the desk and ambling lazily towards the reception area.

An even two minutes later Shikamaru returned to the room carrying a gilded wooden box which he summarily slammed down before the redhead making the pieces on the board game skitter to the floor. The Nara's left eyebrow was ticking so hard Sasuke was shocked he wasn't having an aneurism.

"Sabaku!" he snarled, "please tell your sister to stop sending me stuff. I've tried everything to show her I am NOT interested: including burning her perfumed letters, destroying her musical cards, and ripping up the neon pink t-shirts she sent me...neon pink Sabaku, that read, 'my heart was hacked by a hacker,' and now this!" he said shoving the box towards the blank redhead. "...a month's supply of pocky!"

...and apparently he was being stalked by Gaara's sister, too.

Sasuke nearly went into shock when he saw Gaara grin; "...to my beloved boyfriend: Nara Shikamaru." The youngest Sabaku had altered his regular register of his voice so that the whole room heard it. "...from your faithful, ever loving darling... Temi-poo."

One...two...th-

The raucous laughter that rose from the gathered twenty-something audience literally shook the building. Shikamaru's face flared with blood. Spluttering he shoved the box under his arm and stalked out of the room darkly muttering death threats under his breath.

"Classic." Sasuke murmured then turned to see Gaara face down in his folded arms.

"Gaara?" he question upon seeing the shift.

"...You saw... it...yesterday morning...didn't you?" came the empty question; jade eyes staring at him.

He grimaced. Damn, he was hoping to not get into this at all. Mental breakdowns weren't anything pretty; he had enough of them himself.

"Yes," he admitted reaching out to a paler hand but drew back at the last minute. "Gaara, wh-"

"I've been under medication since I was seven because I had these...episodes...where I would just...react. The first time it happened was when I was three...at preschool...I almost broke another's child's arm, just because he touched my book bag."

"Ga-" he tried to intervene but was railroaded.

"They declared me insane when I was twelve... I would have these fantasies about the walls of my home dripping blood and burning to ashes." He sighed, "Before the medication they tried everything...therapy, martial arts, meditation...nothing worked. I had to be home-schooled... kept out of the public's eye like a leper."

The redhead went silent; Sasuke held his now dull sea-grass gaze for a moment careful to keep steady eye contact; "Gaara, if I told you how many people diagnosed me as crazy, I'd be here all day. You have problems, fuck; we all have problems..." 'some more than others', "...it doesn't really change who you are."

Something ran up the side of his neck and the raven didn't have to turn to know blue eyes were mapping his skin. He shivered.

"What about you?" Gaara asked almost silently, jade eyes flickering over the Uchiha's shoulder, "...are you changing?"

The early morning mist was so thick that is wreaked hell on his nasal passages and nearly obscured his vision but that didn't stop him from shifting the foliage as his eyes swept over the ground for the short, squat broad-leaved plant bearing the Tantulla berries.

His gaze alighted on the plants and grinned. Kneeling down and removing the plastic bag he had stuffed into his boots he plucked the smallest berries from the boughs of the plant until it was half-way full.

Tucking the bag into his pants pocket he resumed running.

He was mentally armed to the teeth while stepping into the freezing room to face Orochimaru. The man amber eyes widened a fraction upon seeing him.

Wait...was that...surprise...for what? He shrugged; whatever.

Sasukehad a plan he was itching to put into action; he wasn't going to play the ignorant toy anymore and the man was going to know it. It was about high damn time the playing field got set straight and even. Looking the man straight in the eyes both hands firmly shoved into his pants pockets, he said evenly; "I know what you are."

After being taken back for a second the man then smiled. "And what, pray tell, am I young one?"

The youngest Uchiha just stared; hard.

His gaze was returned by clearly amused amber eyes. "Sasuke-kun...do you know what 'chaos theory'(3) is?"

Wait... what the freaking hell kind of off tangent response to his challenge was that?

"Yes," he replied mind still considerably confused. "I do...it is a metaphysics theory that suggest even infinitesimal change in a previously determined process will result in unpredictable change... chaos...also called the butterfly effect...one flap of wings somewhere sets of a tornado somewhere else...why are you asking me this?"

"Because, this is situation of ours is a perfect example of chaos theory," Orochimaru replied, "If I don't get this matter settled there will be a chain reaction...terrible repercussions...for all of us." Serpentine eyes cut into obsidian ones with an intangible but clear message, a threat.

Sasuke tensed; his suspicions were exactly on point; the man was planning something for Itachi.

"...but I would really want to avoid a...messy...situation; so please tell something that will let me breathe easier."

The air was crackling with tension, setting the hair on the back on his neck to literally stand on end; but Sasuke ignored it and calmly answered; "I found him...he's in the basement sector under the Administration building."

Sasuke had debated about lying about Pein's location; but he didn't want to lie and then have it thrown back into his face in a cataclysmic reaction.

As was expected amber orbs lit up, "Perfect." The word was hissed so very serpentine Sasuke wondered how the man didn't have a forked tongue. "...have you devised a way to get him out?"

Here was the half-truth, "I have...but the problem is there is a hell of a thick wall imprisoning him. It's going to take time to break it down...at least another three to four weeks."

"That's...unfortunate." he half whispered, shifting minutely but his black robe still fluttered around him. "...you still have questions, yes?"

"Yes, I do." Sasuke returned stonily stepping forward, "Just one really; what exactly are you?"

The man's smirked, "What gave me away?"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed into a dangerous 'don't-fuck-with-me' look. Orochimaru chuckled while waving a pale hand negligently, "Uchiha blood proves itself again...honestly I am not surprised...you are even smarter than I expected. You are right young one...I am not entirely what I pretend to be; but be warned, whatever intentions you have of reveal-."

"I have no intentions of snitching." he cut in, "I propose a trade... I'll deliver Pein to you and you leave my brother alone."

"And why would I do anything to dear Itachi?" he asked trying, and failing, to look innocent.

"Natural selection; if you don't get the main target, you get the one closest to it." Sasuke replied stonily.

"Relax," the man said, "I have no intentions of doing anything to your beautiful brother; he seems happy enough... what with his new lover."

Sasuke bristled and clamped his jaw shut before he said something irretrievable. "Still; he is to be left out of this."

"Agreed."

The shower was one of the only places that afforded him the peace and privacy to think and relax. The water cascading over him was like adding balm to a cankerous sore; reviving a fatigued body.

Slumping against the cold tile Sasuke, bowed his head and allowed the warm water to beat down on him; blank eyes watching dispassionately as the waste water swirled down the drain. His mind was full; too full, memories of the last fifteen hours flashed before his eyes like smoke.

He had pulled someone from a brink of destruction instead of feeling good about it he felt...numb. 'Naruto' ran through his mind as something fluttered in the depths of his stomach. Regardless of their different background Sasuke knew that underneath it all, at the base level, they were the same.

"Naruto." He whispered; forehead on the cold tile. His fist struck the wall cracking a tile.

He didn't shift when he heard the door open or when the curtain draw back and then a fully clothed body pressed against his own. A hot mouth found his ear and whispered; "Let it go."

Sasuke spun around and grabbed at the sodden black shirt Naruto was wearing a tugged. Arms went up and the shirt came off. Lacing fingers through dark golden hair he smashed his lips against the tan face.

It was messy; biting, suckling; lips teeth and tongue trailed wet lines down his neck. Naruto spent veritable eternities suckling at his sharp collarbones and biting into the slender column of Sasuke's neck until he slipped down to his pale chest and stomach. With a flash of premonition of what the blond was going to do Sasuke yanked him back up to his face. He wasn't ready for that; not yet.

"Not yet." He whispered.

Shimmering blue eyes melted into his and in the next second the blond placed a chaste closed mouth kiss on his forehead and pushed off.

"When you're ready." And left.

Sasuke did truly slump against the wall this time; slipping down to the tub's floor and murmured. "That's the problem dobe...will I ever be ready?"

(*)(*)(*)

A/N: I'm not really a fan of NaruSasu bickering. Nevertheless there is going to be some but not over the top like some people do.

(1) 'extra-dimensional rage'...yeah extra BS. (I really should write a manual on how to make simmering bullshit believable XD)

(2) "kare ni ba-"unfinished Japanese; 'go to hell'

(3) 'Chaos Theory': is theory pioneered by Edward Lorenz, an American mathematician and meteorologist. He coined the term 'butterfly effect.'

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