A/N- Here it is! Chapter two of OFESB! I'd like to thank my wonderful beta Liz who keeps me motivated and does a wonderful job! Any faults found are all mine and not hers!

Read, Review, and most of all...Enjoy!- Devil

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"Itachi, what the hell did you drag us into?" Sasuke whispered fiercely into the phone, not wanting to raise his voice and risk his dobe hearing it. He paced back and forth in the opulent bathroom while Naruto remained stationary in the living room. He didn't know how long the blonde would remain still so he had to make this quick. He resisted the urge to punch something as he felt his brother smirk through the phone line. It was typical Itachi behavior. Actually, it was typical Uchiha behavior. No matter how varied his family's personalities were, they all had at least one thing in common: they could all be smug bastards. When he usually tired of his brother's attitude, he'd go to the gym and work out his frustrations if he didn't have an assignment he could take or if Naruto was busy with school or friends. Even though he was in college, he also took classes online and the fact that his family made generous donations to the school made his schedule more flexible. What he wouldn't give to be back in Aqua City so he could go to his favorite gym and wear out a punching bag. Preferably the punching bag he privately kept with Itachi's picture on it. He was brought out of his musings of decorating his brother's face black and blue when his brother's smooth and oh so smug voice filled his ear. A picture of an obese cat licking his paws free of any leftover canary and crème flashed through his head.

"I didn't drag you into anything little brother. You chose to take this job, just as you chose to allow your blonde to come with you. It just so happened you killing the person who let my guy's killer go free worked out in both of our favors, yes?"

Sasuke leaned against the bathroom counter and pressed a fist against his forehead, vainly attempting to stave off the headache that started to form. "Itachi, can you for once quit the cryptic shit and tell me what's going on? This isn't just my life you're playing with aniki. This is Naruto's and some other innocent kid's. You may not give a damn about anyone but yourself, but I do!" After the words left his mouth, Sasuke felt a small part of him regret the harsh accusation. Sasuke knew Itachi had a soft spot for his right hand, Deidara. He even suspected his brother loved the strange blonde. However, he didn't have time for Itachi's words games. His brother could be a true bastard when he wanted to be, and now wasn't the time. Not when Sasuke felt uninformed, and Sasuke couldn't stand not knowing what was going on when so much was at stake. Uchihas didn't do clueless.

"Sasuke, don't assume that you understand me." Itachi's voice was like ice as he spoke. "Your blonde may be an idiot, but he doesn't deserve to die for something he had no control over. I'm sure you figured it all out already, so I'm going to keep it simple. Deidara is Naruto and Sora's relative and a dead Naruto and Sora means an unhappy Deidara. An unhappy Deidara means that there will be a very unhappy me. I sent you there to collect Sora because you're one of the few people I know won't fuck up such an important mission. I'll fax you Sora's information so you can find him. I've reached his mother already so she can talk to him and tell him the truth. You have two days before I come down there personally to ensure success. Failure is not an option little brother. There's already been a price set on both of their heads. I have plenty of connections there if you need assistance. I'll fax you their contact information as well. Goodbye."

And with a click Itachi was gone and all Sasuke heard was silence. He pressed the end button on his phone and slid it in his pocket. Gracefully, he sat down on the closed lid of the toilet seat and set his head in his hands as he contemplated just what the hell he was going to do. While all sorts of scenarios and ideas ran through his head, there was one thing that was perfectly clear, something that he had always had imprinted in his mind since the first day Naruto accidentally kicked sand in his ice cream cone when they were little and he had given him a black eye—Protect Naruto. Except now, he had to add his brother to the list, this Sora. Protect Naruto and Sora. Protect them both. He knew Naruto was going to find out the truth about his job soon because of this. He had to tell him at some point, but it was hard. Naruto had been through so much as a child and he didn't want to make it any harder with his confession. His judgment day with Naruto was coming. A part of him, the part in denial, just hoped—no vehemently prayed—that it wouldn't be too soon. Because Sasuke knew he could be a selfish person, and he didn't want to see his dobe with anyone else. He let out a sigh and stood up slowly, as if some sort of weight rested heavily on his shoulders.
Protect Naruto.

Protect Sora.

Protect them both.

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Earlier that night

"If I'm gone too late, don't wait up for me." Sora had his tongue sticking out slightly from full lips while he squinted his eyes slightly in concentration. The words spoken were just a slight buzz in the background and he just barely heard it. His fingers were flying across the keyboard on his laptop as he raced to finish his history paper that was due tomorrow. He had been given the assignment weeks ago, but there were moments where he procrastinated and had to rush the day to complete an important task—like now.

"Sor?" He could vaguely hear his name being called, but he kept typing. He had only about a page to go, and then he'd be free to go for a nice walk with Riku and maybe get some ice cream; preferably sea salt ice cream. Suddenly, a voice whispered in his ear and made his heart jolt so forcefully, he was surprised its imprint wasn't on his shirt. "Did you hear me?"
"Riku! Don't do that! Warn me next time!" Sora's tanned skin was flushed slightly, partly from fright and partly from embarrassment. He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "And no I didn't hear you, well not the first part at least. Can you ahh…repeat that for me please?"
Riku rolled his eyes good-naturedly at him before speaking. "I said I'm going over to one of my father's companies. He wants me to go help our Kadaj become a bit better with proposals. If I'm gone too late, don't wait up for me." Sora felt the small frown automatically tug at his lips, but he reigned it back in before Riku could see it and feel guilty.

Ever since he had known Riku, he had always led a busy life. His father was filthy rich, but it was obvious his entire family had to work hard for it. He didn't quite know all of the businesses Sephiroth owned, but he knew they kept Riku away at various hours of the day and night. Sora knew it was just business because he refused to believe Riku would be doing anything else. His silver haired boyfriend of three years had never given him any reason to suspect any sort of affair, even if there was a little voice in his head trying to tell him otherwise sometimes. He just wished that he was more involved in Riku's life sometimes. Out of all the years they had gone out, Sora hadn't met his parents or been invited to any outings the family might have had. He hadn't brought up how it bothered him to Riku yet; too afraid the older male would get tired of his whining and leave. He brought himself out of his thoughts to see Riku staring at him.

"Oh alright then. I'm just going to finish up this paper and then go bother Leon for awhile. Tell Kadaj I'll see him tomorrow." He plastered on a bright smile and stood on the tip of his toes. Strong arms wrapped around him and he was pulled against an equally strong body. Sora was only around 5'8 compared to Riku's 6'0 frame. The two fit together perfectly. A pair of warm lips pressed against his sweetly and Sora felt himself smiling slightly before he pressed back. The kiss soon turned deep and it seemed all too soon when Riku pulled away. He received another kiss—this one chaste—before Riku turned to walk out of the door. He sighed and looked back to his laptop. His already typed words seemed to mock him as his cursor blinked, waiting for him to continue. He let out another sigh.

"I dislike history."

-

"Hey Leon!" Sora greeted his cousin enthusiastically. The man didn't bother to raise an eyebrow like most people would have at Sora's enthusiasm. Those that knew the brunette well weren't that surprised. They were surprised; however, when they found out Sora was Leon's cousin, seeing as how the two of them weren't alike at all, with the exception of Leon's secret like of sea-salt ice cream and mangos. Leon was a tall man that stood at around 6'2 with a body full of lean, sinewy muscles that was always covered in leather when he went out, no matter the weather. His hair was a slightly lighter brown than Sora's and fell to his shoulders in carefully cut angles. His eyes were a steel grey and his voice was a deep tenor that made people shiver slightly when they heard it.

He was known to be gruff, but really he just wasn't much of a social person. When he did speak, it was usually to say a sarcastic remark or something very insightful. Despite his social shortcomings, Sora loved to be around him.

"So, I was wondering if you wanted to get ice cream with me. Riku went out and Wakka and Tidus and out with Selphie and Kairi somewhere. Mom is-" Sora knew Leon cut him off so he wouldn't keep going. He felt a part of him smirk because he knew Leon was going to agree so he'd shut up. He'd been with Riku too long.

"Yeah, I'll come. Let me get my wallet." Sora watched him disappear into the apartment he shared with his boyfriend Cloud. Before he knew it, Leon was back with a gruff. "Let's go. I'm driving."

There was a comfortable silence between the two as they walked to the garage that contained all of the resident's cars. Sora had driven his Prius, but he knew Leon didn't really like it. Leon was a truck guy through and through.
"So does Cloud have a busy day today as well?" he asked as they both climbed into Leon's shiny black Ford 250. Leon nodded and turned around so he could back up. "Yes, he's not getting in until early tomorrow morning."

Sora smiled sadly. "Good thing we have patience huh?" Leon regarded him with a piercing stare that made Sora look away slightly.

"Everything okay Sora?" Sora nodded at Leon's question.

"Yes, it's just starting to feel a little lonelier you know?" Leon nodded again and silence fell over them again.

"Do you ever regret staying with Riku this long?"

Sora's oceanic eyes widened significantly at the question and he shook his head fervently. "No! Never! I love Riku and wouldn't trade these years back for anything."

"Then think about that. I think about how I'd never change Cloud or our time spent together. It offsets the loneliness."

Sora let out a "Hn," of agreement and silence once again fell between the two. Before long, the truck was pulling into the parking lot of the ice cream shop. The two walked in and were greeted by the cheerful store owner Ms. Cullingway. She was so used to seeing the both of them that she already knew their order.

"I swear you two are my best customers. When are you two going to let me give you two scoops on the house?" Her large cheeks were always flushed red with a natural blush and her brown eyes were warm and twinkled good naturedly as she fixed their cones.

"Never Ms. Cullingway, you work hard every day so you should get paid for it!" Sora exclaimed. Before she could reply to his statement, his phone rang shrilly. He looked at the number that came across his screen. He didn't recognize it, but it was a local number so he shrugged and picked it up.

"Hello?"
A slightly cold, clinical voice replied to his greeting. "Hello, Sora Hidari?" A feeling of unease slowly crept upon him at how detached the voice sounded.

"Yes, who is this?" Leon looked at him questioningly as he held their ice cream. Sora reached out for his cone with one hand and proceeded to lick it as he heard paper shuffling from the other line.

"This is Dr. Hues. I'm calling on behalf of an Aikido Hidari. There was an accident today at her house."

Sora felt his heart stutter and his ice cream slipped from his fingers. "That's my mother. What kind of accident." Leon looked at the broken cone pieces and ice cream splattered on the floor before clutching Sora's arm and steering him towards the exit, throwing his ice cream away as the pair passed a trash can.

"Sorry for the ice cream. I'll pay extra for that next time we're here." Leon said as they walked out. Sora barely noticed as he listened to the doctor.

"Apparently, someone broke in and injured her severely. She suffered a major concussion, three broken ribs, a punctured lung, and some bruising and cuts on her face. She's been fixed up, but she has yet to wake up. We don't know how long it's going to be before she opens her eyes. Her injuries weren't exactly that light."

Sora felt his eyes burn as Leon peeled out of the parking lot. "I'm on my way." He promptly hung up and turned to Leon. "We need to get to the hospital. My mom's in there. It's not looking so good."

The older male nodded and Sora barely remembered to buckle up as the truck seemed to roar and everything around him blurred when Leon slammed his foot on the gas.

Sora felt the tears he held back earlier fall as he took in his mother's frame. Leon had remained in the waiting room to call family and friends and to talk more with Dr. Hues. She was a lightly tanned woman with a willowy 5''10 frame. Her brown hair, colored exactly like Sora's, usually spilled down her back, but was currently pulled back into a bun. Her eyes—when opened—were a deep green that usually held a lot of knowledge. Sora had tried preparing himself to see her in this condition, but he soon realized that nothing he did would have prepared him for this. Aikido's face had a large purplish bruise on the right side of her cheek. There was a cut on her forehead and on her left cheek. A large piece of gauze was taped on the side of her head and he knew her ribs were probably wrapped tight. He was brought out of his musings by someone knocking on the doorframe. Sora hurriedly wiped his eyes.

"Come in."

The person that entered made Sora blink owlishly at their appearance. This guy had long silver hair almost the exact color of Riku's. Instead of Riku's aquamarine eyes, they were greener. He looked older and about an inch taller than his boyfriend. He was dressed in a police uniform, but Sora could have sworn he looked like he should be modeling instead.

"Hi, I'm Yazoo Lysaio Chief of Police. Dr. Hues told me you're this woman's son? Would you mind if I asked you a few questions?" He spoke politely, but with a dash of sympathy, as if he had done this millions of times. He probably had in his line of work.

"Sure, but can we do it in another room?" Yazoo nodded at Sora's request and led him next door to a room that was bare of patients. Sora sat on the neatly made bed and Yazoo sat down in the plastic covered armchair next to it. He pulled out a small device that Sora recognized as a small recording device.

"Sorry about this. It's procedure. It doesn't make you uncomfortable does it?" Yazoo fiddled with it for a second before he pressed a button.

"It's fine." Sora lied. "So what all do you need to know?"

"Your name, age, and occupation would be a good start."

"Well my name's Sora Hidari, I'm eighteen and I'm a student at Radiant Garden High."

Yazoo made a noise of acknowledgement at the name of the high school.

"You graduate from there?" Sora asked him.

"No, I have siblings who attend, but it's not relevant. Do you know if your mother had any enemies?"

Sora was slightly taken aback at his sudden dismissal of his question, but he answered anyway. "She doesn't have any enemies that I know of. She's a really nice person. She's the local librarian. Everyone loves her."

"We checked the house and your mother's car and nothing was missing but her cell phone and a few pictures of you. Do you know why anyone would take those things?"

"No, I don't. I'm just as clueless as you all are."

Yazoo nodded and pressed another button, no doubt turning the mechanism off. "Well that's all. If you find out anything, please let me know. I'll return the same courtesy." With that, the Chief of Police got up to exit the room, but before he could leave, Sora called out to him.

"Wait! I have a question for you!"

Yazoo raised a silver brow at his exclamation. "Yes?"

"I noticed your last name, Lysaio. Is there any chance that Kadaj is your brother?" He didn't want to ask if Riku was his brother as well, but he knew if this guy said, "yes," then he'd know.

The silver haired male nodded. "You know him?"

Sora rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Only a little, I see him around and we have a class or two, but I'm pretty good friends with Namine."

"That's nice. I'll make sure to tell him I saw you." This time, when Yazoo left, Sora didn't bother to stop him.

So that is Riku's brother…. He quickly pushed his thoughts out of his mind and returned to his mother's room. He grasped her still hand and lay his head down. Leon came in a few minutes later and laid a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Did you find anything out from your phone calls?" Sora asked him. Leon, for some reason, had connections in all kinds of places. Sora didn't bother to ask where the people he received information lived or came from. He didn't want to know what kind of people associated with his cousin.

"A little, all I know is that whoever did it was kind of fixated on you."

"On me?" Sora couldn't hide the surprise from his voice.

"Yes. You. No one really knows where you and Riku live with the exception of some of your close friends and family. You know how private Riku can be. I guess they tried to get information out of your mother." Leon's voice was even for the most part, but there was a hint of anger that was laced in his voice. Rage at the people who would dare harm his family.

Sora swallowed the thick lump in his throat with difficulty. There was no way he was going to break down now. He had to wait until he got home later on tonight.

"Can I be alone with her for awhile? You can come pick me up by midnight." It was only nine o clock, Sora having gone to Leon's at eight. Leon nodded and left the room. Sora laid his head down on the stark white sheets and closed his eyes. Thoughts flitted through his head as he tried to figure out who would do something like this to his mother, and why.

His head started to hurt as he came up with nothing. It wasn't even a full twenty minutes before he drifted off to sleep.

When Sora awoke, he was in the passenger side of his car. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and glanced over to see Leon driving.

"I thought you hated driving my car?" he asked sleepily. Once his mind cleared a little more, he could see the severe frown on Leon's face. The familiar expression brought a small bit of ease into his system.

"I do. Yuffie is bringing my truck over in a few. I didn't have her drive because I knew she'd probably wake you up. You looked exhausted. "

Sora watched the scenery pass by as they pulled into his neighborhood. "I didn't even realize I was that tired. It must have been all of the thinking."

"Be careful with that, wouldn't want you to hurt yourself." Silence descended on the two after Leon's statement and by the time they pulled into the driveway of his home, Sora realized what Leon had said.

"Hey! That's not nice." The slight smile on his face lightened up the words. Leon got out of the car at the same time as Sora and ruffled his hair slightly as they walked to the front door. They walked inside and Sora flicked on the lights, immediately heading towards the kitchen. The last time he had eaten was at lunch this afternoon in school. He started to take the condiments out for a sandwich and saw Leon lean against the corner from the corner of his eye.

"Do you want one? You didn't get to finish your ice cream earlier." Leon shrugged and Sora took that as a 'yes.' He fixed them both sandwiches and they sat at the island in the kitchen, eating in silence. It was alright for Sora. For once he really didn't feel like talking. Tonight's events were starting to press upon his mind all over again. Yuffie pulled up not too long after they finished their sandwiches and Leon left. Sora walked upstairs and laid on the bed he and Riku shared. He tried to go back to sleep but without Riku there to hold him, he tossed and turned. Finally, he looked at the clock and noticed it was past four something in the morning. He had been tossing and turning for hours. He dialed Riku's number. The phone seemed to ring forever, but his silver haired love didn't answer. He felt something pull at his heart.

What if the same people that had hurt his mother had gotten to Riku too? What if they found his location and came to the house? He frantically dialed Riku's number again, like the first time the phone seemed to ring for forever. Just when he was about to hang up, Riku's voice filled his ear and his heart eased slightly. When he finally confirmed he was on the way, Sora hung up and headed to the shower. The water was hot, but he didn't care. He curled under the spray and let it trickle down his body in many rivulets and the emotions he had been trying to hold back came out in one large burst. He just hoped Riku got here soon; he needed him to hold him and wipe these tears away.

-
Present time

"And that's what happened today." Sora finished explaining everything to Riku and looked in his eyes. They looked angry, but he knew the anger wasn't directed at him. They also looked calculating, like Riku was trying to figure out so many possibilities and scenarios at once.

"Riku….are you okay?" he asked hesitantly. Riku didn't say anything, he just pulled Sora closer to him and made sure the covers were comfortably situated around them both. He moved again and laid on his back, and made sure Sora's head was pillowed on his chest.

When his love had gotten home, he had showered with him and carried him into their bedroom. He dried them both off and let Sora dress himself in some boxers and soft cotton pajama pants, while Riku just tugged on some briefs. Then they both crawled in the bed, facing each other with Riku's arm loosely around Sora's waist.

Now with the changed position, Sora listened to Riku's heartbeat, not expecting them to converse anymore for the night. However, Riku did speak.

"Sora, I won't let anything happen to you or your family. I promise, okay? Don't worry anymore please." Sora felt calmed by his words.

"Okay Riku. I trust you. I know you wouldn't lie." Sora didn't notice Riku didn't answer because the chocolate haired male was soon lulled to sleep by the sounds of a beat that belong to a troubled heart that he unknowingly controlled with every single finger attached to his hand.