A/N: Hello everyone-PLEASE DON'T KILL ME.
As you can probably tell: I haven't updated in almost two weeks. Sorry-sorry-sorry-sorry...I could apologize all day if you want me to. But the thing is, I've been hounded by summer school and anime. Seriously. I've watched so many anime in those two weeks that I think I'm brain-dead. And as for summer school- my head's on a platter for that one. Do you know how hard it is to watch anime and concentrate on studying-especially when it's fucking sunny out? =.=
Though, I have a special announcement: I'd like to thank those who have commented on every one of my chapters since I've started this story. Their names are:
Deidara's Pet Fox
SIRIUSly Freaky
xXUkeNaruchanXx
You three all get exclusive hugs from Mr. Itachi-sama! -cheers- I sent you all a private message that I hope you received with the narration. Thank you, thank you so much for commenting on every one of my chapters. It SIRIUSly makes my heart flutter! ;)
And a big thanks to all of you who have commented on at least one of my chapters. Even you, yes you, encourage me to upload! Cheers to you all!
Aaaaaaaaand...one more thing. I forgot to do this to my other marks, but whoever is the 150th reviewer will get a private message from me..concerning another wonderful prize! :D :D :D
Oh, oh and Stargazer-your box of truffles, as I promised! I hope they taste as sweet as you are!
Contains Yaoi and pairings: SasuNaru, NejiGaara, ItaDei, ShikaIno, and KakaIru
Disclaimer: Guess what? I received a notice in the mail today. It made me cry. You know why? It said: The day you own all of us is the day Tsunade swears off saki. -Gaara and friends.
Chapter Eighteen
Rubbing his eyes warily, Izumo cut his unwavering gaze from the clear, computer screens in front of him. They were stacked on top of each other, each showing a different room from multiple angles. In all honesty, this was probably the most boring job in all the Uchiha Corporations. Especially in the Akatsuki Branch, where almost nothing was ever out of order. It was the research and investigation section after all.
Kotetsu was spinning tiredly in his wheelie chair next to him. Already, both of them were bored to death, stationed in front of the blinking screens of doom. It was already half past six and neither of them had had the pleasure of eating dinner yet. Hell, Izumo could care less if it was a raw cow carcass. That was how hungry he was.
Being hungry also meant being extremely cranky, as all job workers must have had the pleasure of feeling some time in their busy lives. Nothing to eat meant an empty stomach. And an empty stomach did not sit well with a person spiraling dizzily next to him or her.
"KOTETSU! Stop spinning, you make me want to hurl."
The spinning man did not stop in his demonstrations as he replied.
"What's to hurl? I haven't had food since breakfast and I know you haven't either."
Kotetsu was as annoying as Izumo was irritable when hungry.
Izumo stretched across his arm-length wooden space in front of him, between the edge and the screens. Groaning, he popped the aching joints in his neck and shoulders.
"God, Itachi-sama is such a slave driver—"
"SH! Don't call Uchiha-sama a slave driver! He might hear you!" Izumo snapped his head up, his eyes wide in terror. "He's powerful enough to destroy you!"
Kotetsu rolled his eyes at his boyfriend's worry. "Yah, powerful enough to starve us. I mean, no lunch and no breaks. Who would want a job like that?"
Izumo looked blearily at the man who spoke.
"People like us, you mean."
Kotetsu stopped spinning for a moment as he thought, "Hm, guess you're right. But money is one thing; no food for almost eleven hours is in a completely different league. What time is it anyways?"
Izumo lifted his head slightly to glance at the digital clock hung above the door frame.
"Another half an hour before we can leave. Why can't we bring food in here again?"
Kotetsu's voice went high and pitchy as he tried to imitate Itachi, who sounded nothing at all like he portrayed. "We might get food on the screens and ruin the system. We might get crumbs on the floor, cue the rats. Don't get food on the table, it looks sloppy and unprofessional. Hell, we might as well come to work with food up our asses and probably get sniffed out by some canine thingy."
"Canine means dog, not a thingy. And food up our ass…don't want to picture that, thanks."
"What? Makes you less hungry doesn't it?"
"No, it just makes me sick. And still just as hungry."
"Izumo…"
"What?"
"I like chocolate."
Izumo looked exasperated.
"And why do I need to know that?"
Kotetsu smirked, his eyes lighting with a lustful glint.
"I like chocolate. On you."
At this Izumo blushed brightly, his face accentuating the redness of his cheeks.
"No Kotetsu! Stay away, we're at work!"
"So?" He shrugged, "We're alone in a room. Might as well make the last half an hour a bit more, hm, fun shall we?"
"NO! We shall not! Leggo of me! Kotets—ah…"
Kotetsu tilted his head ever so slightly to tickle his breath against the edge of Izumo's ear.
"You like that, don't you, Izumo-chan?"
"Get off, I—ah…d-don't…right there, y-yah…"
The two busy men did not notice the hesitation in a certain blonde's fingers as he silently photographed a certain file secretly through his lens attached on top of his covered blind eye. Under the guise of comparison, Deidara did not master the arts of stealth as much as the others. But due to lack of attention, he managed to slip away unscathed.
"Fujin, my dear Fujin, where are you?"
Kyuubi's voice sounded before he even knocked on the door. Rephrase: He didn't knock, period. Instead, he flung open the door with lively enthusiasm, hoping to startle a less-than-startled Fujin. Quite used to Kyuubi's antics by now, she knew Kyuubi to be only a brat—though a very adorable, careless brat. And very loud, she mentally added to her list.
"Kyuubi-chan, when will you ever learn to knock?" She exclaimed in exasperation, though in a mocking way. Her little kitsune would never change. And that made her heart warm.
"Sorry, Fujin-chan," He rubbed the back of his head in the endearing way only he could pull off.
"He just went for ramen," Ino said neatly as she also stepped quietly into the room. Like a real ninja, as Iruka would say. She sniffed, as if her statement had explained everything. In which, it had. Fujin just shook her head.
"Hello, Rairakku. Of course, I should have guessed. Ramen does make him increasingly more hyper, doesn't it?"
Ino, or Rairakku as she was known here, muttered darkly under her breath, "Oh sure, and a whole lot more irritating too." Fujin laughed openly at the remark that wasn't meant for her ears.
The mentioned kitsune continued to smile brightly, not letting the arid comments ruin his wonderful night. After all, who knew the pale, flickering lights of a rotting office underground could be so beautifully enhancing and magical? Yes, Kyuubi seemed extremely high, though he was closer to the core then normal—excuse the pun.
Fujin straightened as she stood up, delicately opening a manila folder so its contents splayed in front of her. Rairakku examined her chipping lilac nail-polish, making note to repaint them when she got home. Kyuubi looked breezily at the ceiling, his focus wavering to different sections of the room.
When ready, Fujin lightly placed a hand on top of the papers, while using the other to indicate that the two blonde's sit down. They complied with necessary movements, though each restricted to a more formal posture. The wind goddess's eyes hardened into bronze stone. As they all knew by now, briefings and missions were not playful matters. One wrong move, one missing detail could send them all spiraling to their deaths. Or worse, prison.
"Rairakku, do you swear on your life that you will not tell a soul outside of this room what you are about to hear now?" Fujin recited the old lines of secrecy.
"I do," Rairakku complied. She was here as a third witness, as all missions were now handled nowadays. It was much safer, knowing that a third person held their backs from home-base. Someone besides the informer and the leader. They often served as back-up as well as minor identities for narrow escapes.
Fujin nodded at her consent before turning her gaze to Kyuubi. His eyes met hers with equal fiery spirit as his protective self was surfaced. Gone was the naïve boy who moments ago was gazing at the wall in a dreamy conscious. Now, he was the boy forced to grow up too fast, one who knew to protect himself as well as inflict twice the damage on others. He was the berated shield of pain that was often shied away in the body of the boy known as Naruto. Sustaining the painful moments of his childhood, this was the image that resurfaced. Kyuubi, the feared monster of the legendary Anzen.
"And Kyuubi, do you consent with your life that you will not give away any information concerning us, your family, under any sort of treatment or torture, if the possibility you are caught?"
"I do."
His tone brimmed with confidence, lower than it usually was. His eyes seemed to border red, though Fujin thought it was perhaps a trick of light. Even seeing the transformation so often, it still unnerved her a bit when his whole stature changed in a blink of an eye.
"Then, let us begin." She turned the top paper clock-wise 180 degrees so that the sheet faced the two members in front of her. Pointing at a distinct picture of a smiling man, she was silent to let them take in the photo. The man had silver hair like Kakashi-sensei's though it was tied into a low pony. His hair was parted in the middle, the long fringe on either side framing his round-wired glasses. The tilt of the camera had caught the odd glint that reflected off the clear glass, the combined creepy smile and glinting glasses strangely reminding Rairakku of an evil scientist. Even in the still image, his pupils seemed dilated to the extent where they seemed to belong to a mad-man. She shivered inwardly as she took in in the photograph.
"This," Fujin interrupted lightly, tapping on the man's face, "Is Kabuto Yakushi. He's in part with the underlying organization branching the different lines of drugs. As far as we know, the organization is mostly selling to widely-known, upper-class people. The famous ones from large companies.
"They are managing to stay under cover so well that we don't even know the name of this organization. Yet, we—Anzen that is, know that they are somehow connected to the famous TV host's death: Kiyomi Takada. You have probably heard of her abrupt death on television. The FBI have checked the remains of her body and conclude the severe overdose on morphine disguised as sleeping medicine. Though, this information has been kept from the public, as not to cause panic or havoc among the people.
"Other numerous cases just like this have popped up on our monitors and Leader-sama has decided we need to get to the bottom of this. The police have not done their job correctly, so we will fix it. Starting with a reconnaissance mission. You, Kyuubi will be doing this mission solo. We need you to track down the information down to every last fiber of dust as well as get out of the nest unscathed. Do you understand?"
Kyuubi nodded briefly, as Ino just stared at the photo of the smiling man thoughtfully.
"Alright, so no killing?"
Fujin shook her head, "Not necessarily. In which you've been donned the mission, because you are our most talented and precious of all the members. If you should succeed, the information we gather will be like gold. However, if you sight this man," She pointed the Kabuto, "Or possibly clue in the leader…"
"Kill them?"
She shook her head again.
"No, you must take them alive, preferably unconscious if possible. But if anyone interferes," Her eyes hardened like ice, "Leader-sama has given you permission to kill."
Kyuubi's small, lethal fists clenched as he gave a strained nod.
"Alright, kill interference, obtain information, reel in possible leaders or the man—Kabuto alive. Time and place?"
"Yes, you will be attending a formal dinner, a party in other terms. It is being held at the Hyuuga's on February 25th, at 7:00 PM. This is the reason I have personally requested you, Rairakku, to be our third witness. You are in charge of finding Kyuubi a suitable outfit to wear to the gathering, as well as manage at the desks while he's in mission. Any photographs taken by the eye-camera will be automatically sent to you, where you will scan through them for information. Also, you will not be in contact through the microphone chip that we usually assign. It will be too suspicious if we attach anything to your clothes. The Hyuuga's have special cameras attached to their front door, where any odd appliances other than a phone will be sought out. You will carry a single mobile, used only for emergencies, when you are somewhere out of earshot.
"Also, we will be printing a map of the Hyuuga mansion for you, which you will memorize so your navigation will be simple. Be on a sharp lookout for the men of the hidden organization as they will be present, without a doubt. They are high investors, so any high aristocrat would definitely invite them under their guise as sellers. Is this all very clear?"
Kyuubi nodded, his mouth dry, but his blood already racing. He could not wait to be back in the playing field. To feel alive—important. To kill on the instinct of survival.
But then he frowned. A formal dinner? He could not act an ounce proper to save his life. Hell, he always forgot to not slurp his soup all the damn time!
"I-I understand." He nodded again as he voiced his consent. Ino's eyes were strangely glittery, though she made no motion to speak. Fujin took that as a sign of agreement as well, before gathering the papers into the folder once more.
Handing them to Kyuubi, she stated coldly, "Read over these papers, as they will have additional details we may have only skimmed over today. You have one week to prepare yourself and make yourself presentable in a noble manner. Rairakku?"
"Yes, Fujin-san?"
"You are also to groom him into a presentable gentleman worthy of attention. I presume you are familiar with polite traditions?"
"Yes, of course." Though Ino was never held such a high position in public, she prided herself in learning their ways and traditions only to further her knowledge—for one day, she wanted to have such well-known power as well.
"Then, that is also your job," Fujin turned back to Naruto, "Your devices and gear will be ready next week, two days before your actual mission. They will arrive at 4:00 PM, so be sure to pick them up. You may leave," She dismissed them, before ditching the cold demeanor she saved only for briefings, "And Kyuubi?" Fujin gave a smirk as she winked, "You'll do fine, I know you will. And when you successfully get the information and kick a few asses, we'll go out for some miso ramen, alright? My treat."
Kyuubi nodded, though his eyes were excited not only from the prospect of ramen, but the ideal of a new mission.
One week. In just one week, his blood would be singing again. One week.
He could not wait until then.
Edit: Rairakku means [purple] iris. Sorry that I didn't mention it before.
Hope you enjoyed the chapter- I had a lot of fun writing it..
First comment receives Polyjuice Potion with Itachi's hair in it! :D -I do enjoy torturing the elder Uchiha all to much, I think...
Deidara: More Itachis? NOOOOOOOOOOO...my nightmare!
Oh shush, you know you love more of his sexy body, Dei-chan.. I should know-I have tapes..shhhh...