Most people will assume the initial pairing will be SasuNaru after they read this chapter. Maybe. Don't get your heart set on any one pairing.
Chapter 14: Manipulation
Somewhere around the mansion
Crystal blue eyes narrowed and Naruto once more melted into the safety of the shadows, blending in perfectly with the darkness. A figure glided around a corner, talking animatedly in sotto voce with its companion. The blonde's ears pricked up, and Naruto strained to hear the conversation. Just then a cloud shifted and moonlight fell upon the porch, revealing the two figures. Naruto gasped as his cornflower eyes drank in the sight of Sakura walking with a man. He frowned and pressed his body against a secluded area of the porch, ears alert for any shred of the conversation. Sakura spoke in a low, soft tone.
"I thank you for the serum; it proved to be quite efficient." The man at her side nodded.
"It should've erased the last hour of his memory. He knows not about what happened to him." Sakura nodded, a smile crossing her features. Naruto gagged in the shadows.
"You proved to be very useful; I shall have to call on you often in the future." The man nodded.
"I am always at your service, Sakura-san." Kissing her cheek, he glided away.
Naruto slid down from his perch, a troubled look on his face. So Neji's memory had been temporarily cleared. This proved to be a hindrance, for it meant that Neji hadn't found out that Sakura dabbled in the arts of drug dealing. The blond rubbed his chin in thought, frantically wracking his brains for any knowledge of the herbs Iruka had taught him. Memory clearance…memory clearance….what herb completely wiped the memory for a set amount of time? And furthermore, what was the antidote?
The blond perked up, a triumphant gleam in his eye. A potent combination of mushrooms; that was what had caused Neji's memory to be erased. He mentally thanked his foster father for all of his lessons in herbs, though it was extremely perplexing; he snored through half of the lessons, so he couldn't see how he learned the lore of herbs in the first place. He supposed his brain had unconsciously absorbed the information; he had a tendency to absorb information whether he liked it or not. Sometimes a little too much information, as a matter of fact. Like the fact that Iruka had a hefty stash of bear-printed underwear in the third drawer of his dresser, for instance. Naruto had been cursed with nightmares for weeks.
Sneaking like a cat around the bowels of the mansion, Naruto slunk quietly into a room, disappearing into the welcoming arms of the shadows. A man passed by, laughing heartily to his companion.
"Well, at least this guard duty wasn't too boring." His friend nodded.
"We had a bit of action at least; found a little rat sneaking around the grounds. Though I must admit, he's a fine-looking rat." Naruto inhaled sharply, holding in his breath. Sasuke….Sasuke had been captured? The other man chuckled.
"We have some extremely amusing means in store for the youth, don't we? I'll bet you he won't last five days after we're through with him." The blonde's fingers twitched, itching with the desire to strangle the man right then and there. What wouldn't he give for a nice, hefty chainsaw….
No matter now. Sasuke's life was at stake, and if he didn't do something soon, the Uchiha would be tortured beyond all means of torture ever invented before. Drawing in a deep calming breath, Naruto slithered like a serpent throughout the mansion, steadily searching for any place that looked fit for containing prisoners. There were no dungeons, which was irritable when searching for the captured—most mansions these days didn't come equipped with dungeons unless specifically requested (Naruto flinched at the memory of a certain snake-like man who possessed a particularly dank one)—so he'd have to settle for searching the rooms. Sasuke's presence wasn't hard to miss; the Uchiha radiated an aura so unique, Naruto could track him from anywhere. How he could identify the Uchiha would forever fascinate him, but he certaintly wasn't ungrateful for his gift. He supposed it was from all the psychology lessons courtesy of Iruka.
Slinking down the many recesses of the mansion, Naruto noticed a guard dozing lightly against a door. Smiling in a disturbingly feral way, he tiptoed up to the man and peered closely at him, deciding a second later that he really was asleep. Slender fingers reached out, hovering right above the man's mouth before clamping with amazing speed over his lips and hauling the surprised man into a nearby room. A faint scuffle was heard, and a figure collapsed. Naruto smirked as he donned the man's outfit. It was really quite comfortable, and the size fit him perfectly. Covering his face with the hood, Naruto snatched the man's knife and walked out of the room, making to patrol the mansion. He figured the man would wake up in a few moment's time with extreme kinks in his neck; he figured it wasn't too comfortable when one woke up stuffed at awkward angles in a broom closet.
"You there! Any reports?" Naruto almost jumped, then remembering he was a guard, turned to face the newcomer.
"Yes, we just captured a little hindrance. Might you know where he is? I want to give him a little…chat….on the consequences of entering someone's house without permission." The other man smiled evilly.
"Ah yes, he should be located in that room, over there." He said, pointing towards a plain wooden door located a few meters away. Naruto nodded his thanks.
"That will do. Go on now; if Sakura finds you slacking…" He trailed off. The other walked off, chuckling.
Naruto mentally counted to sixty, then nonchalantly sauntered over to the wooden door. Searching for a key in the guard's pockets, he located one and inserted it, grinning as he opened the door. A very bruised and bloodied Sasuke was sitting on a chair, looking out of the window. At the sound, the Uchiha looked up, scowling heavily as he scrutinized the guard before him. Sasuke positively reeked of bloodlust; his fists were clenched so heavily that he drew blood, and his onyx eyes would damn whatever poor sap had the misfortune to look into them to hell.
"Well well, so the rat has been caught." Naruto crooned silkily. Sasuke's scowl deepened.
"What do you want?" He spat ferociously. Naruto came closer.
"Guard duty is extremely boring, I'll have you know. I needed some…entertainment." Sasuke bared his teeth at the other. Naruto paid no heed and tilted the Uchiha's face to his with a finger, leaning closer so his nose barely brushed the other. Sasuke's eyes widened in a mixture of disbelief and outrage.
"What the hell are you thinking? Get away from me." He hissed. Naruto grinned and leaned closer, hovering mere millimeters away from the Uchiha's lips. He reached out and delicately licked Sasuke's mouth with his tongue, drawing a thin line of saliva over the lower lip.
"I'm thinking about you and other nasty, indecent things, that's what I'm thinking." And with that, Naruto pressed his lips against those of the Uchiha.
Sasuke thrashed and bucked, propelling Naruto off of his lap. Growling, he caught the blond by the neck and slammed him violently into a wall. Naruto kicked out at his chest, sending Sasuke staggering backwards while he regained his footing. Moving with astonishing speed, the blond pounced, pinning Sasuke to the ground by his wrists. The Uchiha struggled, white hot fury blazing in his obsidian eyes.
"You still don't know who I am, do you?" Sasuke gasped.
"Naru…Naruto?" The blonde grinned and drew back his hood.
"The one and only." A disbelieving smile made its way over Sasuke's features. In one quick movement, Sasuke flipped them over, crushing Naruto's lips with his own in a heated kiss. Naruto returned it wholeheartedly, pulling Sasuke down on his mouth before letting go.
"Had the nerve to get yourself captured, now did you?" Sasuke smirked.
"I was careless enough to not look around corners before rounding them." Naruto smiled.
"Tsk tsk, you of all people should've known that." He squirmed and wriggled out from under the Uchiha.
"Anyway, I managed to extract some information about Neji. It seems that the last hour of his memory has been cleared due to a potion one of Sakura's minions has concocted. The solution that did this is a potent mixture of mushrooms, which not only clears the memory, it renders the user incapable of walking without extreme dizziness." Sasuke blinked.
"Could you repeat that please?" Naruto sighed, earning a chuckle from the Uchiha. Sasuke ruffled the gold-bronze locks before him, sending Naruto squirming once more.
"I was joking. Do you know where he his?" The blond shook his head.
"I don't know, but I'm searching for him. He has to be somewhere around this mansion." Sasuke nodded grimly.
"This time, we're going together."
Naruto readily agreed and peered out of the room, indigo eyes roving back and forth for any renegade guards. Seeing none, he tiptoed out of the room and into the hallway, Uchiha in tow. Dashing quietly to the foyer, he froze as a guard appeared around the doorway. Yanking sharply on Sasuke's wrist, Naruto quickly shoved the other behind a particularly large statue—a very conveniently placed statue, in the blonde's opinion—and inhaled, making himself as thin as possible. The blond mentally swore as the guard positioned himself right beside his hideout, standing beside the statue. Minutes passed in thick, tense silence, Naruto not daring to breathe. The blond mentally willed the guard to move, to leave, but he failed miserably and still the guard stayed. It was then that he still remembered he still had on the garments of the guard he'd assaulted earlier.
Smiling, Naruto drew on his hood, motioning to Sasuke to keep still behind the statue. Moving silently from behind the statue, he came up behind the other man and tapped him on the shoulder. The man spun around, knife at the ready, but relaxed when he saw the clothes of the other.
"You're on guard duty as well?" Naruto lowered his voice.
"Yes I am. Anything interesting?"
"Not since that rat we caught. He's being extremely cooperative." Naruto grinned.
"Amusing; he looked like the type to struggle." The other man nodded.
"I should probably go check on him; the last guard left just a few minutes ago." Naruto gasped mentally. If they discovered that Sasuke was missing now….he almost panicked as the man started walking towards the wooden door.
Thinking quickly, Naruto drew his knife and slunk up behind the man. Noticing the blonde's shadow on the wall before him, the man turned, a surprised look in his eyes, and opened his mouth to yell. Naruto jammed the knife deep into his rib cage and the man crumpled silently. Smirking, the blond dragged the comatose form over to where Sasuke was lurking. He stripped the man and threw his clothes to the Uchiha.
"Here, put this on. You'll have a much easier time getting around if they pass you off as a guard." Sasuke caught the garments and donned them quickly, drawing the hood around his head. Shoving the man behind the statue, he joined Naruto in the hallway, frowning thoughtfully.
"That mixture that Neji's been fed…." The Uchiha looked up.
"Does it have an antidote?" Naruto's face fell, his eyes darkening.
"No….no it doesn't. Neji will have to fight it himself; it should pass out of his system in a couple of days, assuming they don't feed him more. I'll wager my life that Sakura's putting it in his food." A scowl briefly marred Sasuke's finely chiseled countenance.
"But if it doesn't wear off until a couple of days, then how are we going to make it out of here successfully?" Naruto's brows came together in a thoughtful frown. The blond absently chewed a nail, his beautiful ocean-blue eyes glazed over in thought.
"Well…we have two options. We can maintain our masquerade as guards and serve Sakura for a couple of days. When the toxin passes from Neji's system, we can sneak him out of the mansion, still disguised as guards. I'd say that would be the safer plan; on the the other hand, if you're willing for a few risks, we can try to sneak Neji out right now; the risk will be greater, for he won't be able to walk; we'll have to carry him out." The blond turned to the Uchiha, a grim smile on his face.
"Think it over carefully." Sasuke lowered his eyes, glaring rather large holes in the ground as he thought. Long periods of silence passed, Naruto waiting patiently for the Uchiha's reaction. Finally, the raven-haired youth looked up.
"We can't afford to be captured, so I'm going with the first idea. Sakura doesn't realize we too are in on this scam so she doesn't suspect anything, meaning we have all the time in the world." Naruto reached out and stroked Sasuke's nose with the pad of one finger, smirking as he did so.
"Well…we can't dawdle too long, so I wouldn't say all the time in the world. But I agree we do have plenty. We'll steal another cloak from the guards and use that to cover Neji as we smuggle him through the mansion." Sasuke nodded tartly and they both glided off to find another unsuspecting guard. Naruto stopped midway to the hallway, tugging on the Uchiha's sleeve.
"We have to get rid of the other guards we've knocked out, or they'll wake up and raise the alarm." Without a word, the raven-haired youth spun around and retrieved the comatose body of the man behind the statue, shoving it into the broom closet along with the one Naruto had taken down before. Slamming the door closed and locking it, Sasuke emerged and joined the blond, dusting off his hands with a satisfied smirk on his regal features.
"Do you know where Neji's located?" Naruto shook his head.
"We'll have to search for him to find out." Tugging on the Uchiha's sleeve, the blond made as to leave, then stopped suddenly in the middle of the room, Sasuke walking straight into him.
"Sasuke…if we're going to be here for a couple of days, where will we sleep?" Obsidian eyes narrowed in thought.
"Let me see….we could sleep in the guards' quarters." Naruto shook his head.
"I'm guessing they take off their cloaks before turning in for the night?" Sasuke nodded and resumed his brooding.
"We could sleep somewhere outside; they'd never miss us, and there are plenty of trees and shrubbery we could conceal ourselves in." A sly, foxy grin made its way across the blonde's countenance.
"That would be a good idea. Sakura is far too busy to take care of Neji herself; perhaps we can volunteer to take care of him for her." Sasuke reached out and fluffed Naruto's blond tresses.
"You and your ideas. They work though." Naruto grinned and bowed.
"Now let's get going before we lose too much time."
Naruto slid along the walls of the mansion, Sasuke not far behind. Peeking into the next room, the blond felt his heart give a mighty jolt in his chest when he witnessed a faint outline of long hair. Peeking through the crack, Naruto confirmed that it indeed was the Hyuuga.
"He's in there, but we can't go in yet. It'd be too suspicious; we'll have to camp out here for the night."
With that, the blond glided out of the mansion, Sasuke in tow, and made for the patch of bushes nearby. Settling down next to the Uchiha, Naruto wrapped his arms and legs around the raven-haired youth, snuggling into his chest. Sasuke smirked when Naruto mumbled something about "warm and fuzzy". Though the desire was great, he refrained from any romantic doings with the blond—he was in for a hell of a night with Naruto sleeping right next to him, ripe for the plucking—and settled for draping his own arms over the blond, burying his nose in the wheat-bronze locks. There they slept the night away, all worries temporarily gone.
This fic was originally planned to have no action and all romance...oh well. It'd be too sappy anyway; since I'm cursed with the inability to write anything less than ten chapters, it would be ten chapters+ of NejiNaruSasu which would get really boring after a while unless Neji and Sasuke resorted to physical means of eliminating each other for Naruto's love.