Chapter 7: Found
Summary:
Itachi has finally found where Sasuke has been hiding the last week
Notes:
Sorry this took so long! It's a little longer of a chapter and I got stuck for a bit, but here it is!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Sasuke awoke violently to the sound of a loud bang. His head snapped in the direction of Naruto's door and his blood turned to ice in his veins when he locked eyes with his brother. No, no, no! Sasuke felt his chest tighten and began to have trouble breathing as he bordered hyperventilating . He felt like he had a thousand questions he wanted to ask them instantly, but his mouth had become too dry to speak and his throat felt like it was closing. Sasuke knew his brother could be intimidating, but he'd never felt such visceral fear toward him before. He could feel all of Itachi's attention on him and he could smell the displeased scent he was emitting. Sasuke finally tried to open his mouth to speak, but Naruto spoke first.
"What the fuck is wrong with you? You don't know how to knock on a door?!" He said, clearly upset with his now busted door. Itachi ignored him, keeping his focus on Sasuke as if he was afraid that if he blinked, Sasuke would disappear again.
"Sasuke, let's go." Naruto felt Sasuke trembling beside him in the bed and suddenly realized how similar this man looked to Sasuke. This must be his brother he concluded.
"Itachi, please, don't make me." Sasuke begged. Itachi narrowed his eyes and more of his hostility surrounded Sasuke in a scent that made his heart beat painfully in his chest. Naruto also felt the pressure from Itachi and instinctively put his hand on Sasuke's shoulder protectively. The gesture broke Itachi out of his trance and he finally turned his attention toward Naruto.
"Let. Go. Of. My. Brother." He looked at Sasuke again, "we're leaving, little brother. Get up, now, or I will retrieve you by force." The idea of being dragged out of Naruto's bed by Itachi finally snapped Sasuke out of his catatonic state and he began to move when he realized he was still naked from the night before. He quickly scanned the floor for his underwear that, thankfully, was within arms reach of the bed. He reached down to recover them awkwardly, trying to use the comforter to keep himself covered. He felt his cheeks burn in mortification from being caught naked in bed with an unknown alpha by Itachi. Itachi himself had been so angry that he was slow on the uptake and the realization finally struck Itachi of why Sasuke would be naked in an alpha's bed, creating a new and more intense wave of anger.
"Did you touch my little brother?" Itachi asked sharply, already knowing the answer.
"I-"
"Am also coming with us." Itachi cut Naruto off and turned to the men behind him. He nodded his head in the direction of Naruto who's eyes widened owlishly as the men approached him. One of the men gripped Naruto's forearm with bruising force and yanked Naruto out of the bed without warning, catching Naruto off guard. He quickly covered himself as much as he could with his free hand. He scanned the floor for his own briefs and tried to pull away from the other alpha in an attempt to pick them up, surprised by how strong the guy was. When the alpha kept his grip, Naruto felt his own anger flare up and he violently pulled his arm out of the man's grasp and picked up his underwear, dressing at light speed. The man attempted to grab Naruto again, but he dodged the attempt, looking at the other alpha in disbelief. He wasn't going to 'come quietly' and just let himself be dragged out of his own home. He geared up to fight the alpha off when two more snuck up behind him, each grabbing one arm and lifting him far enough off the ground that he couldn't get the traction he needed with his feet to stop the abduction. By this time Sasuke was fully dressed and had gathered his things. He submissively approached Itachi, who was still watching the scene unfolding with Naruto, with his head down.
"Wait! WAIT! At least let me put on clothes, I won't fight you, I promise, just let me get dressed!" Naruto was frantic. The idea of being dragged out of his apartment to who knows where in his underwear suddenly becoming the worst fate he could think of. The men let him go long enough for him to scramble with the previous nights clothes, picking him back up as soon as his pants were over his ass, not even giving him time to button and zip them. They resumed dragging him, not stopping for him to put his shoes on. Sasuke grabbed a pair of Naruto's shoes for him from beside the front door as he followed Itachi out of the apartment.
Everyone loaded into the slick, black SUV that Itachi and his men had arrived in. Itachi drove and his men boxed Sasuke and Naruto in in the back seats. Naruto glared at the men beside him as he finally zipped his pants and put his shoes on. They drove in silence through until they approached the large metal gates of Sasuke and Itachi's home. The name, "Uchiha," in all capital letters clearly woven into the gates that parted for the SUV.
"Uchiha? Sasuke...is your name Sasuke UCHIHA?!" Sasuke glanced at Naruto confused and nodded. "Oh, fuck." Naruto said, defeatedly, closing his eyes momentarily as if it would make him wake up.
Upon entry, Sasuke and Naruto were immediately taken to the dining room where Fugaku was already seated at the head of the large table.
"Sasuke. Welcome home." Fugaku looked at Naruto and narrowed his eyes uncertain before looking at Itachi in silent question. Itachi leaned in and whispered something to Fugaku, causing his expression to become furious. "I see. Has he been mated?" Itachi shook his head. Naruto felt his stomach drop when Fugaku's gaze turned on him. "So, you've been fucking my son?" Naruto had never been more intimidated by another alpha before. He knew who the man in front of him was, and he was terrified of what was about to happen to him, and the life he'd worked so hard to build. He couldn't even bring himself to speak and just nodded instead. "Interesting. And is that why instead of returning him or taking him to the authorities, you decided to keep him?" Naruto shook his head. That truly hadn't been the reason Naruto had let Sasuke stay, it was just a perk of his presence. "What's your name?" Fugaku asked in a commanding voice.
"Naruto Uzumaki, sir." Naruto said, shocking himself with the, 'sir,' that he had unconsciously added to the end of his sentence.
"And what do you do, Naruto?" Fugaku inquired.
"I, uh," he swallowed thickly before continuing, "I'm a systems administrator." He said vaguely.
"Oh? Where?" Naruto closed his eyes and clenched his jaw before letting out a shaky breath and looking back at Fugaku defeatedly.
"Uchiha Corp." Sasuke, still standing next to Naruto, turned his head quickly to look at Naruto.
"Oh really? Hm. I think it might be time for a performance review. Take a seat, Naruto. You too, Sasuke." They both did as they were told, Naruto sitting across from Fugaku and Sasuke sitting on the left hand side of the table, close to the doorway of the dining room. Naruto felt his mind reel with the intensity of the situation, looking around the large room before his eyes finally landed onn Sasuke's brother. Itachi stood behind his father, giving Naruto a hard look. "How long have you worked at Uchiha Corporation, Naruto?" Fugaku asked.
"About 4 and a half years."
"I see, and what were you doing before that?" Naruto felt a knot form in his throat and tried his best to answer calmly.
"I was in school."
"What did you study?"
"Political Science."
"You have a Political Science degree?" Fugaku queried, it was an odd transition to go from Political Science to tech.
"Uh, no. I don't, sir." Fugaku's brows furrowed.
"Then what is your degree in?" He pressed.
"I didn't graduate," Naruto gulped. This topic was getting dangerous, fast.
"Why not?" Naruto wasn't sure how to gently break the news of what he did that caused him to have to leave school. But he figured there was no use in lying, it's not like he hadn't admitted it when he first got hired.
"I...was kicked out of school." Fugaku's eyes widened at the statement.
"For what?"
"Fighting..." he didn't elaborate. Naruto glanced nervously at Sasuke who was also looking at him, obviously on edge.
"Ah. So then the person pressed charges?"
"Yes, sir." Naruto admitted.
"And what were the charges."
"Felony assault and vandalism." At this Fugaku laughed wickedly.
"Wonderful, Sasuke! You've found yourself a felon. So then Naruto, is it safe to assume that you lied on your application?" Fugaku accused.
"No, sir. I admitted to the charges when I was hired." Naruto could see the look of confusion on Fugaku's face and elaborated. "My God Father, Jiraya Sanin, helped me to get the job." Fugaku nodded in understanding.
"Ah, Jiraya. Now that makes sense. I was sorry to hear of his passing."
"Thank you, sir." Naruto replied, feeling a slight shift in Fugaku's demeanor. It seemed that the mention of the respected man had soothed some ruffled feathers.
"Here's what's going to happen, Naruto. You are going to go back home. You are going to thank you lucky stars that your God Father was a good enough man that I have decided not to castrate and terminate you, and you are never going to speak to Sasuke again." Naruto bit the inside of his cheek and looked at Sasuke again, seeing the sadness he felt mirrored in Sasuke's expression. Naruto considered his options. He knew he should truly feel thankful that he was being given the opportunity to walk away from this situation unscathed, but he felt like he was losing so much in this scenario. He looked at Sasuke again, but he was looking down at the table, dejected.
"Why?" Naruto responded, to the astonishment of all three Uchiha's. "He was supposed to be mated off to some alpha by the end of the month, right? But now it's the 1st, so the deadline has passed, right? So, why can't we just...continue to see each other?" At this, Fugaku laughed again. Sasuke's previously hopeful face fell immediately.
"The deal can be renegotiated. Sasuke, go to your room, now." Sasuke opened his mouth to protest, but the look his father gave him made him choke on his words. He stood abruptly and angrily, his chair screeching across the floor harshly. He left the room dramatically, practically stomping as he went. Fugaku waited until Sasuke exited before continuing speaking to Naruto. "You've only known my son for a week. You think you know anything about him?"
"I think I know quite a bit about him, actually. And I've learned a small amount about you as well. Like how you've gone out of your way to ensure Sasuke had no idea how to interact with the world outside of what you allowed. How you've kept him purposely ignorant and manipulated him. Why do that to him, he's your son?!" He said practically seething. Naruto didn't mean to get so emotional, but he realized how angry he actually was about Sasuke's situation and how he'd been treated. Sasuke's circumstances caused him pain and it hurt Naruto to see Sasuke treated that way.
"Not that our family's decisions are any of your business, but we did it to protect Sasuke. Everything I did and didn't do was to create and keep a safe environment for Sasuke. The surrounding him with like peers, the avoiding certain topics and exposing him only to certain media, the keeping him from random alpha's like you. It was all for his own good." Fugaku insisted. Naruto's nose twitched and he suddenly realized that Sasuke wasn't as far away as his father and brother most likely thought. He was much closer to the dining room doorway than them and he concluded that Sasuke's scent was just out of reach for their noses. He took the opportunity to ask the question that was really burning in his mind, the question he wanted Sasuke to know the answer to.
"And what about letting him think he was going to work at your family's business? Why even let him take college courses?"
"Come on, Naruto. You're smarter than that. You know those courses aren't real. I told him he'd be apart of the business to placate him and keep him from going out of his way to prove himself. The plan was always to let him be mated to an alpha of worth." At this, Sasuke popped out of his hiding place around the corner.
"What? You lied to me about that too? You weren't...I..." Sasuke's eyes watered and he clenched his jaws unable to allow himself to keep speaking without breaking down completely. Fugaku sighed, exasperated.
"Are you happy now, Sasuke? You've hurt your own feelings by listening in."
"Father," Itachi finally interjected. "You can't blame Sasuke for being upset, he's learned that everything he knew was a lie in a very short period of time, it's a lot for him to process." He defended.
"And who's fault is it that he has to process all of it now?" Fugaku bit.
"Yours!" Naruto bit back. "He would have found out all of this stuff eventually, it just would've been too late for him to make any decisions in his own life because you would've let him be mated off to some random alpha before learning anything!"
"Guards, have Mr. Uzumaki escorted out." Naruto stood up abruptly, glowering at the men approaching him.
"No! Please! Let him stay!" Sasuke begged, tears now rolling down his cheeks.
"ENOUGH! Sasuke, Naruto is leaving. You are going to be mated to Orochimaru, and that is final." The guards took hold of Naruto by his arms again and dragged him from the large house. Naruto glanced back one last time at Sasuke, his own eyes beginning to sting and redden with tears at the realization that he would never see Sasuke again.
"I'm sorry, Sasuke." Naruto called out before he was completely removed from the premises. Sasuke broke down and fell to his knees, sobbing. Itachi approached Sasuke, sympathetically and placed a hand gently on his shoulder.
"Sasuke-" he tried.
"No! Fuck you! Because of you I'm back here and I'll never get to see Naruto again! Are you happy now? Did you fulfill your role as the perfect son?" Sasuke pulled away from his touch. Itachi was taken aback. Sasuke had never spoken to him that way. He usually saved all his rage for their father. Sasuke stormed up the stairs to his bedroom and slammed the door, an indication that he did not want to be bothered for at least a couple hours. Itachi figured he at least owed him that. Up until seeing Sasuke and Naruto's reactions to being forcibly parted, Itachi hadn't considered that Sasuke really had been given the opportunity to make his own choices for the first time when he was out on his own, and that the choice he made was Naruto. It may not have been the best choice, but at this point, Itachi could no longer rationalize his and their fathers decision to keep Sasuke in the dark was for his own safety. What good had it done? None, but the damage is possibly insurmountable , Itachi worried. He returned to the dining room with his father contemplating to himself what would happen next; what would actually be best for Sasuke.
Naruto decided to walk home instead of taking the ride that had been offered him. He needed to clear his head, and didn't want to breakdown in the presence of the very people who had just dragged him away from Sasuke, the loss of which being the reason he felt like breaking down. He'd only been walking for about 30 minutes when he realized how much further his place was and how far Sasuke really had walked that first night that they had first met each other. That realization did it, Naruto felt his bottom lip quiver as he tried not to openly sob on the sidewalk. He ducked into a nearby alleyway and leaned against a trashcan, finally allowing his body to rest and feel the emotions he had been trying to speed walk away from. Large tears rolled down his cheeks and each breath he forced into his lungs seemed to wrack his body and caused his broad shoulders to shake. I'm really never going to see Sasuke again, the first omega, the first romantic partner, I've been interested in in years. Worse yet, Sasuke was stuck in the same living situation that he had tried so hard to escape, only now, because of Naruto, he was no longer ignorant to how fucked up it was. Which most likely would make living there even more difficult for Sasuke.
Naruto wept in the alleyway, unable to pull himself together when he felt one of his friends text him; his phone vibrating. He tried to wipe the tears away so he could read and respond to the message, with any luck it was someone asking him to get drunk. To Naruto, that sounded like the best possible thing right now. However, he was wrong on two accounts. One, it wasn't his friends who texted him, and, two, getting drunk wasn't the best thing that could happen to him right now. Naruto stared down at his phone in disbelief and stopped crying immediately, almost too shocked to breath. He had a new text message from Sasuke.
Sasuke: Hey...hope you don't mind...I kept the phone you bought me...
Naruto: Sasuke, you have no idea how happy I am that you kept it
Sasuke: Really? Does that mean...maybe we could still keep in touch?
Naruto felt his eyes well up again, but this time from happiness.
Naruto: Yes we can absolutely keep in touch. I would really like to keep talking to you, Sasuke
Sasuke felt his heart pounding in his chest. When he had gathered his stuff that morning at Naruto's place, he had really hoped that Itachi wouldn't notice him grabbing the cell phone and charger and stuffing it in his bag. However, when he realized Naruto had also been naked, he seemed so pre-occupied with being angry with him that he was no longer watching Sasuke as closely. He was pretty sure there was no way that he and Naruto wouldn't be separated, but it was still devastating to watch Naruto leave, especially after hearing him try to convince his father to let him stay...even more so when Naruto was risking his livelihood by pressing the matter. After that, Sasuke was certain that Naruto would be willing to keep in touch, even if it could only be through texts. After snapping at Itachi, Sasuke went out of his way to slam his door the way he always did when he wanted to be left alone for a while, and once he was positive no one was going to come after him, he pulled out the cellphone and texted Naruto.
The two messaged back and forth for another hour lamenting over the morning and over the future. However, Sasuke had some ideas about his future that he was hoping he might be able to argue his way into. He told Naruto he had to go for the night, then turned off and hid the cellphone in his bedroom and waited. He knew eventually either his brother or father would come for him and they would have to talk about the day and Sasuke's future. But he was prepared for the conversation. To his surprise, however, the conversation did not happen that night. Sasuke fell asleep waiting for a knock on his door that never came and dreamed of Naruto. Across the city, in his small studio apartment, Naruto also dreamed of Sasuke.
The conversation Sasuke had been expecting happened the next morning, during breakfast. The three had been eating in uncomfortable silence for almost 10 minutes before Fugaku finally addressed the elephant in the room.
"Sasuke. I understand yesterday must have been a harsh lesson for you to learn." Sasuke narrowed his eyes at his father. 'A harsh lesson?' And what exactly was he learning? That his feelings don't matter? "However, it seems to have been a lesson you were hellbent on learning the hard way, so I hope you learned it well." With that Fugaku gave Sasuke a hard stare, as if he was waiting for some sort of affirmation.
"The lessons I've learned, father, stretch throughout the last week, not just yesterday." Sasuke retorted. Itachi looked between the two of them with an outwardly stoic face, hiding the waves of discomfort he was feeling.
"Oh really? Tell me what you've learned, son." Fugaku said acerbically, preparing for Sasuke's inevitable temper tantrum. He knew his son well, but just because he kicked his feet and stirred up dust didn't mean that Fugaku was going to let him get his way. Sasuke felt his fathers sharp tone like a knife in his gut, but he continued his speech anyway.
"I've learned that I have been...spoiled." Fugaku's blinked slowly at the statement and Itachi's eyes widened very briefly before his unreadable expression returned. "I have been living under the impression that most everything in life was meant to serve me in some way. I thought that alphas were supposed to inherently love and dote on me because of my status as an omega. I thought that other people were supposed to automatically commend me due to our family's status in the business world. I thought I could get my way with you and Itachi, and I was so arrogant in that mindset that I didn't even realize how much you both were keeping things from me. How much you were manipulating me." The look Sasuke was giving his father had turned from serious to pointed.
"Sasuke," Fugaku started, but he was cut off.
"I'm not done sharing my lesson's, father. I learned that I had no idea how the world worked and I was so smug about a reality that wasn't even true that I didn't even try to question the existence I dwelled in. I took everything you and Itachi said at face value because it almost always stroked my own ego. When I was out on my own I learned very quickly that the world doesn't revolve around me, and in fact, is actively against me at times. Most times it seems like. For something I can't even control. What's funny is that I didn't care when I thought the world was for me for something I couldn't control. I learned how selfish I've been, how much I took for granted. When Naruto took me in I realized that I was really lucky to have someone who didn't try to hurt me, because I was extremely vulnerable. I also learned how vulnerable I am in general without the help of others, including you and Itachi. I took a lot of things for granted, a lot of things that other omega's never have."
Fugaku was astonished by Sasuke's words. He had expected his son to go into his usual bratty fit which he would inevitably shut down by threatening Sasuke in some way, it seemed to be the only way these days to get him to calm down. However, perhaps letting him be out on his own for a while really had been helpful in his development.
"I'm very pleased to hear how much you've discovered in the last week about reality, Sasuke. I think now we can discuss your mating with Orochimaru-"
"I think not." Sasuke interrupted Fugaku again. "I understand why you wanted to keep me ignorant of the world. Not only because it is harsh, but also because if you fed into my ego, it wouldn't be difficult to manipulate me in a certain direction and lead me away from another. You probably thought that by making me think I had everything I ever needed and more, which in a lot of ways was true, that I'd never ask for anything. More specifically, I wouldn't ask for something I actually needed because I had no idea what I actually needed. Everything has been based off of my wants. Well, now I know better. And I can forgive you for hiding the truth of the world from me, but I cannot forgive you if you try to pretend that I don't know anything now. I know it must be disappointing that despite grooming me, I did not willingly go with the lucrative alpha of your choosing. However, I've now been exposed to more of the world, and now, more than ever, I am ready to fight against being mated to Orochimaru." Fugaku sat starting at Sasuke for a moment, unable to figure out how to respond, but now it was Itachi's turn to speak up.
"Respectfully," he began, causing Fugaku and Sasuke to quickly turn their attention toward him. Itachi locked eyes with his father and continued, " I think Sasuke needs to be acknowledged. When given zero resources, he was able to survive with an alpha he'd never met and stand his ground. We knew Sasuke wasn't a weak person, but he's certainly proved himself and deserves consideration for his achievement. Despite it not being an achievement that was ultimately approved of, it was a show of strength and fortitude." Fugaku's mouth parted slightly in shock, the smallest show of emotion on his part. Sasuke's eyebrows furrowed in disbelief that his brother was taking his side. Fugaku pondered everything that had been said for a moment. Having defiance from Sasuke was nothing new, but for Itachi to also take Sasuke's side meant truly he would have to consider what his sons were saying.
"Fine. What is it that you would like happen now, Sasuke? You want me to allow you to go back to your felon?" He bit. Sasuke didn't let the hurt he felt at the comment show and continued on with his rehearsed speech.
"I would like you to let me work at Uchiha Corp. like you had told me all these years I'd be able to." A soft smile played on Itachi's features while Fugaku gave Sasuke a hard look. He pondered the request before pushing back.
"You'd be the only omega working there," he started.
"Omega's don't work in many places at all, it seems. However, I am an Uchiha Omega, so I doubt many would bat an eye at me working at my own family's business." Sasuke countered.
"It's hard and fast paced work, it may be overwhelming," Fugaku tried.
"Didn't we just discuss that I am a strong and capable person? Are you saying you don't think you raised me well enough to work well under pressure?" Fugaku bristled at this, the exact reaction Sasuke was hoping for. Itachi tried to hide his amusement. It was obvious that Sasuke had come to this conversation prepared. Fugaku sighed.
"I assume you're angling toward the Project Manager role?" Sasuke nodded. "If you can't handle the stress and meet the requirements of the job and as a result end up embarrassing the Uchiha name, you will be stripped from the position." Fugaku threatened.
"I understand."
"Good. Furthermore, we will begin your training at home. I don't want you going into the office until you are fully competent and can easily fill the role."
"Understood," Sasuke agreed, still surprised that he had gotten this far.
"Itachi, he's your responsibility. Since you believe he deserves consideration, consider him your liability. Make sure he's ready to go into the office."
"Yes, sir." Itachi responded contentedly. If you can't handle the stress and meet the requirements of the job and as a result end up embarrassing the Uchiha name, you will be stripped from the position." Fugaku threatened.
"I understand."
With that the three went back to eating their meal in silence and Sasuke felt himself flood with happiness with how the conversation turned out.
I can't wait to tell Naruto, he smiled to himself.
Notes:
Okay, sorry there was no smut in this chapter, BUT I didn't want to make this chapter like double what the rest of the chapter lengths are. Hopefully it was still worth the read! Thanks for getting this far!