Channelling his inner ninja Naruto made his way down the stairs of the cabin, pausing every other step to listen for any sounds that would indicate someone was awake. So far things were going smoothly. He'd stayed up until three am, and made his way to Sai's room, finding the keys in the same place as the last time. Sai had slept soundly through the break-in, so it had been easy to swipe them and make his way back into the hallway, setting off towards the basement.

Yamato had wanted to go along, but Naruto had convinced him not to. It would be easier for one of them to sneak around, and he didn't want to pull Yamato into anything in case they were caught. Not that he had told Yamato the latter.

Naruto had to wait three nights after he had shifted out in the barn before he could finally get the keys and start looking through the rooms in the basement in his hunt for evidence. Sai had been gone on some mission, and Naruto didn't know who else had keys, so he had been forced to stay around the cabin, avoiding the shifters hanging around. They didn't seem to mind, ignoring him right back.

He had been trying to talk himself out of just going downstairs and start pulling doors off their hinges when he finally saw Sai walk back in the front doors earlier today, and that was about the first time he had ever felt happy seeing him.

He stopped at the bottom of the stairs leading down to the first floor and looked around the foyer. Most of the lights were out, and there were no signs of anyone still being up. He hurried across the room, heading for the stairs leading down into the basement, and took them just as slowly, trying to listen for any signs that the doctor was still in his lab. He hardly saw the man around outside of the times he had appointments with him, so he was afraid his plan would be foiled by the doctor just staying the night down there, doing whatever the hell he was doing, but there were no lights on, and the hallway that stretched through the bowels of the cabin was devoid of any noise, so Naruto thought he was safe.

He had no idea where to start. He had been in a few of the rooms before, the med lab and a couple of storage rooms, and he knew the latter didn't have anything interesting, just rows of canned food and clothes and other supplies. No, he needed to find something else, filing cabinets like the ones upstairs, or something like it. He had no idea just what he was looking for, but he was sure there had to be something down here that would count as evidence. There had to be, or else he was clean out of a plan again.

He tried the first door on his right hand side. It was unlocked, and a quick glance inside showed that it was little more than a closet, a few brooms leaned up against one wall, and a plastic bucket with a crack down its side. He closed the door and moved to the next.

The next door was locked, and Naruto started going through the key chain, hoping he had the matching key.

There was a click as the door unlocked, loud in the quiet of the hallway, and he froze, listening for anyone having heard, but there was no voices or sound of footsteps, so he pulled the door open, peering inside.

The room was bare. Concrete floors and wooden walls, no window to break the monotony. A naked light bulb hung overhead, but he didn't bother turning it on. There was a dim light from a lamp in the end of the hallway, and it was enough for him to see that there was nothing inside apart from a heavy iron ring embedded into a wall.

Naruto flinched when he saw it, realising the room looked eerily like a cell, the ring in the right height to tie a pair of hands to if a person was sitting against the wall.

He pulled his cellphone from his pocket and took a quick picture, the flash bright as it captured the starkness of the room.

He locked the door and moved to the next, finding another room much like the previous, only this had a mattress lying in a corner, stained and ragged. Naruto could feel bile rise in his throat as he imagined why Danzo would feel the need for cells in his cabin. Had someone been kept here while Naruto was walking right past the door, having no idea?

He quickly backed away from the door, just barely remembering to lock it before he turned back down the hallway, seeing more doors, wondering if there was just endless cells, and if they would all be empty, or if he would find out just what Danzo would need to lock up down here.

He hesitated, looking towards the familiar door that led to the med bay, knowing that at least there wouldn't be more cells in there, and he had noticed locked cabinets he had wanted to dig through.

Naruto unlocked the door, heading inside, taking a quick survey of the room before heading towards the cabinets. There wasn't really anything else of interest here.

He eyed the lock, and then the key chain. The lock was small, not like the door locks, and there were only two keys that seemed to be of the same size, and it didn't take Naruto long to realise that clearly Sai didn't have the key to unlock the cabinets.

It wouldn't be hard to force the doors open, but if he broke the lock the doctor would definitely notice. He really should have learned how to pick locks at some point, it would make this a lot easier. He had just never expected to be stuck in this situation.

Frustrated that he might have to give up seeing what the doctor was hiding away Naruto tugged at the door, only to find it sliding open, never having been locked in the first place.

He stared at it for a moment, groaning at himself. Note to self, check to see if the doors are even locked in the first place.

As he pulled the door completely open it became clear that there was a reason it hadn't been locked. Rolls of gauze and packs of cotton buds and other medical paraphernalia was neatly lined inside, and after having gone through all cabinets it was clear it was a bust. The worst he had found had been prescription painkillers, nothing out of the ordinary at all.

He sat down, back against the cabinets, head hanging as he tried not to let the frustration overpower him. He wished Sasuke could've been here with him. Sasuke was his partner, somehow it felt wrong to be doing this alone. Sasuke would have taken one look at Naruto, known he was about to give up and dragged him to his feet, making him go on. Sasuke made Naruto better, and he hoped he made Sasuke better as well, but right now he felt mostly like a failure. It was all his fault he was here at all. If he hadn't been so rash he could've still been with Sasuke right now, far away from Danzo.

He laced his fingers together behind his neck and pulled his knees to his chest, but before he could completely fall into self-loathing he felt his cell phone buzz in the pocket of his jeans. He straightened a leg and dragged the phone out, and saw a new text message waiting for him. He hadn't used the phone much out of fear that someone catching him and taking it away, but Sasuke and him had sent a few messages back and forth. Short encouragements and reassurances that without fault made Naruto long to be back with Sasuke, but it was good to know that Sasuke was just a quick message away, ready to help the moment there was something he could do. Naruto knew Sasuke would stop at nothing if Naruto sent an SOS.

This time it wasn't Sasuke at all. The number was stored in his phone as Naruto's father, a remnant of when the phone had been Sasuke's.

I'm so proud of what you've become, and you better come back safe or you'll be sorry.

Naruto couldn't help the smile that broke on his face. Sasuke had told Iruka about the phone a few days ago, and they'd sent a few messages, Iruka clearly worried for him. Naruto knew there was a great chance his dad would be seriously pissed off at him when he came back, but he also knew he would be there for him, no matter what trouble Naruto got mixed up with. He had always wanted what was best for Naruto, he was there when things were bad, but he also pushed him to do better. Iruka had come into his life like the father Naruto had always longed for.

Naruto sent back a quick message telling him that he would be fine, all cocky confidence. He didn't want his dad to worry too much.

He hesitated with the phone in his hand, moving from the conversation with his dad to the one with Sasuke. The last messages were Sasuke warning him to be careful, short and to the point, as all his messages were. Utterly devoid of any emoticons. It always made Naruto smile to see how Sasuke's messages matched Sasuke so well, grammar flawless, never anything superfluous but straight to the point.

I wish you were here with me, Naruto typed out, thumb swiping across the screen. The words shone up at him for a moment before he deleted them again, unsent. He didn't want to give Sasuke any reason to worry, so he needed to just finish this so he could get away and make sure Danzo ended up behind bars.

Naruto pushed to his feet again, and turned around in the room a final time, concluding that it was a bust.

He headed back to the hallway, choosing the first and best door, determined to keep going until he found something worthwhile.


Iruka pressed send on the text message to Naruto, using the phone number Sasuke had given him. He hesitated for a moment after putting away the phone, and then closed his laptop and moved it to the table, running his hands across his thighs, rubbing away the near-burning warmth left from the machine. He'd sent out a few job applications in the city, knowing that he didn't have enough savings to keep him going for long, and knowing that he didn't want to go back to where he came from. As soon as he had a job and an apartment here he was going to move here permanently. Being hours away from his son had been awful, and when Naruto came back he wanted to be here for him, wanted to be able to see him when he wanted, not just talk to him on the phone.

He pointedly tried not to think about any other reasons he might have to stick around in this city, particularly tall, grey and handsome ones.

He groaned. He was way too old to be gushing over some guy. He was in his mid-thirties, he shouldn't be acting like a low sick teenager, but he couldn't help it. Maybe he had just spent too much time working with teenagers, and before he knew he it he would find himself writing Iruka Hatake on his notebooks, complete with arrowed hearts.

It really didn't help anything that he'd accidentally ended up seeing Kakashi's face a few days ago. He hadn't really been able to unsee it ever since. It had been an accident, he'd been drowsy, roused by the angry hum of Kakashi's cell phone, and when he blinked and looked up Kakashi had been standing there, mask pooled around his neck, and Iruka had been too taken back to look away at first.

Even though he had pointedly respected Kakashi's privacy and always looked away when he ate, and never pried about what he was hiding, he hadn't been able to keep from speculating. He had kind of settled on thinking it was some kind of disfigurement; burn marks or other scars of a kind, but when he had looked at Kakashi's face, only obscured by an eyepatch, there had been no scars to see. Instead there had been a sharp jawline, pale soft-looking skin and perfect lips, narrow but curving up just a little on the corners. Kakashi was the epitome of handsome, and Iruka had no idea what he was hiding. Kakashi had been quick to pull the mask up.

Iruka was thoroughly embarrassed with how he had stared, but Kakashi hadn't seemed to blame him as far as Iruka could tell. They hadn't really talked about it, because Iruka had been a little mortified, and then Sasuke had come over, and suddenly he had forgotten all about Kakashi's face, because Sasuke had talked to Naruto, and Naruto was still fine, and they were working on how to get him back, and Iruka was left feeling utterly helpless as Kakashi and Sasuke discussed their course of action. Iruka wanted to do something to help, wanted to march right over there and get his son back, but he was just human in a world of supernatural beings, and he couldn't do anything against that. He had always done his best to protect Naruto, but now he just didn't know how to do it any more, and it hurt.

He was proud of Naruto, proud of the man he had become, how he had worked to fulfil his goal of becoming a DPA agent, but he was also too aware that Naruto didn't really need him any more. He needed help, but not in a way Iruka could contribute, not any more. He had Sasuke and Kakashi now, they were laying plans and talking about weapons and tactics and plans, and Iruka was little more than the secretary, fetching them coffee and trying to keep a straight face.

He'd been the one to take care of Naruto when he got himself into trouble before, but this time he couldn't do anything.

At least Naruto had Sasuke now. Sasuke who looked ready to walk through fire to keep Naruto safe. He still remembered Naruto complaining about his partner not that many months ago, but Iruka hadn't really been surprised when complaining turned into something else. Sasuke seemed to complete Naruto, and Iruka could see the devotion on Sasuke's face, the pure determination to get Naruto back, and Iruka knew that Naruto was in safe hands. Naruto had sent him a text message a few days earlier, and Iruka had nearly broken into tears hearing from him. Given the circumstances Naruto had to be careful, so there were no time for lengthy conversations, Naruto just texting him that he was doing alright, and that he missed Iruka, and that he promised that he would be home soon.

Iruka could not wait for the moment Naruto were back, safe.


Naruto reached for the door handle, testing to see if it was locked before pulling the keys out of his pocket, rifling through them in search of whichever would let him into the room. He tested a couple, and then froze, fingers locking around the keys to still the quiet jangling.

He was sure he'd heard something.

He held his breath, straining his ears to try to find whatever sound he had thought he picked up. His heartbeat was loud in his ears, but other than that he couldn't hear anything. Had he just imagined it all, or was someone around here somewhere, likewise keeping their breath and waiting?

Seconds ticked by slow as molasses, until he finally let out his breath, resuming the search for the key. If someone was around, hiding out of sight, it wouldn't do him much good to be caught out here in the hallways anyway. It would be easier to hide if he was inside a room.

The third key was the charm, and the door swung open, the sharp smell of antiseptics stinging his nose. He ignored it and went inside, pulling the door shut behind him.

There were no windows in the room, the darkness overwhelming even for his vision, and after a moment's hesitation he fumbled along the wall until his fingers found the light switch. The room flooded in bright fluorescent lights, and he had to squeeze his eyes shut from the sudden glare.

When he dared peering out from underneath his lashes again he saw a white room, steel counters along one wall, a desk along another, and a row of clear fronted cabinets next to it. It looked like a laboratory of sorts, white tiles lining the walls making it seem out of place in a cabin otherwise dominated by wooden walls.

The fluorescent lights overhead hummed, but there was another sound as well, a soft scratching he couldn't quite place. He walked further into the room, peering around, trying to assess just what he was seeing, when he realised there was an alcove off to one side where the scratching was coming from. He peered around the edge of a steel cabinet, and then quickly backed up again. The alcove was lined from floor to ceiling with steel wire cages, and most of them seemed to contain small rodents scuttling around, looking at him with small, beady eyes.

He walked closer, saw that they all appeared to be mice, small and varying in colour from white to grey to beige.

Each cage had a clipboard hanging from it, and Naruto walked close enough that he could grab one and look at it, noting a number at top that probably was the mouse's name. Underneath various notes were neatly written down. Temperatures, heartbeats and other stuff he had no idea what was.

He really should have been paying more attention in biology. It was clear someone was experimenting on something, using the mice for some purpose, but he couldn't tell what. Most of the notes meant nothing to him, so he quickly snapped a few pictures, hoping Sasuke would be able to tell what it was later. They'd connected the phone to a cloud service, so even if something happened with Naruto at least he'd have these pictures, evidence as to what was hiding in the sprawling basement.

He walked away from the cages again, wishing the mice could talk and tell him what was happening. It was probably the doctor's room, but Naruto had no idea what the mice was for. Had the suppressants been tested on them before Naruto got the drugs? How many animals had been hurt for the drugs that coursed through his system?

Naruto walked over towards the steel counters. There were a few beakers standing there, but they didn't contain anything, just placed upside down in what was probably a drying rack.

This time Naruto tried to open the cabinets before bothering with the keys, and the one underneath the counter slid open, revealing lots of stuff Naruto had no idea what was. Bottles with chemicals with names he couldn't even hope to pronounce, more beakers and pipettes and other stuff he vaguely remembered having used in the labs back in high school. He took a few pictures, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary as far as he could tell.

He closed the cabinets back up and headed towards the glass fronted ones he had seen, realising now that they were some kind of refrigerators. Through the doors he saw racks filled with vials of blood, and when he leaned closer he could see a name and date marked on each vial. His own name.

He had given dozens of blood samples while staying here, and it was clear where they had all ended up, neatly lined up for some purpose Naruto had no idea what was. If the doctor was just testing his blood to see the effect of the drugs he wouldn't still have blood lined up, would he?

Other shelves had various bottles of chemicals and other stuff he didn't know what was. It was all marked, but not in names he recognised.

He opened a door and started snapping pictures.

There was more blood further down, and he grabbed a vial, peering down at the label, seeing an unfamiliar name and a date not more than a week ago. He took a picture and placed it back, noticing how the dark red liquid seemed to shimmer a little in the light. He frowned. He'd never seen blood do that, so maybe they had added something to it.

It was frustrating trying to piece all of what he was seeing into a coherent story. He had no idea what most of it was, and what it meant. He needed notes, something that clearly said what Danzo and the doctor was working on. He could feel it in his bones that there was more going on here than just the suppressants, but he had no idea what or for what purpose, and it was frustrating. He felt helpless, and could only hope that Sasuke would be able to make something of the pictures.

He walked over to a free-standing metal cabinet. Unlike the others this was locked, and that piqued Naruto's interest. He tried the keys, and was pleasantly surprised when one of them slid softly into the lock and he could turn it, rewarded with a soft click. Sai's keys seemed to unlock just about anything down here, and Naruto was starting to see that Sai clearly knew what was going on, or else Danzo wouldn't have trusted him with the keys. It was a little surprising it was this easy to steal them from him, because Naruto was pretty sure none of the other shifters would be allowed down here. Kidōmaru and the gang screamed pawns if he ever saw any. No one seemed to have cared that Jirōbō was killed or that Tayuya was dealt with, they all seemed replaceable in Danzo and the others' eyes.

No, Sai was different, he knew more. If Naruto ever got the opportunity he was going to enjoy punching his face in, but for now he at least was glad Sai was careless enough to leave his keys lying around for anyone to take. It made breaking and entering a hell of a lot easier.

He opened the double doors and was met with shelves filled with various boxes and jars. Some made from pottery, others from glass. They were all labelled, and finally Naruto felt that he was getting somewhere. He took pictures of everything he saw, opening lids to photograph the content as well, flinching when he saw the box marked Teeth of Natural Witch, fearing he knew exactly where that content was coming from. There were shelves of just various plants, some Naruto recognised, some he didn't. Boxes and boxes of teeth. Ashes of ghouls. Two jars were filled with leeches preserved in some liquid, neatly marked with Blood of the Undead.

It was like something straight out of a fairy tale or horror story, some witch's supplies, ready to brew up curses and potions and whatever else witches made.

Naruto's gaze dropped to the nook of his elbow. There were no marks, but it wasn't long since the doctor had last injected him with the suppressants. Naruto had thought it was just a cocktail of drugs, but now he was starting to wonder if the doctor wasn't just a medical doctor. He scratched at the skin, suddenly disgusted with the thought of just what was flooding through his veins. Wasn't it just mice that had suffered for the drugs? Had people been killed to create the suppressants? Was it made with ground up teeth and zombie blood and who knew who or what else?

He wanted to throw up, but he pressed a hand to his mouth, biting it back, knowing he couldn't allow himself the luxury of freaking out. Time was ticking, and it wasn't long before he had to get back to his room, pretending to be asleep as the cabin started waking up.

He closed and locked the cabinet again. As far as evidence went it wasn't much, but plenty of what had been in the cabinet was heavily restricted, or full on illegal to deal in, so at least it was some kind of evidence that Danzo had dealings beyond the purely legal. It wasn't enough though, a man like Danzo could explain this away easily. He wouldn't hesitate a moment to throw the doctor under the bus and blame it all on him. No, Naruto needed more, this was just the beginning.

The desk was strewn with paperwork, and Naruto headed there, documenting all the files, even though it made little sense to him. Lots of complicated formulas that surpassed his knowledge. Which, granted, didn't mean much, because he could barely remember that H20 was water and had been thoroughly confused the moment math had turned from just numbers to numbers and letters.

With the papers all photographed he pulled open the desk drawers. The top one contained little more than pens and other office supplies, and the next held an impressive collection of chocolate bars. No wonder the doctor was on the rounder side.

He pulled open the bottom most drawer, and instantly knew that he had hit the jackpot. A laptop was neatly stashed there, and he was quick to pull it out and open it, pressing the power button. It was the first computer he had seen in the cabin, and if there was one thing where shady business was kept it was on computer. Compromising files and emails where Danzo clearly laid out just how many people he'd had killed and for what purpose. Or at least Naruto hoped as much.

The computer whirred alive, the computer brand logo flashing before it hit a login screen.

Naruto wanted to scream in frustration. Of course it was locked, who was stupid enough not to have a password on their computer. (Naruto, that was who.)

On TV it always seemed easy. The protagonist would just test out passwords until he got the right one. It was always a birthday or a pet or something like that, but Naruto didn't know jackshit about the doctor, so he wouldn't have any idea where to even start.

With a groan he quickly cut off he sank down on the desk chair, staring at the screen in frustration, feeling it taunt him. This far but no further.

It was so typical. He finally thought he was getting somewhere, but then something appeared, pushing him right back to start again.

For a few moments he just stared, battling with himself and the overwhelming feeling that he should just give up. He was never going to find the evidence to put Danzo away, so he should just stop looking. Even if he did get evidence Danzo was going to find some way to weasel away, because people like him always did. They knew too many people, had too much influence, and somehow they were never the ones in jail, soon walking free too keep hurting people.

His birth parents would never get the revenge they deserved, would stay forgotten, only Naruto knowing that at some point there lived two people who loved each other enough to escape for a better life before their past caught up to them and they were lost to the world. Naruto would be forced to see their murderer walk free, knowing it was only a matter of time before he too got lost. Danzo wouldn't let him go free, Naruto knew that, knew that if he wasn't able to get Danzo locked away then he might as well just paint a target on his chest and wait for him to find him. He wondered who he would sent. Sai maybe? Would he one day wake up to find Sai in the room with him, weapon trained at him, bringing the final greetings from Danzo?

No.

No.

Naruto wasn't going to let Danzo win. He was going to find a way to stop him, somehow, to give him what he deserved, a life time spent in a cell where he couldn't manipulate and hurt any more. Naruto was a DPA agent, this was what he was trained for. He just had to be smart and he would find a way out of this somehow. If worse came to worse he would not hesitate to keep himself safe, and a part of him couldn't quite stop imagining how it would feel to sink his teeth in Danzo's throat and rip it out; but he feared that was the beast talking, and he was not going to let in to that instinct. Danzo didn't deserve a quick death, he deserved to atone for what he had done.

Naruto grabbed his phone and quickly found Sasuke's number, pressing the call button, hoping Sasuke wasn't asleep.


Sasuke rubbed tired eyes. He'd been staring at the computer screen all night, and he was starting to think he was going to end up having to wear glasses after all the strain he was putting on his eyes.

He closed the web page he had been reading and moved to the next one, leaning closer to the screen to decipher one of the pictures Naruto had taken.

He had gotten the notification the moment the first picture popped up in the cloud, and had been following along as more came in. First pictures of a bare room, then now lately of what appeared to be some kind of laboratory. Cages with mice and lab equipment and endless bottles of various chemicals he was trying to decipher his way through. He had never been happier to have Google available, quickly able to discard most of it as common chemicals.

He was about to write down some notes in a text document he'd opened for the purpose of cataloguing what he saw in the pictures when he heard the still unfamiliar ringtone of his new phone. He looked at the screen, ready to decline the call, when he saw Naruto's name, and quickly grabbed it, swiping to answer.

"Naruto?" he asked, dreading what he might hear on the other side of the call. Was Naruto in some kind of trouble? Sasuke hadn't wanted to go back to the city, had wanted to stay close to the cabin, but he'd had to talk to Kakashi, and Kakashi had made him stick around, telling him that he wouldn't be able to do anything even if he rushed in lone ranger style, and reluctantly he'd stayed in the city, devoting his time on trying to find evidence against the council man. There had to be someone out there who would testify against him, it was just a matter of tracking them down. He had started with trying to find the shifter who had attacked the councilman in the newscast where Sasuke had first seen Naruto again, figuring that the shifter had some kind of issue with Danzo bad enough he would attack him openly, and thusly might be liable to tell Sasuke everything, but he hadn't been able to find him. The DPA had no reports on the shifter being brought in, so Sasuke feared Danzo had dealt with him himself, removing him from the equation.

"Sasuke," Naruto said, voice a loud whisper. He didn't sound hurt, and Sasuke clamped down on the urge to rush to his car. "Do you know how to hack a computer?"

Sasuke had been in the middle of pacing across the room, and now he stopped. Naruto must either have great faith in him, or just be desperate, if he really thought Sasuke could hack a computer, over the phone no less.

"What the hell, of course I can't," he answered, silently regretting that he had never learned to.

"Shit. I found a laptop in the lab I broke into, but it's password protected."

Sasuke closed his eyes, and pressed two fingers to the bridge of his nose. Of course it would be password protected, and where better to find evidence against Danzo then a computer.

"We need to get into that computer," Sasuke said. He was sure there was someone at DPA who would have no problem getting access to the computer, password or not, but they would actually need the computer to do that, and the chance that no one noticed if Naruto suddenly took off with a laptop underneath his arm was slim. It was a chance they couldn't take, in case there wasn't anything useful on there.

Naruto was silent on the other end of the line, and Sasuke wanted nothing more than to pull him into his arms.

Then it hit him. "Shikamaru," he said, and he heard Naruto make a confused sound on the other side of the line, so he explained. "Shikamaru wouldn't have a problem hacking it. I could talk to him, figure out if there's a way to get into it. Do you think you could get back to the computer tomorrow, after I talk to him?"

"Maybe, I can try," Naruto said, and Sasuke heard the sound of a laptop snapping shut.

Sasuke knew they couldn't keep talking, but he didn't want to hang up either. He hadn't heard Naruto's voice in a few days, and it seemed to soothe something inside, made him feel a little calmer. Naruto was still there, was still working on how to come back to him.

They were going to be fine. Shikamaru would find a way to help Naruto get access to the computer, and they would find enough evidence to put Danzo away and Naruto could come home and—

"Fuck," he suddenly heard, Naruto's voice dropping to a low hiss. "I think I heard someone."

Sasuke didn't say a word, knowing even his voice across the line could give Naruto away. Instead he held his breath, his hand curling into a fist at his side, nails digging into the soft flesh of his palm.

He heard the rustling of Naruto's clothes as he moved, maybe to hide. Seconds ticked by, and Sasuke strained his ears to try to hear if there were other voices on the line, but he couldn't hear anything. Maybe Naruto had just imagined it. Sasuke could picture how stressful the situation was, it would be easy to interpret the sound of a house settling as something else.

He could faintly hear Naruto's breathing, and then something else.

Sasuke wanted to yell out a warning, even though he knew it wouldn't help, and that Naruto was probably even more aware.

"Naruto?" a squeaky voice suddenly said, and Sasuke's fingers tightened around the phone. Someone was there, someone had found him, and Sasuke had no idea who it was, had no idea what was happening, and he had never felt as helpless.

"Ah, doc, I was…" Naruto started, and Sasuke could see the goofy grin he no doubt had spread on his face. "Headache, looking for painkillers you know. Figured it would be around here somewhere, haha!"

Sasuke flinched. Naruto's voice had gone a little high, and there was no way someone wouldn't understand just how much bullshit what he was saying was.

"How did you get in here?" that squeaky voice said again.

"Uhm, the door was open?" Naruto answered.

Sasuke had no idea what was happening, but moments later the other person squealed loudly, and Sasuke was sure Naruto had moved. Maybe he'd grabbed the other, the one he'd called doc. Sasuke heard muffled voices, as if someone was talking from behind a hand, and he hoped Naruto was the one who had grabbed the other and not the other way around.

Then Naruto made a sudden bark of pain, and there were sounds of scuffling, and then a loud sound, something metallic slamming against the ground, as if someone had thrown something to the floor.

"Shit, shit, shit," Naruto muttered.

At least he was still there and swearing, but there was no sound from the other any more. Had Naruto knocked him out?

"I gotta get out of here," Naruto muttered to himself. He seemed to have forgotten about the phone. He'd probably stuck it in a pocket, because as he started running Sasuke was right there with him, his stomach churning with worry.

Everything was falling apart, and he wanted to scream at Naruto to get the hell out, but hopefully Naruto was smart enough to realise that was what he had to do, all on his own. He'd been caught, and even if he had knocked out the other person someone would find out soon enough. Naruto had to abort the mission and get out. They'd find a way to get to Danzo later, but if he did not immediately leave Sasuke was going to kill him himself, because his position as a double agent was officially ruined.

There was some rustling at Naruto moved, and then Sasuke heard his voice again. "Shit Sasuke, it all went to hell." He was whispering, a note of desperation in his voice.

"Get away from there right now Naruto. Run for the barn, I'm leaving to fetch you. Just hide until I get there." Sasuke was already on his way towards the front door, ready to mount the rescue situation.

"I will, don't worry about me," Naruto said, the confidence clearly fake.

"I'll see-" Sasuke started, but he never got to finish.

A new voice over the line, deeper than the one from before. "What the fuck are you doing down there?"

Then the connection broke.


A/N: Is this an evil way to finish off a chapter? I kind of feel it is. XD I'll try to be quick about the next chapter, but I have a convention coming up in a couple of weeks, and time is running out on finishing my costume. D: No worries though, july is kept open to do nothing but write, write, write!