DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters. (Though the OCs are mine.)

REWRITTEN

Webs of Deception

Chapter Six

Falling All Over

The sun rose over the horizon as Akuma and the two Konoha shinobi prepared themselves for their departure of the area. They had breakfast long before the sun rose and decided it would be best to get an early start.

Hikko and Ryutaro were cleaning up the clearing like they were never there while arguing among themselves like always. Tara checked her medical supplies, just like Sakura. Kane had taken off to take down the Genjutsu and traps and Tatsuo checked their gear to make sure they had everything.

Sasuke leaned against a tree, staring unseeingly off to the side. He had changed back into his Anbu outfit, making sure his face was covered with his Wolf mask. He needed to be able to hide. He didn't think he'd be able to mask the confliction with his usual indifference.

A Jinchuuriki? He had never known. Could that be the reason why the villagers seemed to hate the blond? Is that the reason he's gone? He didn't know what to believe. Was Naruto alive or dead? Everything kept pointing that he's dead, but he couldn't let go of what he heard those years ago. And it left him drowning.

His eyes fell on Tatsuo as he stood and stretched. Could it possibly be true? Could he be Naruto?

There's so many things that didn't fit with the Naruto that he knew, but there were also similarities. He shook his head. All that he was doing was seeing what he wanted to see, only because of that one phrase he wasn't sure he hadn't imagined. His fists clenched, his anger bubbling up from all the speculation and the building ache in his heart since the night before.

Kane came back into the clearing, prompting Sakura to asked, "Are you all ready to go yet? It's about a seven day trip from here. We need to get going." Her foot tapped on the ground in her impatience.

"Yeah yeah yeah. . ." came the murmured response from Tatsuo. "Everyone ready?" Sounding none too thrilled. The other members of Akuma gave various degrees of agreement before he said, "Alright let's go."

"Wait!" Ryutaro exclaimed as he pushed himself away from the tree. "Did you send a message to that family in Ina or did you forget again?"

A moment of silence followed, and then Tatsuo tilted his head and said sheepishly, "Yeah, I did forget again." He chuckled again and his arm gave up, but stopped halfway before he lowering back down. "Well, I might want to do that before we go." He turned to Sakura. "Sorry. . ." Sounding anything but.

Sasuke watched as Tatsuo brought out a scroll and began scribbling on it. He wished he was closer, then maybe he could've caught a glimpse of his handwriting. The suspicion still lingering. Tatsuo rolled the scroll up when he was done and bound it together with string. He then did a series of hand seals and slammed his hand on the ground. A puff of smoke exploded out and a two-tailed red fox sat on the ground once it cleared.

"Greetings again Na – " The fox's muzzle was grabbed by Tatsuo, causing what could only be described as a glare being directed at him.

"Sorry," Tatsuo said. "but we have guests here, so let's keep with calling me Tatsuo."

The fox jerked its head from his gripped once he loosened his hold. "Whatever Tatsuo," a feminine voice snipped. "just don't do that again."

"Sorry, sorry." His hands up in surrender.

She rubbed her muzzle with her paw. "So, what do you want?"

"Yeah. . . well. . . I need you to deliver this scroll to the family in Ina. You should know which one I'm talking about."

The fox nodded and asked, "Fine. Do you want me to return to you to tell you they received it?" She grabbed the scroll from Tatsuo's hand with her mouth.

"Yes."

She nodded once and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Tatsuo stood and Tara asked, "What about Gaara-sama? Don't we need to inform him where we're going?"

Gaara?

As in Sabaku no Gaara?

"How to do you know the Kazekage-sama?" Sakura said.

He could always count on her to open her mouth and ask the questions she shouldn't be asking.

All five animal masks shifted to her in an ominous way. "My, aren't you full of questions." Tatsuo turned back to Tara, ignoring Sakura. "And no, I wasn't planning on it. Not until we reach Konoha that is."

Kane snorted. "Afraid he'll beat us to the gates and break your legs before you have a chance to step one foot within the place?"

"Hahaha. . . but yeah that's exactly why." He pointed a finger at the other members of Akuma. "And don't laugh at me. You know he'll do it. Now are we going or are we going to stand around all day?" He didn't wait for any reply as he headed out of the clearing.

His eyes narrowed at Tatsuo's back, who are you?


For half a day they've been traveling by the tree branches, not taking a break. The Konoha Shinobi were in the lead while Akuma followed close behind. Most kept quiet except for the usual chatter boxes Kyoto and Miki. They talked about random things and made jokes, which the others would laugh at.

Naruto would put his input on certain subjects, and then fall back to silence as he watched Sasuke's back. Well, he watched his ass partly too with each jump. Scrumptious. . .

He lost focus for a moment before he shook his head and went back to worrying about the emotion he saw in those onyx eyes the night before. It was uncommon, extremely uncommon to see that type of emotion from the normally stoic Uchiha. One would normally see anger, annoyance and maybe a smidgen of humor. Then why did he see such hope when there was a chance he was still alive. It was curious and a little disconcerting.

Sasuke was suppose to hate him. Wasn't he? Hell, he still couldn't find a reasonable explanation for that one night they had together. Why would he do something so intimate with him if he didn't fell anything for him? He growled. I'm thinking too much into this! Tempted to pull his hair out from the questions that were resurfacing in his mind.

Yeah, might want to stop that. You might hurt something.

Haha. . . you're so funny.

I thought it was funny. . .

Before he could contemplate Sasuke's actions of that morning his ears picked up the zinging sound of a kunai soaring in their direction. "Attack!" he yelled to everyone else. He jumped back out of the way as the same as his team while the two Anbu stopped and turned around to them. "Damn, and here I thought we were gonna go a whole day without being attack," he murmured. He extended his senses to his surroundings and discovered five enemies spread out around them.

"Your in the wrong territory!" said a voice of a male as he appeared on a tree branch several yards ahead. His arms were crossed and he wore a Kumo hitai-ate on his right forearm. He eyed everyone, and smirked. "Konoha must be really desperate to hire Akuma. Which one of you is the leader Tatsuo?"

Naruto quirk an eyebrow in curiosity, and then he jumped to a closer tree branch. He slowly pulled out two kunai out of his weapons pouch while he said, "That would be me. What the hell do you want?" His voice ice cold.

The Kumo Shinobi gave a partial bow – now that's some respect – before saying, "I would like to make a proposition to you." A moment past like he expected a response, and when he got none, he continued. "Whatever that Konoha is paying you, I'm willing to bet my life that our Raikage would pay you double the price."

Double. . . He's not surprised. Killer Bee's brother did like to win no matter the cost. Hold on. . . I don't even know what Konoha is paying us. If anything. He sighed, so complicated. "So, how much is that? Just give me an estimate."

That received at least one glare, several heated stares and of course, Sakura yelling, "What the hell! You already –"

"Shut up!" he snapped. "I'm trying to construct business here."

The smirk on the Kumo Shinobi's face morphed into a grin. "Just name your price. I'm sure we can work something out."

Naruto grinned also, but his was more feral. "Well. . ." He tilted his head up in a gesture of contemplating before he threw the two kunai in the directions of two of the hidden Kumo Shinobi, killing them. Two down. "What about your lives?" Three to go. This seemed to be the green light to start fighting.

Sasuke and Sakura dealt with two of the hidden shinobi while Ruri, Kyoto and Miki dealt with the third.

"Now should we take our time or make this quick?" he heard Kyoko asked.

"Hmm. . ." began Miki. "I personally just want to get this over with. I'm not in the mood to play around today."

"Alright, quick it is," Kyoto said. "You just got lucky today."

Naruto rolled his eyes as Itachi landed on the same branch as him and asked, "Do you want me to deal with him?" They had the final Kumo Shinobi, the one who acted like the leader.

Naruto turned to Itachi. "What? Don't want to fight with me?

"I'll take that as we're both be dealing with him."

"Yup!" He accented the 'p'. "I don't even know why you try and get out of it." He sped toward the leader.

"It could be because you like to overkill them and destroy a fair amount of landscape," Itachi said low enough where a normal Shinobi couldn't hear. No one ever said he was normal.

"I heard that!" he yelled over his shoulder. "And I don't overkill!"

The snort of disbelief he heard with ease over the other battles. He pushed chakra into his palms and his daggers materialized. He took a swipe at the leader, who jumped back enough where he only sustained a small cut. In retaliation, a kunai came soaring at him. He swirled, only putting an inch between his neck and the lethal edge, and used his leg to kick the Shinobi in the gut, knocking the breath out of him.

Itachi appeared behind leader with his sword in his hand, appearing to be prepared to cut his head off. He must have realized the threat, because his body free-fell off the branch and landed on a branch a short distance below with a sickly crack.

"That was stupid," Naruto said to no one in particular, but Itachi nodded his agreement all the same. They jumped down to the branch where the enemy struggled to get up. Did he break a hip? He couldn't help but chuckle at the thought. It's kind of hard not to. Especially when Kyuubi laughed hysterically in his mind while making weird jokes between the fits of laughter.

"I won't go down so easily," sneered the Kumo Shinobi.

He looked over at Itachi, who looked back to him. They shared an expression of 'this guy's crazy.' They turned their attentions back forward when the Shinobi stumbled toward them with a kunai still in hand. Naruto had to suppress the urge to laugh at the guy's condition. On some strange level he thought the whole thing was hilarious.

Itachi disappeared while Naruto crossed his arms and waited patiently. He didn't bother to defend himself as the nonexistent threat of the Kumo Shinobi came closer, because already knew how this was going to end. Why waste the energy?

Just when the enemy came within a couple of feet of him, Itachi appeared behind him again and swiped his sword horizontally, cutting his head off. Blood splattered, and the head and body stumbled and crashed to the forest floor below.

"Well, that was. . ." Naruto began cheerfully, but then deflated of that cheerfulness as he continued. ". . .boring." He breathed out a sigh and scanned for the others to see how they fared.

His eyes landed on the rest of his team first, seeing they had dealt with their opponent. He then searched out for the two Konoha Shinobi, and found them a little ways to his left. His brows furrowed when he saw Sasuke beating the living crap out of his opponent. He whacked Itachi on the arm without taking his eyes off of Sasuke. "You say I overkill. At least I don't beat them to a bloody pulp."

"Either it's his new fighting style or he's trying to solve some issues," Itachi said. "Since I can't see the former, I'm going to go with the latter."

"No shit. . ." He also couldn't see this as a new fighting style. He thought of Sasuke as a more of 'kill them first, ask questions later' type of fighter. But this went beyond his merciless viewpoint. Like Itachi suggested, emotion had to be behind it. But what sort of issues would Sasuke have to get that kind of reaction out of him? A small part of him suspected, but the denial overshadowed it.

He jumped to the branch where Sasuke still relentlessly pounded on the guy. With the lack of a second heartbeat, a very dead guy. He placed his hand on the raven's shoulder, which resulted in Sasuke to swirl around and aim his next punch at him. He caught it, and said calmly, "The guy's dead. I think you can stop hitting him now."

The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end from what he could guess was from a glare as Sasuke yanked his hand out of his grip. He watched Sasuke with worry as the raven jumped down to the ground and walked off. A huff from Sakura caught his attention, and he growled lowly from the smugness radiating off from her. Whatever she thought she could prove with Sasuke's little display he would make sure it never came to pass.

He picked up the bloodied body and carried the dead weight over to where the other two bodies were thrown in a pile on the forest floor. He dumped the body on top like a sack of potatoes as Miki asked, "What's with Uchiha?"

"I don't know. . ."

Itachi formed several hand seals and set the corpses on fire. Naruto stared at the blazing flames, thinking of Sasuke until the smell of burning flesh got too much for his sensitive nose. He walked to Ruri and Kyoko, who stood several yards away from the cleanup. They couldn't take the smell either.

"We'll wait until the corpses are completely burned, then travel for a couple more hours before finding a place to rest for the night. That good?"

They nodded, and then Ruri said, "I'll check everyone for injuries then."

He gave his own nod before jumping back up in the branches in search for the two Konoha Shinobi to inform them.


Neji stood in front of the wooden doors of the Hokage office, dressed in his Anbu uniform with his Bear mask hanging from his hip. He knocked softly on the door. A moment passed before the voice of the Hokage yelled, "Come in!"

He opened the door and walked in. Surprise past through him for a second at the sight of Shikamaru standing in front of her desk. He wore his Jounin uniform – which still surprised him at how he managed to pass – and appeared half-asleep. He stood next to Shikamaru and bowed respectfully. "You wanted to see me, Hokage-sama."

The Hokage stared at them for a long moment with her hand folded on top of the desk. "Yes, Hyuuga-san. I wanted to inform you two that I just gotten word from Sakura that she and Uchiha have made contact with Akuma and are making their way back here with them." She finished with an exaggerated smile.

Shock filtered through his impassive mask while Shikamaru's body stiffened and his head snapped to her. "Naruto's actually coming back?"

She nodded, causing Neji's brows to furrow and ask, "Why? He should know how dangerous it is for him to be in this village."

"Yes, I know." Her smile faltered. "That's why I asked for you two. Since you two are the only ones among his former peers that know he's alive, I need you to make sure that no suspicion arises when he's here."

Easier said than done. "What about Uchiha? He's bound to figure it out." He may not like him, but he could admit – even just to himself – that Uchiha was smart. And when it comes to anything that may relate to Naruto, an obsession lingered and flourished with a passion.

A sigh came from beside him. "This is going to be so troublesome."

The Hokage closed her eyes briefly. "That will be up to the brat. If he's smart he'd tell him, but you know how that goes."

Yes, smarts didn't run in that blond's blood. He took a deep breath, and thought of Gaara. Did he know about this? And if so, why would he let Naruto come here? Knowing the blond though, he hadn't even told the red-head about any of it. He hated thinking similarly to Shikamaru, but this was going to be a lot of stress.

"When are they expected to arrive?" he asked, wanting to be at the gates when they do arrive.

"In a few days," she said. "You two will be the first to be informed so you can greet them at the gates." She turned her attention fully to Shikamaru, who dazed out the window. "Nara. . ." the Hokage tried once. "Nara. . ." she tried again, her annoyance rising along with her voice. "NARA!" she yelled, finally catching his attention.

He turned his head toward the Hokage. "What?" he asked with grogginess, like he had just woken up. His eyes said something else though. They were alert and filled with a worry he had never seen there before.

The Hokage rolled her eyes. "You are to be at the gates when a messenger tells you to be there. Got it?!" She only received a lazy nod in response. Closing her eyes, she rested her hand in her hand. "You two are dismissed," her tone filled with exasperation. "Get out of my sight."


A hand caressed Sasuke's arm, sending shivers of warmth throughout his body. He stayed relaxed, not feeling threatened. That was curious. He opened his eyes slowly, vaguely wondering who would dare to touch him so intimately. Yet, he was in no rush as he rolled on his back and rubbed his eyes in an attempt to get the sleep out of them. He leaned up on his elbows to glare at whoever he was about to kill, but stopped short when he saw who it was.

"Dobe. . ." he said softly as he drank in the blond's twelve-year-old self sitting on the side of his bed in a dark orange shirt and black sweatpants. "Where the hell have you been?"

Naruto shrugged. "Right in front of you." He leaned close to his lips and grinned brightly. "I've missed you."

Sasuke's stomach fluttered at the sincerity in those sapphire eyes. He lifted his hand, balancing his body on one elbow, and caressed the whiskered cheek lovingly. "I've missed you too." Closing the gap between them, he pressed his lips to Naruto's. "Don't leave me again."

"Never," the word was whispered before Naruto silenced them again by his lips.

Arms wrapped around his shoulders as Naruto rose to his knees and pressed him down against the mattress. Sasuke used one hand and slid it down his chest to his waist, and then guiding the limb under the blond's shirt. Muscles rippled under his hand as he moved up to a nipple. Naruto gasped when he ran the pad of his thumb over the erect nub, giving him a chance to slip his tongue into his mouth, deepening the kiss.

His other hand went to his waist and gently maneuvered Naruto so he now straddle his lap, causing their covered erections to graze each other. He hiss out his pleasure while Naruto gasped his out.

Naruto leaned forward until their foreheads touched, and stared down into his eyes. He stared back, his breath catching at the adoration directed at him. He shivered when hands slipped under his white shirt and ran up his chest, lifting his shirt also. He never broke the eye contact until insistent tugging had him lifting his arms and having the shirt being pulled off. Once off, the material got thrown out of sight. The same had been done with Naruto's shirt.

He allowed his eyes to travel along the gorgeous tan chest as it rose and fell in rapid succession with a light sheen of sweat glistening his skin. He ran his hand up and then down, scraping his blunt nails as he did so, absolutely loving the noises his actions caused. He pulled him back to his chest and passionately kissed him. He wrapped his right arm around Naruto's waist and urged him to rock. The first roll had them both moaning into the kiss.

Sasuke moved from the blond's lips to the expanse of his neck, sucking and nipping on the taut flesh. "Sa-Sasuke. . ." Naruto moaned, digging his nails into his shoulder and back.

His hips jerked at his name falling from his lips. He lifted Naruto up and placed him on his back on the mattress with him easily fitting between his legs. Their hips slowed only momentarily before grinding even harder and faster.

"Naru. . ." he moaned into the blond's as he wrapped his legs around his waist.

"I-I. . . ahhh. . . love you. . . Sasuke. . ." Naruto panted out, pulling on his hair to lift his head. He did, his heart soaring, and kissed him tenderly.

Sasuke pulled back after a minute and gazed down into sapphire. "I. . . l-love. . . you too. . ."


The dream blurred and Sasuke snapped his eyes open to darkness and a faint outline of trees. His breath came to him in pants and the erection in his pants throbbed painfully. That held nothing compared to the aches brutally stabbing his heart as reality came crashing down on him. Only a dream. . . and that thought sent his erection down fast.

His eyes burned, and he roughly shoved his hand under his mask and over his face to help stave off the tears. He hasn't dreamed of Naruto in months. Why did he have to dream of him now? It's because I've been thinking about him too much lately. Far too much. . .

He jumped to the ground from the tree branch he had been sleeping on and quickly made his way out of the camp they had made up. He had to get away from the others. His hands balled into his fists, and his jaw clenched to keep the scream in. It's bad enough that his facade slipped in front of the others earlier, he wouldn't let it slip again.

When he thought he was far enough away, he swiftly pulled his arm back and punched the nearest tree. A sharp pain resonated up his arm from his already bruised knuckles. That didn't stop him though from continuing to take his emotions out on the tree. The pain from his physical injuries helped cover the emotional. He could handle that. He didn't know how to handle the turmoil or the suffocation.

"And here I thought you took out all your frustrations on that Kumo Shinobi." He swirled around to see Tatsuo standing ten feet away. How did he sneak up on him? He scowled at the man that was part of his problem. "Are you alright?"

He sneered, "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because I can smell the tears from here."

Sasuke stiffened, what tears? Now that it was brought to his attention he felt his cheeks were wet from tears. He hadn't even realized he had been crying. When was the last time he had cried? That time at the Memorial Stone. He was thankful for the mask he wore, even though it did no good for Tatsuo, but at least he could keep some of his dignity.

"Is it because of Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki?" came the whispered question.

His glare narrowed, forgetting the fearsome reputation of the Fox-masked man as he came within inches of him. "One, his name is Uzumaki Naruto not Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki. And two, why don't you mind your own fucking business." He moved around Tatsuo and went in search of someplace where he could be alone.

Naruto let him go, still reeling from what happened. If it wasn't for the metallic scent of blood clinging to the tree trunk he would consider believing it was all a dream. Why does he always have to make things more complicated?

The Uchiha isn't the one that's making this more complicated, Kurama said. You are.

I know.