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

REWRITTEN

Webs of Deception

Chapter Eight

Broken Mask

Sasuke laid on his navy covered bed within his darken room. His arms were under his head and he stared up at the ceiling. He wore comfortable sweatpants and a t-shirt, but the restlessness in his body prevented him from falling asleep. Not even the cool breeze flowing through the open window could coax him into slumber. And it all revolved around one Fox-masked man.

So many questions revolved around him. So many questions and so much speculation and. . . a little bit of hope.

He let out a frustrated sigh, and sat up on the side of his bed. His feet grazed the cold, wooden floor as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He stood, flipped the light switch on and sat back down. He lowered his face to the palm of his hands and rubbed hard. His head tilted, and he rested his cheek against his hand as his eyes fell upon his night table beside his bed. He stared at the drawer for a long moment before reaching out and pulling the drawer open.

Inside the drawer was filled with various papers, pencils and other odds and ends. He pushed some papers over to the side to reveal a hidden upside down picture frame. He grabbed the frame and brought it out from inside the drawer. He hesitated before he flipped it over, revealing two boys lounging beneath a tree. The raven haired boy in the picture sat staring at the sleeping form of the blond boy leaning against his shoulder.

He stared impassively at peaceful Naruto in the picture, like he's done a million times before. His chest constricted from the emotions passing through him at just seeing the image of his best friend. . . lover? He scowled and placed the picture haphazardly back in the drawer. He then shut the drawer with more force than he intended.

After he ran his hand through his tousled hair, he stood and went to his bedroom door. Opening it, he walked out into the darken hallway. His steps were silent on the wooden floor. He past the room that held Tatsuo and paused. He stared at the closed door, but then forced himself to continue down the hallway and down the stairs. The last step creaked as he reached the bottom and turned toward the partially open dining room.

At the table sat an Akuma member with boxes and piles of paper piled all over the top. He walked along the rectangular table, glancing at the person to see which member it was. The Weasel mask – Kane. He didn't know if being near the man that seemed closest to Tatsuo was a good or bad thing. He continued to the kitchen and was mildly surprised that a pot of coffee was already brewed. He grabbed a mug and poured himself some of the hot liquid. He took a sip without adding any sugar or cream. He preferred his coffee black. The stronger, the better. He needed it.

Taking another sip, he went back out into the dining room and sat opposite from Kane. His eyes skimmed over everything that littered the table. There were eleven different piles, each pile with a picture of one of the Jinchuuriki at the bottom of each. His sight zeroed in on one particular pile when he caught small parts of bright, blond hair peaking out from the printed pages.

"What are you doing up?" Kane asked without pausing.

"I could ask you the same thing," came the automatic response.

Kane placed a small piece of paper – looking more like scrap – on Gaara's pile before saying, "I don't sleep much."

Neither do I, he thought as he took another sip from his mug. It took Kane placing another piece of paper on Naruto's pile for him to ask, "What are you doing?"

"Sorting." The short answer had him scowling, which had Kane elaborating. "These papers –" Indicating the considerable sized pile off to the sides of him on the floor. "– were located in a hidden room at that mansion, and in our rush we couldn't exactly keep them in order." He placed another paper on one of the other pictures he didn't recognize.

"Hmn."

Silence followed until Kane held a picture in his hand and headed toward Naruto's pile. The contents of the picture caught his interest, and he snatched the picture out of Kane's hold. In the picture Naruto sat on a ledge of some building, staring up at the night sky. But it was Naruto that drew his complete focus. He looked older – years older.

His breath caught at the proof that Naruto had lived. That he could still be alive. That he could be upstairs. . .

"You don't want to hurt him again, now do you Naruto?"

He shoved the picture at Kane. "Is he Tatsuo?"

Kane didn't even look at the picture, instead he stared at him with a piercing gaze. "And what makes you think I'll tell you?"

"If you don't then you're telling me that it is him by your silence."

"Then that's foolish of you." Kane grabbed the picture of out of his hand and placed it on Naruto's pile. "I might not tell you just to screw with your head. You do seem desperate to find him, it would be all too easy. No, I think you must figure this one out all on your own." He leaned forward. "I'll give you a small bit of advice though, it's best to look underneath the underneath. Have a good night." He went back to sorting, silently ending the conversation.

Sasuke glared, his scowl deepening when the man continued to ignore him. He pushed his chair back roughly and stood. His glare never left Kane, who appeared completely unaffected, and bit his tongue to keep himself from doing something he might get in trouble with the Hokage about. And he thought attacking one of the members of the team she just signed a contact with would classify as that. Gritting his teeth, he stalked out of the kitchen and back up to his bedroom.

Back and forth, he paced. Excitement buzzed in his veins, but the anger sizzling through his blood dulled it down. Kane hadn't denied that Naruto was alive. He hadn't denied that Naruto might be Tatsuo. Naruto might be Tatsuo. . .

He has been thinking it since getting in contact with Akuma, but now what had seemed impossible was turning possible. He thought through all the interactions he had with Tatsuo. From the Fox mask that connected him to Kyuubi to those ridiculous ramen cup boxers. He stopped and closed his eyes. I'm such a fool. . .

Only one idiot would wear those type of boxers. The same person he thought he would never see again. His eyes burned from his Sharingan activating, his anger rising to dangerous levels, as he shoved the night table over in a violent rage, sending it and everything on top of it crashing loudly to the floor.

Seconds later, the sound of doors opened and several pairs of feet pounding on the floor. He remained motionless in the middle of the room, glaring at the door as it burst opened with Tara in the lead. "Uchiha-san! Are you alright?!" she asked in worry with a kunai in her hand.

Tatsuo – or should he say Naruto came in next, his daggers ready in his hands. His body remained tense as his head moved back and forth. Then the tension released marginally and his daggers disappeared. "I got woken up over a night table?"

"Well. . ." came Ryutaro's voice from the doorway with a half-asleep Hikko leaning on him to remain standing. "at least that night table knows we're here to protect it."

Tara and Naruto turned their heads to Ryutaro, and then Naruto shook his head and groaned. Sasuke watched with rampant attention as he lifted his arm and rubbed the back of his neck.

That did it.

That familiar action had his body moving on its own. He viciously punched the side of Naruto's face, the porcelain mask biting into his hand as Naruto stumbled through the doorway and crashed into the wall across the hall.

Ryutaro and Tara looked about ready to intervene until Naruto waved his arm, stopping them.

"What's wrong, Naruto?" Sasuke sneered, his whole body trembling with rage. "Is something the matter?"

All this time. . . All this time he's been alive and he made everyone believe he wasn't. He made me believe. Even after everything. Did it all mean nothing? Did he mean nothing?

"Shit. . ." Ryutaro muttered.

To say that Naruto was nervous would be a complete and utter understatement. He was uniquely terrified at the moment. How did he find out? Those damn pieces. . . It all revolved around the pieces of the puzzle that consisted of his life. Once those pieces were put together then the truth could be easily found out. And god damn, Sasuke was halfway there in completing the complicated puzzle. And by the way he looked, he didn't like it. Not one bit.

He inched his way down the hall, trying to put as much distance between him and the raging Uchiha. With the shock of the moment he hadn't denied the name that Sasuke called him, which the raven seemed to have noticed. And, if it was even possible, flared his anger even hotter.

Kurama, what do you think I should do?

Run, came the curt reply.

Run? You want me to run?

Damn straight! He's out for blood! Your blood! Which concludes my blood!

You chicken shit of a fur ball! You're the one who told me to tell him!

But you didn't, did you?! He found out on his own, which really you should've realized he would, and I'm not willing to deal with him!

You're not the one that has to deal with him, I DO!

Yes, but I'm the one who has to heal your sorry ass when he viciously maims you!

Damn, the fox had a point there, but still he mentally growled at Kurama for his brilliant input. He bit the inside of his cheek, trying to figure out what the best way would be to handle this. Nothing good came to mind though, but the option of running looked better and better as that murderous aura kept taunting his self-preservation. He swallowed deeply, hoping to moisten his dry throat so he could say something, anything. But every time he tried to open his mouth to make some sort of syllable, nothing came out. His mouth just hung open shamelessly.

Within a blink of the eye, Sasuke stood right in front of him, his fist slamming an inch away from his head and right into the wall. Naruto cringed, but didn't flinch a muscle. He remained perfectly still, not knowing what to do or say. What was he suppose to say with a pair of Sharingan spinning furiously at the eye holes of his mask?

"Think we should intervene?" Only his enhance hearing enable him to hear Kyoko.

"Are you mad?" Miki whispered back. "You actually want to get between those two? I swear, you hit your head when you were young."

He had to agree with Miki. One doesn't cross an Uchiha when they're in a rage. Unless you're an idiot, which many have proclaimed him to be.

"Naruto." Or another Uchiha with a death wish.

Naruto closed his eyes from the fresh spike of anger igniting in Sasuke's blood red eyes. Thanks 'Tachi, he silently congratulated the eldest Uchiha for confirming the raven's suspicions. That really helped me.

The sound of crunching, and then the smell of blood reached his sensitive ears and nose. He shifted his eyes to the hand still in the wall, and had to fight with himself to stop Sasuke from hurting himself.

"I think you should be resting," Itachi continued. "Hasn't Kurama-sama been keeping you up lately?"

Sasuke stiffened even further, causing him to focus on him for a second before focusing on Itachi. That offered escape route sounded awesome at that moment. He nodded, scooting himself out from between the wall and Sasuke, who appeared rooted like steel to the spot. He went against his Shinobi instincts and turned his back to Sasuke, heading to his room. After passing through the doorway, he shut the door behind him and locked it.

Itachi stood close to the top of the stairs with his shoulder pressed to the wall and his arms crossed throughout most of the encounter, but when Sasuke pulled his hand out of the wall and started to follow after Naruto he decided to intervene. He intercepted Sasuke, undeterred by the vicious glare he received.

"Get. Out. Of. My. Way," he ground out.

He made no move to remove himself from in front of his little brother. "You need to calm down, Uchiha before you even attempt in speaking with Naruto. Or to be near him for that matter."

Sasuke let out an inhuman growl that he's rarely ever heard from any other person besides Naruto. "This has nothing to do with you." He took a threatening step forward, but all it did was cause Miki to speak up.

"If you want a fight Uchiha –" Miki along with Kyoko and Ruri took out a kunai each. "Then we'll be glad to give you one if you so foolishly attack Naruto."

A drip hitting the floor caught his attention to Sasuke's clenched hand, where blood came from an unknown injury. Sasuke abruptly turned and stalked back to his bedroom, slamming the door hard enough to cause a crack down the middle and hang partly off its hinges.

Well, that didn't go as he originally planned, but he guessed it would have to work. At least Sasuke now knows some of what he needed to be told. If only the rest would be as easy as this seemed to be.

"That was interesting!" Miki said, diminishing the awkward silence that settled.

A loud yawn followed that echoed through the entire hall. All looked at Kyoko, who glanced between them. "What?! I'm tired. . ." She yawned again as she turned on her heels and went back to her room. "Night," she said over her shoulder.

Ruri sighed. "I'm hoping that this concludes the night." She turned, but before she went back to her rooms she said, "Goodnight."

Miki shrugged and stood in front of him. "So, want to play poker?" Itachi lifted an eyebrow in question. Even though Miki couldn't feel it, he still said, "I'm too wired to sleep now."

Itachi nodded in understanding, and they both moved downstairs to clean up the kitchen table in order to begin the all night tournament. Also to secretly make sure that Sasuke didn't try and interact with Naruto.