DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.

Webs of Deception

Chapter Ten

Cold Exterior, Inner Turmoil

The sound of running water echoed off the walls of the bathroom. Steam rose from the western style shower and filled the room with heated fog. A blond man stood with his head tilted upwards and his eyes closed, letting the water cascade down his tan body. His muscles loosening up from the heat of it.

'So what are you gonna do now Kit?' asked Kyuubi, interrupting his relaxation time.

Naruto sighed, 'I don't know...can we talk about this later...' He was mentally and physically tired of everything and he hasn't even been here for two days yet. What was he going to do? He hadn't expected Sasuke to find out this quick. He wanted some time just to figure all of this out. But no, time was never on his side. And he knew 'Tachi had something to do with it. He just knew it. The guy could never keep his nose out of this particular subject.

'Alright...but lets hope next time you won't choke.' chuckling as he finished his sentence.

'I didn't choke.' he deadpanned.

Kyuubi chuckled harder, 'You definitely choked Kit. I'm surprised I didn't hear any gagging noises from how bad you choked.'

Naruto mentally glared at him while he physically glared at the tile wall of the shower. His hand roughly grabbing and turning the water off as he stepped out of the shower. Letting water dripped down his body and onto the tile floor of the bathroom. He grabbed the soft white towel off of the towel rack and dried the excess water off his body. 'Whatever...' he sighed with exhaustion lacing it. 'But seriously Kyuu, what am I suppose to do?'

Kyuubi was silent for a moment before responding with, 'Do what makes you happy...'

He chuckled dryly, 'What makes me happy...' he thought while his features turned solemn. 'I know what would make me happy...but that doesn't mean it's the right thing to do.' He wrapped the towel around his waist and stood in front of the mirror, gazing at his features tiredly.

In the six years that he's been gone has seriously changed his appearances. He stood at, to him, a proud 5'8 feet tall, still short compared to some people. All his baby fat was long gone in exchange for a chiseled, perfectly tanned body. Most of his blond hair was cut short except for a small amount at the base of his neck. Which normally was tied back with a hair tie. Streaks of red also ran through his hair, one of many evidences of his merging with Kyuubi when he was fourteen.

Other evidences of this merging were his piercing blue eyes which now adorned animalistic slits and red specks in their depths. The whisker marks on his cheeks were more prominent, his teeth now had a set of canines and his ears are more pointy, resembling elf ears. Many piercings running along both of them.

Four different tattoos decorated different parts of his body. One was of two six-tailed black foxes criss-crossing each other on his right arm. The whole thing running from the back of his shoulder blade to the back of his hand. Giving off an eerie aura that the pair was alive and moving. The second one was the kanji symbol for 'Akuma', each member had to get this tattooed on the back of there neck to show that they were a member. Kind of an initiation thing.

The third one...well, let's just say this was a mistake that he did when he was drunk. And he swore that after everything he did during that short time, that he wouldn't ever get drunk again. It took Ryutaro almost an hour to stop laughing and even then he was still snickering after he took a look at the tattoo. And when he himself looked at it, he was glad that he was still having a hangover or else he would of reacted more strongly. Because what was written in fancy letters on his left lower back in black ink was 'Property already taken by Uchiha Sasuke. Please move along.' and if that wasn't enough there was also a small barcode underneath it. Making it seem like he was already bought and paid for.

Oh yeah, that's embarrassing. Though he could never bring himself to remove it either. He kind of liked it, even if it was embarrassing. He just hated to think about the reaction of the person who did the tattoo. What was that guy thinking when he did that tattoo near his ass?

And the last, the one he would cherish the most, was located on his left forearm. The letters of the tattoo were of elaborated celtic design, spelling the name 'Asuka'. A name he never wanted to forget, a name he refused to forget. That's why he permanently put her name on his arm, so he could always remember her...

Naruto took one last glance at the mirror before going into the bedroom and over to his bed. He sat down on the edge, staring blankly out of the window in front of him. After staring at the outside sky for a minute, he reached over to the night table and grabbed a bundle of white bandages with strange seals on it, that he discarded there the night before, from it. Then brought one end of the long bandage to his right hand.

Holding that end, he began to wrap his whole arm. Starting from his hand and ending at the shoulder, covering up most of the tattoo of the two foxes. His reason for this, is because the tattoo isn't an ordinarily tattoo. It's a summons tattoo, a most powerful one. One that gives off an unnerving chakra if unclothed and unsealed. So that's why he wraps his arm with a sealing cloth, to make the people around him feel more comfortable.

He moved forward off the bed to the pile of clothes located just beneath the window that he was staring out a few minutes before. Rummaging through the all dark clothing to find something to wear. He caught sight of a pant leg that he wished to put on his body and grabbed onto the visible material. Then yanked to release the rest of the pants from the pile of clothes. He shook the pair of dark blue jeans in the air to whip out any wrinkles.

A smile appeared on his features at his success at finding a pair of pants in that mess. 'Now a pair of boxers!' he thought cheerfully, but that meant going back into that. His smile suddenly turned into a frown when he suspiciously looked back down at the clothing that he was sure was mocking him right now. He cocked his head to the side as he eyed the pile carefully. Being wary of any sudden movements, then he suddenly dived into the pile. Thinking, 'It's me or you, clothes! I will beat you!'


Sasuke weaved through the crowded market. He didn't know why he came this way, but he just didn't want to go back to his house. Not with him there. He didn't know what he really wanted to feel. A part of him felt absolutely elated that he was alive and he could see him again. But then the other part, the part that he was fueling from, felt unadulterated betrayal. And out of defense, this betrayal kept turning into anger.

Which is the reason why he left the house in the middle of the night to vent out a lot of that anger. Because even if he wasn't really thinking straight and that his instincts told him to kill Naruto for everything he's put him through...

He didn't want to hurt his dobe.

So the rest of the night and most of the morning he's been at the training grounds taking out his overflowing emotions on the surrounding scenery. But now he was in desperate need of a shower. He had a feeling that there was a possibility that the people passing him could smell his body odor. And that was unacceptable to him, even if most of these villagers deserve to die the most painful death possible, he still didn't like to smell. He was an Uchiha, he had standards.

But nevertheless, he still took the long way to his house. Willing to take the chance of bumping into Naruto just to get clean. But he was praying that he didn't, because he didn't know if he could control his emotions if he saw him within feet from him. Could he actually keep his fists to himself and not try to beat the shit out of the him. Hmmm...he wasn't sure but he doubted it.

Sasuke turned down the street that led to the Uchiha compound and felt someone from the opposite direction turn on the same street. He took a indiscreet glance at the person a couple of yards behind him and recognized the male as the legendary sannin Jiraiya. Who seemed to take notice of the stoic boy because he yelled out, "Uchiha!"

Which to Sasuke meant, Stop or I'll throw a kunai at your ass!. So he listened to the hidden message and stopped without turning toward to greet the sannin. No one said he had to be polite to anyone, that wasn't one of his standards he actually followed. He began walking again once Jiraiya was beside him. Not saying a single word until the older male decided to ask, "Is Tatsuo in?"

The raven's left eye twitch and his anger rose some at the mention of Naruto's other identity. "Don't you mean Naruto." he said with his voice full of spite.

Jiraiya stopped in his tracks and grabbed the youngest Uchiha's arm in a vice grip, effectively stopping his own footsteps. He closed the distance between the two in a threatening manner, his eyes glaring malice at the boy in front of him as he spoke, "I don't like you Uchiha and I'm sure you know this. But I know you truly care for the brat, so I'm gonna warn you now..."

After a short pause he continued. "Every time you say his real name in public, you are risking his life. Because if the wrong person from this village finds out that he's within the walls of Konoha...They will hunt him down and kill him. And I'm not gonna let you risk his life so recklessly, not after he sacrificed so much to keep it." He let his grip go from the raven and took a couple of steps back. Then turned back forward to begin walking toward Sasuke's house.

The youngest Uchiha was staring blankly in front of him a couple of feet behind the sannin, his face remaining impassive. He couldn't understand what the hell was going on. Why would anyone from Konoha want to kill Naruto? Why did Naruto leave in the first place? Just then something that the blond said rang through his mind...

"I was banned from my village. But I'm still a traitor...to the people I called friends, and to the person I fell in love with."

'Banned...was he really?' He had so many conflicting emotions going through him right now. Like a hurricane surging through an area. He didn't know if what he said before was the truth or just another lie. It's not like he could tell anymore. There were so many lies flying through the air, he couldn't tell what the truth was.

They were nearing Sasuke's house, both walking in silence. Neither really acknowledging the other's presence or they just preferred not to talk to each other. Jiraiya glanced over at the stoic boy, raising an eyebrow at his impassive exterior. "You know, you're handling the news quite well. I thought that finding out about Naruto and Itachi, you would of destroyed your house by now...or half of Konoha." muttering the last four words to himself.

Just then chill went down his spine when he felt an ominous chakra behind him. He turned only to see Sasuke standing there with his bangs covering his eyes, casting an eerie shadow on his face. Jiraiya had to take a step back from the intense malice coming off of the boy. It was making the air surrounding him almost unbreathable.

"I. Ta. Chi." Sasuke growled out, pronouncing each syllable slowly. His hands clenching tightly, making his nails dig into his palms. The wound from the night before reopened, letting blood slip through his fingers and drop to the ground below.

And in a matter of two seconds, Sasuke was gone and speeding toward his house. He already knew which Akuma member Itachi was, it was beyond obvious. He wanted to smack himself for being so oblivious to everything around himself.

'I'm gonna take a wild guess and say he didn't know about Itachi...' thought Jiraiya as he stood rigidly with his mouth in a 'o' shape. His hand reached up to his forehead and rubbed it softly, thinking, 'Ahhh...the brat's gonna kill me!'


Tara walked over to the kitchen table with another folder, handing it over to Shikamaru. Who took it and placed it on top of an already huge tile that he had to look through. He was in charge of everything that was related to any kind of experiments and the like. And damn they kept precise records, though that's a good thing if you weren't the one going through them. He breathed in deeply and let out a audible sigh, muttering, "Troublesome..." Flipping the paper he just got done reading upside-down and began reading the paper underneath it.

Tara sat down in a seat a couple of seats down from him. She grabbed one of the files on top with the label reading 'Cho' and opened it to the first page to begin reading through her fifth year of life. It was quite disturbing that someone could know so much about an individual and never once give any hint to said individual that they were even around to find out so much.

Kane sat opposite and a chair over from Shikamaru, reading over the files that were labeled with 'Kyosuke' on them. Already reading through his second folder on the young boy. And there's only two words he could describe this group, 'Chronic stalkers...' They almost knew every detail of Kyosuke's life.

And it made him sick.

They had no right to stalk a helpless four year old just because he's a jinchuuriki. For something he and three others had no control over, they had to go through so much pain and because of what...nothing...

He turned to the next page, prepared to continue reading until he felt a strong killing intent. He brows furrowed just when he heard the front door being smashed to pieces. He quickly leaped out of his seat just as a fully charged chidori came crashing down where he once was. Destroying the chair, the corner of the table and some of the floor in the process.

Kane unceremoniously stumbled on the wooden floor and fell to his knees. He looked up at Sasuke coolly, even if the other couldn't see he was also smirking. 'Must of found out about me. But that's not fair, he seriously wants to kill me...lucky blond...' he thought with a mental pout.

Sasuke glared his furiously swirling sharingan at the weasel masked man. Letting out a feral growl, "Itachi." before jumping on and over the table toward Itachi with his chidori still formed. He pulled his arm back in prepare to slam his chidori in Itachi's chest. Who hasn't even made an attempt to move or counter the attack, the smirk under his mask still present.

The youngest Uchiha was a mere few inches from Itachi, the front of Itachi's cloak tingling from the electricity from the closeness of the jutsu. But just before his chidori made contact, his wrist was grabbed in a vice grip. Then his body was spun and using the momentum, he was thrown brutally against the wall. Which creaked loudly from the stress of the force.

He gathered himself together from crumbling to the ground and looked up to the person who dared interfere and toss him like a rag doll. But when he stared into cold sapphire eyes his body froze in place. His heart beating wildly when his mind finally realized that those sapphires could only belong to Naruto. He stood up on shaky legs, forgetting about his anger momentarily as he took a once over of the blond on the other side of the table.

Naruto and the table stood between the Uchiha brothers. His clothes limited from the lack of preparation of actually finding said clothing and putting them on. So he was only wearing the boxers and pants that he managed to find in his dangerous pile of flesh eating clothes. Forgetting about putting his mask and cloak on from how fast he exited his bedroom to get down here. And thanked god he was quick or else 'Tachi would be crisper than a burnt french fry.

He took a deep breath, trying to will his eyes to move away from those piercing onyx. Those onyx orbs that could gaze into his very soul if they looked deep enough. And he didn't want the raven to see the reason why he was keeping him at a good distance. Why he will continually push him away...

Naruto turned his body and held his right hand out to Itachi, who was still kneeling on the floor. "Still alive?" Naruto asked with humor lacing his voice. Itachi scoffed, "Like I would die like that." while grabbing hold of the blond's hand and hoisting himself to a standing position.

He shrugged before turning and looking around at the only other two that didn't have 'Uchiha' as a surname. "Anyone care to tell me what happen?" vaguely wondering where Ryutaro and Hikko were.

"Isn't it obvious." stated Shikamaru in a bored tone. His body still in the same place, reading. Finding it too troublesome to move or attempt to stop Sasuke from being homicidal.

Tara stood a little farther away, slightly shaken from the ominous chakra radiating off of the youngest Uchiha before. "Uchiha-san came in and attack Kane. Apparently he knows of his real identity, Taichou." she said softly.

He glanced back at Sasuke, who was glaring flaming venom at him. "I warned you once Uchiha not to fuck with my team."

A snarl formed on the pale features of the raven. His eyes bleeding into sharingan, the tomoe's spinning furiously at Naruto as he buried the elation he felt about seeing the blond and concentrated on the betrayal and anger running through his veins. "Your team! YOUR TEAM! HOW CAN YOU HAVE THAT FUCKING MURDEROUS BASTARD ON YOUR TEAM!" he particularly screamed.

Itachi quirk an eyebrow underneath his mask at his younger brother's un-Uchiha-ish outburst. He could of burst out laughing at the whole situation if the killing intent radiating off Sasuke's body was directed at himself instead of Naruto. Who, surprisingly, didn't look fazed at all by the other's yelling but inwardly the blond was fidgeting quite nervously.

But asked coolly, "Are you done?" his voice lacking any kind of emotion. When he was sure that Sasuke wasn't going to start yelling again, he directed his next question to Tara. "Tara, can you please check 'Tachi out for any injuries?"

Which resulted in Itachi to automatically say, "I'm fine." but that didn't stop Tara in the slightest and he knew it. So he didn't bother in trying to fight her off when she approach him and check for any wounds.

Sasuke couldn't take this, he stalked around the table, out of the dining room and out the back door. His jaw clenching and unclenching, he didn't know who he was pissed at the most, Itachi for being the murderous brother that he is or Naruto...someone who he fell in love with unconditionally. Then that same someone betrays you and leaves and forms a team with said murderous brother. Even knowing that his older brother killed his entire clan without remorse, even knowing that he tortured him with the images of his murdered clan.

He let out a inhuman growl...Yep, all his anger was directed at that fucking betraying ass blond!

Naruto watched at Sasuke stormed out of the dining room and heard him exit the house. He lowered his eyes to the floor with guilt etched in there depths. He waited until he heard Tara say that 'Tachi was fine before going after the youngest Uchiha. He wasn't sure if this was good idea, probably not, but it needed to be done now before Sasuke blows and tries to kill others in there sleep.

"Uchiha!" he yelled when got outside and saw that Sasuke was repeatedly punching a defenseless tree. 'He has a thing about punching things...' He stopped in his steps when he was standing a yard away from the still punching Uchiha. "You know punching that tree is not gonna change anything." he said trying to ease the moment at least a little. But it managed to do the complete opposite.

Because the next thing he knew the other's next punch was perfectly aimed at him. The movement barely visible from the speed that it was moving. Naruto jumped back gracefully out of the proximity of the punch. "You caught me off guard once but don't expect it to happen again." he said with a threatening tone attached to it. His eyes holding no emotions what so ever.

"Are you fucking him too!" he suddenly shouted, anger boiling his blood over.

Naruto took back what he said before, he was just taken off guard once again. 'Fucking...'Tachi...' Whoahhh...he didn't know how wrong that sounded until he said it in his mind. He blinked a couple of times at Sasuke with a dumb look on his face. His mind momentarily frozen. He only thought of the eldest Uchiha as a brother and nothing beyond that. His eyes blinked a couple more times, trying to thaw his brain out from its stupor.

Once completely thawed he managed to get out a weak, "No." Then asked with more strength in his voice, "Why the hell would you ask or even think that?"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed into slits at the blond. "Why wouldn't I! You're a liar, Tatsuo." he growled out. "You're probably even lying right now about fucking him! That's all you ever do, is lie! EVERYTHING YOU ARE IS FUCKING LIE!" his rant increasing in volume with each sentence he spoke. He aimed punch after punch at the blond in pure rage but Naruto avoided every single one. His own temper flaring at everything the raven said.

"And what about you, Uchiha!" Naruto started, absolutely refusing to use the raven's name, while he shoved Sasuke away from him. Making Sasuke stumble to the ground, he got back on his feet as Naruto continued his own rant. "You're so high and mighty, you can't even see a lie when it's right in front of you! You say my life is a lie, but at least I know it is! That's the difference between you and me Uchiha, I can tell when someone's lying to me. You're so fucking gullible that you take everything that everyone says at face value, even when there's evidence that it's not the truth." The corner of his eyes stinging with gathering tears.

Sasuke's vision only saw red as glared fiercely at Naruto and if it was even possible his anger spiked another notch at what the other said. But the small part of his brain that was still thinking logically slightly agreed with the blond. He always thought there was something suspicious with how Naruto 'died' but he never took the liberty in investigating it. He just accepted it, sort of...

But of course that logically part was being over-shadowed by his rage. So instead of questioning everything that was told to him, he chose to rush Naruto. Who wasn't quite expected this kind of reaction but he wasn't surprised either. So he dodged the oncoming attacks from the raged Uchiha. Which was proving to be a little difficult since Sasuke was faster in speed than him. But with his enhanced hearing and smell he always managed to avoid the blows by only a mere second.

He never once sent any counter-attacks though, because no matter how much Sasuke could piss him off, he didn't want to fight or hurt him. He already thinks that he's given the raven enough emotional pain, he didn't want to add physical to the list.

Sasuke kept throwing powerful punches and kicks, his eyes seeing but also not seeing Naruto in front of him through his blind rage. One of his punches finally landed in the blond's gut, sending him soaring across the massive yard and crashing into a tree. Blood slipped out of the corner of his mouth from the damage done to his stomach.

Before Naruto could wipe the blood from his mouth, his neck was grabbed violently and he felt his body be lifted up into the air, then slammed into the ground with such force to cause a good size crater underneath him. Sasuke still had his hand in a death grip around the blond's neck while his legs straddled his waist. His free hand formed into a fist, then he lifted it and punched the blond in the face. The sickening crack that followed fell on deaf ears as he punched Naruto over and over, venting his emotions out on him.

Suddenly, the raven's arm with the now bloodied hand, was gripped so tightly that it might of fractured the bone and was throw a good distance off of Naruto. When he looked up he saw his brother, without his mask, glaring a torturous death on his being if he dared to move toward Naruto again. Jiraiya and Tara were behind him checking on the profusely bleeding blond.

And that was when his mind snapped out of its daze and his breathing became ragged...

Because he just realized what he did...

He hurt Naruto...