Yay! I did it! I managed to update really fast! This chapter was much easier to write, not as sad... X) Anyway, the new character (it's not an OC, I think you'll be happy) might be a bit out of character, but at this point, who really cares about that?:p

Oh and don't worry, of course this story has a happy ending...

Now then, lots of Sasuke in this chapter! Next chapter we'll check up on Naruto and also... OMG next chapter you'll find out who Yukio's dad is! I don't know if it's already obvious but... hehe...

And Itachi and Sakura might not be a couple I can see happening in the manga (come on, Itachi's dead for starters) but here it fits with the story. I know some of you don't like it, but it's not going to be that big of a deal in the plot.

Anyway, now I'm going to hurry through some homework before going to class and then it's straight to the airport!


Chapter thirty-one: What's with life lately?

'

"Uncle Sasu?"

"Hm?"

Yukio turned around, forcing Sasuke to let go of his hair that he was currently shampooing.

"Don't be sad. You can borrow Drake tonight if you want, I'm sure he won't mind and he's really good company."

Sasuke smiled at the serious little kid. Drake was Yukio's toy dragon that he always slept with ever since they bought it for him. Thinking 'they' made his heart quiver a bit.

"It's okay Yukio, thanks for the offer though."

Yukio frowned at him, looking cute with all the shampoo in his hair as he stood with water to his waist in the Jacuzzi. It had been three days since Naruto left, and so far Sasuke had managed to keep it together as well as avoid his brother. He knew they had to talk but he was trying to delay the inevitable.

Yukio reached a hand out and smacked Sasuke repeatedly on his forehead.

"Pain pain go away" he chanted, blushing a little when Sasuke gave him a surprised look.

His surprise soon turned into another smile, and he took the small boy's hand in his.

"What do you say we read the story about the princess and the baby dragon tonight?" he asked.

Yukio nodded, instantly brightening up. He was definitely thankful for the kid being there.

~Line breaker~

Sasuke strode into Itachi's office the next morning, pulling up a chair to his desk and sitting down, still reluctant but determined to get it over with.

"I canceled your meeting" he told his brother, the older Uchiha not showing any surprise at the news.

"I see" he merely said, leaning forwards and pushing his computer to the side.

"So if you've got something to say you should do it now."

This time Itachi raised an eyebrow at him, settling for a more troubled look after a few seconds of silence from Sasuke.

"How's Yukio?"

"Fine" Sasuke answered, an almost imperceptible questioning frown ghosting over his brows.

"You know, I'm a little jealous of you. You've got that sweet kid to take care of, just like that."

"What do you mean?"

Itachi gave him a small smile, leaning back in his chair again and glancing out the window instead.

"Do you know what it feels like to want a child Sasuke?" he asked, a longing Sasuke had never noticed before passing over his face.

"I… I think so."

Itachi's gaze flickered back to him briefly before focusing on the scenery again.

"I know you hated Dai-Tai but she had her own problems, and that included never having children with me. At first I was fine with it, but lately I can't help but think how nice it would be to have at least one."

Sasuke's eyebrow shot up. Itachi wanting kids? Why hadn't he heard of this before?

"You really don't tell me anything" he said in an accusing voice, making Itachi quirk his lips in an apologetic sort of smile.

"I'm sorry. I guess I'm just too used to keep everything to myself."

He paused, seemingly thinking over his next words.

"Sakura and I are nothing like you and Naruto" he started, holding Sasuke's eyes with his own. "We're not madly in love, nor did we suddenly realize any attraction after you two broke up. We just happened to spend the night together after mother's Christmas party, I guess we were both feeling a bit down."

Sasuke stared at Itachi. What. The. Actual. Fuck?

"Are you telling me you had a one-night-stand with Sakura?"

He had to force the words out of his mouth, wishing he'd never decided to ask for the details. He knew he'd end up regretting it.

"Oh no, jeez Sasuke, we were just talking. I should have phrased it better."

Sasuke shuddered, nodding vehemently.

"I told her about what happened between me and my ex-wife, and how I secretly want children. She's the one who pushed me to finally get the divorce." Itachi smiled drily. "I thought she would simply help me find a new person, and well, so did she that first night I guess. But somehow we ended up spending a lot of time together before I left and…"

Sasuke held his breath.

"I don't know how to explain it. I never thought of her that way before, and she was always too occupied with you to notice me. But the more we talked the more we realized that we actually want the same thing."

This was too much for Sasuke. His brother falling in love with Sakura, even that would have made more sense than this.

"Do you even realize what you're talking about?" he asked in disbelief. "Having kids with my ex-fiancée, not even being in love, what the hell is up with that? I'm not going to mention the media because I'm not exactly lacking in controversy here, but-"

Itachi stopped him by holding up a hand.

"I never said I'm not in love, or that I don't believe I can fall in love with her. I do care about her. And don't think I haven't gone over the pros and cons in my head for hours." He gave Sasuke a serious look. "As strange as it is, we ended up connecting. It just happened. And if it makes us both happy, I don't care what anyone says about it."

They were quiet for a while, Sasuke letting the information sink in. There were still a lot of question marks, but he trusted his brother. He always had, and he wasn't about to stop now.

"You're sure about this?" he asked, searching his brother's face for any signs of insecurity, but as usual finding none.

"I'd say I'm sure yes."

"She's not pregnant is she?" Sasuke asked in a dismayed tone, making his brother chuckle.

"Not yet."

Ugh. Sasuke felt like throwing up. He did not need images like that.

"I can't believe Sakura wants kids. Isn't she too young for that?"

"She's the same age as you isn't she?" Itachi asked, an amused tone to his voice.

Sasuke huffed.

"Well I don't have any kids, nor will I get any soon."

"Hn. I wonder…" Itachi mused, looking as if he knew or suspected something Sasuke didn't know.

Sasuke glared at him. Before he had time to ask what he meant though they were interrupted by a knock on the door, Sasuke's secretary peeking her head inside.

"Umm, Mr. Uchiha, there's a Mr. Sabaku here to see you" she told him, nervously glancing at Itachi as well.

"I don't recall having a meeting with someone today" Sasuke said with irritation.

"He said he'd gotten permission from your brother…" she trailed off, blushing when the older Uchiha graced her with a look.

Sasuke's head snapped around to demand an answer. Itachi looked torn between agreeing and telling her to get the mentioned man off their property. He settled for sighing and sinking deeper into his chair, rubbing a hand over his eyes.

"That man always has the worst timing" he muttered to himself, then seemed to collect himself again.

"Go talk to him Sasuke. You don't have to do anything he says, but I'm afraid he knows what he's talking about. And I'm sorry in advance."

Sasuke stared at his brother. At this point he felt as if he was beyond caring. Naruto leaving, Itachi and Sakura, all of it was spinning inside his head and there wasn't enough room for other things to worry about. He stood up, thinking he'd just go tell this Mr. Sabaku that he couldn't talk right now, and then he'd just bury himself with work and not think at all.

"I'm still not entirely okay with this Itachi" he said as he stood up, preparing to leave.

"I wasn't expecting you to be." Then he turned to the secretary. "Would you mind making sure no one else is present on the entire floors of our offices? That includes you as well."

The flustered woman nodded, knowing that whatever the Uchihas requested of her she was expected to fulfill it, no matter how strange it seemed to her. Sasuke gave his brother another hard stare before turning and walking out of the office, heading towards his own. His secretary accompanied him the short elevator ride down to his own floor, he could feel her eyes on him but he was used to it. Maybe she too noticed the darkening bags underneath his eyes due to a few nights suffering from lack of sleep.

"He's waiting in your office" she mumbled as they exited, and that explained her exaggerated nervousness.

Sasuke didn't comment, he simply frowned and wondered what kind of annoying disrespectful person would wait in someone's office after their secretary told them to wait outside in the lounge.

He didn't like having people in his office when he wasn't there. He wondered if anyone liked that.

Pushing the door to his office open he was greeted by the sight of a man occupying a chair, sitting in front if his desk but facing Sasuke and the door. As the man stood up Sasuke took in his appearance: red hair that fell over his forehead, a serious but handsome face, age somewhere in-between himself and Itachi, pale blue-green eyes that revealed nothing. He was dressed in a wine-red shirt neatly tucked underneath a semi-casual black jacket together with black slacks and shoes that hinted at him spending time outside an office.

"Sasuke, it's nice to finally meet you" the man said in a pleasant tone, albeit somewhat monotone.

Sasuke frowned. The person in front of him appeared to be quite confident, intelligent, a capable man. He could see why his secretary had let him in; he sent out a vibe that you didn't want to mess with him.

"I don't think it's polite to use my given name when I don't even know yours" he answered, taking the offered hand and shaking it.

"It's Gaara. I suppose Itachi really held true to his word and didn't tell you anything."

Sasuke didn't respond to that. He was trying to make sense of this man, the contradiction between using informal speech and appearing so no-nonsense and the opposite of laid-back bothering him.

"Shall we?" Gaara said, making a gesture towards the chairs, and Sasuke slowly went around his desk to sit down.

"So, Gaara, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I'm afraid there won't be much pleasure at all. But I should make a proper introduction first I suppose."

Gaara fished something out of an inner pocket and handed it over to Sasuke. Opening the badge Sasuke raised an eyebrow at the fact that he was now, apparently, talking to a Chief Inspector of not just the police, but some kind of special investigation forces.

No, definitely not someone you wanted to mess with.

"And how do you know my brother?" he asked, careful to sound polite as he handed the badge back.

Gaara tucked it back inside his jacket, brushing some hair from his forehead in an unconscious gesture, revealing parts of what looked like a tattoo in red ink on the left side. Add to that the faint eyeliner around his eyes and the red-head was not just imposing, but also pretty damn hot. He'd have been interested to know his sexual preference if it weren't for two obvious reasons.

He was already taken for life with no interest in others, and you don't fuck the police.

He felt like smacking himself for that last attempt at a joke, Naruto's bad sense of humor must be rubbing off on him.

"We've been working together for a while, so you could say that I know all his dirty little secrets."

Sasuke didn't appreciate the comment. Narrowing his eyes he waited for a further explanation.

"I see, you really are just like your brother described. Well, I'll get straight to the point then."

Gaara straightened up in his chair, picking up a pen from Sasuke's desk and flipping it over a few times with his fingers before settling his gaze on Sasuke.

"I've been investigating your company for a while now due to suspicions of conducting illegal business."

Sasuke blinked. For some reason his utter bewilderment seemed to amuse the other man since he quirked his lips slightly.

"I'm sorry to say all suspicions were true."

Sasuke blinked again.

"So, what's going to happen now then? We'll all go to jail?"

He didn't know what to believe. If Itachi hadn't gone out of his way to tell him Gaara knew what he was talking about he would have never even entertained the thought of believing him.

Gaara shook his head, leaning back in his chair again but keeping the serious aura.

"You've got nothing to worry about Sasuke, after all you're completely oblivious to everything that's been going on. But I do need your help."

The unemotional way Gaara said it made Sasuke twitch. For some reason this guy was starting to annoy him.

"You've got a lot of nerve waltzing into my office telling me my company is breaking the law, and you need my help? What could an oblivious person like me possible help you with."

Gaara seemed to think his words over for a moment, appraising Sasuke with his pale eyes.

"Let's go with background story first" he then said, tapping the pen against air. "This business was started by your grandfather, but there was also another affiliate started by your father more recently, hidden in the shadows."

"Dramatic" Sasuke commented sarcastically.

"Well, you could say Uchiha Corporation was the face shown to the world while Akatsuki brought in the money."

Sasuke frowned. He'd heard that name somewhere.

"This isn't the first investigation towards these companies, but it's the only one that hasn't ended up badly for the people involved."

"What do you mean?"

Gaara shook his head.

"Some other time" he said, then continued his story. "Anyway, once your brother took over after your father he naturally found out about everything, and he spent a lot of time and effort trying to shut Akatsuki down. I'm guessing you're not aware of the fact that last December he finally managed to attain enough percentage of the shares – together with yours of course – to go against the other board members and cut off all funding for it. There are, or were I should say, of course no official ties between Uchiha and Akatsuki, just that money transfer as well as the fact that Uchiha Corps' board members also directed Akatsuki. I only know all this because Itachi has told me, it's very cleverly done."

Sasuke didn't like the almost impressed tone to Gaara's voice. He frowned, mulling the words over in his mind.

"I don't understand. If Itachi has already told you all this, shouldn't you want to arrest him for the time he was company president while Akatsuki still operated, or at least the board members?"

"Well, even if we have Itachi's word for it there's still no proof. And I wouldn't arrest Itachi after he was nice enough to cut off Akatsuki's largest funding source."

"When you say largest… do you mean we're not the only ones funding them? And what kind of company is that anyway?"

"Uchiha Corp might have been secretly directing Akatsuki, but they've also got their own operating system. That's how we haven't been able to obtain any physical evidence so far. Even within Akatsuki itself it's difficult to connect them to any of the deals we suspect them for."

Sasuke stared at Gaara. All of this just seemed too unreal. Like taken from some thriller on TV.

"You didn't say what kind of company it is."

Gaara seemed to hesitate, again combing his fingers through his fringe.

"Well, I have a feeling your brother wouldn't want me to tell you, but trust me when I say it's not exactly selling toys for kids."

That's the point where something dawned on Sasuke. Suddenly he felt his mouth go dry, and a sour taste welled up his throat.

"You said… that my father started this Akatsuki?"

Gaara nodded, an apologetic look on the otherwise mainly impassive face.

"Well that's just great isn't it. Not only was my father the biggest jerk of the century, he also just happens to be a criminal. Great. Just great."

"Perhaps you should call your boyfriend over, I heard from Itachi it might help."

Sasuke couldn't stop the helpless chuckle that escaped him.

"Help you or me? I'm afraid he's unavailable right now."

"And when is he available?"

Sasuke frowned.

"What does it matter? This doesn't concern him does it?"

Gaara made a non-committing shrug.

"Well he's abroad."

Now it was Gaara's turn to frown.

"And when is he coming back?"

Sasuke stared back at him, wondering what to say. It's not like he knew, but he wasn't going to talk about his private life with an inspector he'd never met before.

"Eventually" he settled for saying, giving Gaara an empty look.

It had been a while since he used that look.

They were silent for a while, Gaara simply watching Sasuke as the raven tried to make sense of the jumbled mess in his head. It's not like he wanted to think of his father as some sort of criminal mastermind, but on the other hand he didn't put it above him to use whatever means necessary to achieve success.

It still hurt though.

Not only had his father been lying to him, but his brother as well. And what about his mother?

"Again, what could you possibly need my help for?"

Gaara seemed a bit surprised at the question.

"I didn't think you'd be taking this so well" he said.

"Yes yes I used to be an immature drama queen I know, now would you please tell me what the hell you want from me?"

At least this explained the reason for Itachi wanting to clear their floors of people. He didn't really use to be that bad though, did he?

"As helpful as Itachi has been, there are a few things he won't agree to."

"And you seriously think I would if he doesn't?"

Gaara simply kept staring at him in that calm, contemplative way.

"I think it's worth a try. It's the one thing that might give all those board members what they deserve. You don't like them, do you?"

"I don't" Sasuke agreed, on his guard now.

"We might not be able to tie them to Akatsuki, and I might end up spending my whole life trying to bring that company down, but there's something else almost as big we could get them for." He paused briefly, boring his eyes into Sasuke's. "Does the word Mangekyo say anything to you?"

Sasuke frowned, shaking his head slowly.

"How about Rasengan?"

He started shaking his head, then stopped as an old memory surfaced.

"I think… didn't we have a research facility called that? But it was closed ages ago."

Gaara nodded.

"There's a reason it was closed. It's connected to the incident I'd like to charge the board members for. And I think you can help me get the evidence I need. But…" Gaara trailed off, looking hesitant to continue.

Sasuke swallowed. Of course there was a but. If Itachi had said no to this, he could be sure it wasn't going to be a nice one.

"I'm afraid the only person who would know the full story is your mother."

…and he was back to blinking stupidly again.

"Then why don't you talk to her?" he asked, confused.

"It's not that easy" Gaara said. "But more than asking her, I'd like to search her house."

"House?" Sasuke repeated.

"Yes. We don't have strong enough suspicions to grant a warrant."

Sasuke nodded slowly, thinking it over. He wondered what 'incident' Gaara was referring to, but he had a feeling he wouldn't tell him. God he hated being kept in the dark! But if there was something he hated more it was those damn board members…

"So all I need to do is to get you inside the house so you can have a look around?"

"Well, for now" was Gaara's evading answer.

Sasuke thought it over again. He pushed away all thoughts of his parents being connected to crime, that was too much to take in right now. If he only thought of this as getting even with those board members…

Then he could do it. Breaking into your own house is hardly forbidden, is it?

"Okay" he said, raising an eyebrow in response to Gaara's surprise.

"Very well then, how about we have lunch on Friday and then visit your house?"

"I can't."

He must have sounded a bit harsh, because Gaara looked at him strangely.

"Naruto just left the country" he explained. "If I'm seen having lunch with another guy for no apparent reason and then visiting my childhood home, it could give birth to all sorts of rumors."

Understanding dawned over Gaara's pale features, but he lifted a hand to wave off Sasuke's worries.

"I've got an official cover story" he said. "You don't think I'd just 'waltz in' here out in the open if I wanted to keep everything secret do you? I'm supposedly investigating some threats that have been made towards you. There have actually been threats, mostly regarding your current civil status, but none of them were really serious. But since your brother is such a worrywart he wants to check them up anyway."

Sasuke reluctantly nodded, accepting the story.

"And of course, going out for lunch is just me observing your surroundings, and you've received some letters to your childhood address that we'll go check up on."

"Fine."

"Twelve o'clock?"

Nodding again Sasuke stood up to shake the other man's hand again before he left. As the door closed behind him, he wondered what the hell was happening to his life just as it was finally starting to head in a good direction.

~Line breaker~

Itachi looked up as the door to his office opened, surprised to see Gaara standing there instead of Sasuke.

"You know, he was a lot more agreeable than you gave me the impression of" the red-head said, casually leaning against the doorpost.

"I suppose it's Naruto's good influence."

"Hmm, but the miracle boyfriend seem to be out of the country at the moment though."

"Yeah, he just left. I didn't think you needed to know."

"I think I told you to tell me everything."

"And I think I never agreed on that."

Gaara let out a quiet snort as Itachi refocused on his computer screen again.

"It's a waste you're not interested in men Itachi" Gaara mused, putting his hands in his pockets and relaxing a bit from his work appearance.

"You're still here?" the older Uchiha replied in an unimpressed voice.

"As expected of the head of Uchiha Corps, such cruel words. Well, we could have had a lot of fun."

"You're not exactly boyfriend material. Oh, and stay away from my brother."

Gaara rolled his eyes at Itachi's warning glare.

"He's not my type. Besides, I never mix private life with work."

"Hn."

"He did agree to my proposition though."

Itachi gave him a look, then faced his screen again.

"If he cries you're going to have fun in hell."

Gaara smiled faintly at the empty threat, sighing deeply.

"Sometimes I wonder if I should have picked an easier job, like brain surgeon or something."

"There's no sense of justice in that, you'd get bored."

"You know me too well. Anyway, I'd better get going."

Holding his hand up as a silent farewell he walked out of the office, leaving one troubled Uchiha behind.

~Line breaker~

Later that night Sasuke laid in bed, trying to fall asleep but of course having trouble with it. There were just too many things to think about for his brain to relax. He wished Naruto was there, but he wasn't going to call him back just after he left. He'd talked to him on Skype earlier, and the blond seemed a bit down but determined to sort things out.

He didn't tell him about his meeting with Gaara.

He smiled, thinking how just talking to Naruto and being able to see his face had helped. He might still be feeling confused and hurt and angry and whatever, but he knew Naruto was there for him. Even if he didn't want to worry his boyfriend he knew that if he needed him, Naruto would come back.

And he'd promised to take good care of both Yukio and himself while he was gone, he wasn't about to break down after only a few days.

He was stronger than that.

A timid knock was heard from the door before it slowly opened, revealing Yukio outlined against the faint light outside his room.

"Uncle Sasu?"

"Is everything okay?"

Sasuke sat up as the little kid closed the door again and softly walked over to the bed, climbing onto it with some help since he was carrying both Drake and his pillow.

"I can't sleep, can I sleep here instead?"

"Sure."

Sasuke made some room for him, sinking down again, smiling slightly when Yukio opted to use his arm as a pillow and hug his own instead. He raised his hand to gently brush his fingers through Yukio's hair, letting out a quite chuckle when the kid squirmed and then sighed with content after making himself comfortable.

"Uncle Sasu?" he said, sounding a little sleepy despite saying he couldn't sleep.

"Hm?"

"Today, a girl in my class asked me out."

"Oh really? You should have said something earlier."

"I forgot" Yukio said in a dismissive tone.

"Did you say yes?"

"No way, she likes My Little Ponies."

"U-huh?"

"So I told her it's impossible because Drake eats ponies for breakfast."

Yukio sounded so lecturing that Sasuke couldn't help but laugh.

"And what did she say after that?"

"Well she was mad" Yukio pouted. "But then, she threw a pony at me in the classroom! And it hit Iruka so he was really mad!"

He giggled, and Sasuke again couldn't help but join in.

"She actually threw a pony at you?"

"All the girls in my class are crazy" Yukio mumbled, turning over so he was lying on his side instead, facing Sasuke. "But uncle Sasu? Why do the girls always ask out the boys but the boys never ask out the boys?"

Sasuke was startled by the question.

"Well… Do the boys ever ask out the girls?"

Yukio thought for a little while.

"I guess not" he said.

"Maybe they're too shy."

"No, girls give you cooties, nobody wants cooties."

Sasuke chuckled again, Yukio sounded so sure of himself.

"So if a boy asks out a boy he won't get cooties?"

Yukio seemed to have never thought of that before.

"I don't know. But mom says boys are just trouble, and I can't have a girlfriend until I'm eighteen!"

"Well, you certainly don't need one now. Unless you have someone you like?"

"Nooo" Yukio said, sounding embarrassed. "Nobody likes dragons so I don't like them… But the girls are so annoying, they always call me cute." He huffed. "I don't like it."

"But you know, people are nicer to you if you're cute."

"Really?" Yukio sounded dubious. "Then why are the girls always mad at me when I don't want to play with them?"

"Because they feel sad when you say no."

"I still won't say yes."

"You don't have to."

They were silent for a little while, and Sasuke almost suspected Yukio of falling asleep when he started talking again.

"Uncle Sasu?"

"Yes?"

"Are you good at sports?"

"I was pretty good in school I suppose."

"Then can you teach me?"

Sasuke smiled and hugged him briefly.

"Sure, I'll teach you."

"Okay." He yawned. "I'm sleepy."

"Then you should sleep."

"Mm… 'night uncle Sasu."

"Goodnight Yukio."

Soon after that both of them fell asleep.

~Line breaker~

Driving towards his old house after lunch with Gaara was an interesting experience. Or maybe he should say that lunch had been an interesting experience. Gaara was the kind of person who doesn't talk unnecessarily much, and Sasuke wasn't exactly known to do the opposite. Even so they'd had a decent time, and Sasuke had a feeling that Naruto would like the other man.

As a friend, of course.

Gaara had told him he likes to tease Itachi with gay innuendos, and the fact that he was still alive said a lot.

"I should ask Naruto to set you up with one of his friends" he said as they drove, glancing at the red-head when he made an amused sound.

"Are you suggesting I'm incapable of hooking up on my own?"

"From what I've heard? I'd say yes."

Gaara shook his head slowly.

"Itachi might not hold me in high regards, but I was thinking I had at least made an impression on you."

"We're here" Sasuke said, not bothering to answer.

He'd talked to his brother about Gaara. Saying Gaara hadn't made an impression on him was a blatant lie. Anyone would be impressed by someone that young having such a successful career behind him, and none of it thanks to his parents as was the case for Sasuke.

Once inside the hallway they took off their shoes and coats, Sasuke at a loss for what to do next.

"So what exactly are we looking for here?"

Gaara looked thoughtful, walking further into the house.

"Documents, notes, anything that regards the company. I'm guessing your father's computer is already gone. Do you know the location of any safes?"

Sasuke shook his head. It's not like his parents hadn't gone out of their way to make sure he knew absolutely nothing.

"Well then, just show me around the house first."

It felt strange, walking around his house and feeling as if he was doing something wrong. In the eyes of his parents he probably was. He wasn't as indoctrinated as Itachi though; if there was anyone who'd openly go against their parents it was Sasuke.

But more than strange it felt weirdly good. He wanted to know. No matter how harsh the truth was, he was sick of being left out. And if his parents withholding the truth from him came back to haunt them, then he wouldn't mind.

Crushing down any feelings of guilt he helped Gaara search his father's study, not really finding anything though. It appeared as if Fugaku had either gotten rid of things before he died, never had anything at home to begin with, or someone else had gotten rid of things for him.

Even after Gaara had opened the safe with mysterious techniques – the results of a misspent youth he claimed – they couldn't find anything.

"Well, it was worth a try at least" Gaara said as they walked down the stairs again, heading towards the hallway to go back.

Sasuke rubbed his neck, feeling a little stiff after spending almost three hours going through his parents' stuff. He knew he'd have trouble looking his mother in the eye next time he saw her, but on the other hand they hadn't found anything.

He was oddly relieved for that.

"There's no other place you can think of to look? Any garages…?"

Sasuke shook his head, the garage was only full of cars and equipment. Then he stopped.

"The basement…" he mumbled to himself.

"The what?"

"There's a basement. I forgot about it completely, I've never been there."

Gaara stared at him. Then he quirked his lips.

"Lead the way."

Sasuke tried to recall where the entrance was, getting it wrong a few times before finally remembering. As they opened the door a musty smell rushed towards them along with a little bit of dust, enough to make them cough.

"That's strange" Sasuke mused. "Mother always wants it clean."

"Guess we might get lucky then" Gaara said, a hint of excitement in his eyes as he started walking down the stairs.

The basement was neatly organized though, fitting better in with Mikoto's character. Except for a few rows of shelves down, where it looked as if someone had thrown a few cardboard boxes of varying sizes in a disorderly heap.

"This looks promising" Gaara said, but Sasuke gave him a dubious look. "Come on, I think we're running out of time."

Sasuke helped him opening the boxes, finding heaps of old-fashioned floppy disks, some CDs, folders filled with paper…

"Looks like this could be of some help. I'll bring it with me to the office" Gaara said, picking a few boxes up and starting to walk away with them.

Sasuke stared after him.

"What?" the red-head asked when he noticed the other wasn't moving.

"Isn't this… a bit too easy? I mean, they're just lying there, anyone could have found them."

"Sasuke I can't just go search someone's house without permission. But yeah, you or Itachi could have found them, but you needed four tries to find the correct door and then we had to look for the key, and Itachi isn't interested in finding out. You've watched too much TV."

Even so, Sasuke still frowned. He had a bad feeling about this now that they actually found something, and he wondered if helping Gaara had really been a good idea. It was too late now though.

Sighing he picked up two of the boxes and followed Gaara to get them into his car.

"What are you expecting to find out from these anyway?" he asked once he'd caught up.

Gaara shrugged.

"I'm not sure. It'll take a while to go through everything, I'll let you know if I find something."

Sasuke swallowed anything he wanted to say. He'd just have to wait and see.


Seems like Sasuke has a lot to think about now! And I just LOVE Gaara so much, it cracks me up and has me drooling at the same time writing him like this... Sheesh I should write an ItaGaa fanfic about my fanfic, yum! XD And can Yukio get any more adorbs? I think he can...:p Also, as for Sakura's age, I haven't mentioned it before but let's say she's the same as Sasuke and Ino is the same as Naruto but they're still friends somehow... Age is but a number! :p And it certainly doesn't matter... haha can you notice I don't want to stop the AN because I don't want to do my boring homework?

Anyway, spring is here (even though there's still ice and snow and shit), I've just eaten some chocolate, I'm genererally happy and nobody was crying in this chapter. Yay for an awesome day:D Let's go throw some ponies!X)