Another chapter bites the dust. I seriously thought I wouldn't be able to update today. Then I sat down and started writing- and it turned out fine!
I had fun playing with Sasuke in this chapter! Guess i really am evil.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
25th April, 2032, FBI, San Francisco Division, Time- 8:45 am
She was wearing dark sailor pants that hugged her hips and curved into tapering, slender legs that could have gone on forever if it weren't for the sleek, black leather boots that stopped them. Heels clicking as she walked into the room, her floral patterned blouse was covered by a form fitting mini jacket. The front of her jacket was unbuttoned, drawing his gaze to her ample bust, and the plunging neckline of her navy shirt, which was criss-crossed with soft pink floral outlines. Her pink hair poker-straight and flowing down her back, her clear jade eyes lined with thick, dark lashes, her creamy skin pale against the jet-black shade of her jacket, and her plump, luscious scarlet lips which were shaped in a small frown, she looked downright delicious.
Not that Sasuke was paying attention or anything.
He sat at a steel table, on a hard backed chair in an FBI interrogation room. The walls, though opaque, were sure to be transparent to the other officers watching the interrogation from outside. Kakashi, who was filling in for the position as his attorney, his occupation to the rest of the world, sat next to him. And his interrogation officer had just walked in.
Discarding her jacket and hanging it over the back of the chair, Sakura sat, one leg over the other, in the chair directly opposite to Sasuke. His attention immediately drawn to the bare skin of her neck, he found himself involuntarily staring at her.
Internally he slapped himself. What was he thinking? He absolutely could not allow himself to get distracted- especially not by her.
And yet, she seemed to be maliciously aware of the effect she was having on him, as the corner of her cherry lips curled upward in a foreboding smile.
Kakashi sent a pointed glare in his direction- as though he knew exactly what was going on in his head. He did not look pleased.
She nodded to him, and then to Kakashi in acknowledgement as she introduced herself and Hinata. Not that she really needed any introduction.
"You are in a dangerous position, Mr Uchiha." She said, her silvery voice polite and formal. There was none of the previous verbal intimacy they had built up over the past few days. The apathetic way that she said 'Mr Uchiha' had him frowning with disapproval. It sounded far too...empty coming from her.
He shook himself. Now was not the time to entertain such thoughts. In fact, he wasn't supposed to entertain those thoughts at all in the first place.
"Before you say anything I'll have you know this is a formal interrogation and anything you say can and will be used against you. That being said, if you truly have nothing to hide, if this really 'isn't what it looks like ' as you claim, then you should have nothing to fear."
"He also has a right to remain silent. He doesn't have to answer anything you ask."
"Which is why you are here, isn't it?" She said with a wry smile.
He detected a hint of well hidden animosity in her voice, laced over and covered by her sweet formalities. That mask of professionalism- he didn't like it one bit. It wasn't supposed to be in place when she was around him.
What am I even thinking?! I can't afford to think like that.
The raven haired girl standing behind Sakura took a seat next to her, saying, "We are well aware of the fact that both you and your associates lied to us and concealed your identities. The small matter alone might not have caused so much of a problem- the circumstances of the initial identity confusion were well justified. But when you were further wrought up in more matters concerning the FBI, the question remains, why did you continue the charade? Why risk being held in contempt of the law?" Her voice was icily cold.
Sasuke sat stoically while Kakashi quietly nodded to him. Now was where the real act began- he was to be hesitant in answering, but for a completely different reason. And the story he was about to be coaxed into telling was a carefully crafted cover up. Now was where Sasuke Uchiha the arrogant billionaire became Sasuke Uchiha the threatened victim.
"Not answering isn't going to do you any good." Sakura said, her eyes narrowing suspiciously. "Was there, perhaps, some sort of criminal affiliation that you did not wish to throw light upon while you interacted with the FBI?" She asked accusingly.
"No" he responded in a single word.
"Then did you take pleasure in toying around with people's impressions and lying to government officials?" Her companion added.
"No."
"Then do you care to offer an explanation?" The pinkette asked.
He sat silently.
She glared at him, her eyes, once so expressive and open, now cold and unreadable. He found himself wishing to see the emotions once reflected in them looking up at him with trust and affection.
And he quickly diverted himself from that line of thought as he reminded himself again of his need to avoid contact with her.
"Do you wish to go to jail, Mr Uchiha?" She asked coldly, crossing her arms. It may have been a habitual movement for her, but for him it was tantalisingly enticing as her chest was pushed upwards,by her folded arms.
The voice inside his head chided him telling him to control his responses.
"I consider myself quite sane, thank you." He replied a little too sarcastically.
"Then I suggest you cooperate with us. You aren't in a position to bargain. Tell us everything.
As he stared into those mesmerising green orbs, he decided that he had hesitated enough as far as acting went. Starting to speak, he said, "I hope you don't misunderstand- the switch between Naruto and I was not an act exclusively extended to the FBI. For the past few weeks, anyone who entered the Uchiha Corporation for a meeting with Sasuke Uchiha was greeted by Naruto dressed up as me."
"But why?"Hinata asked suspiciously.
He sighed, annoyed, as he said, "I am a renown man. There are many who would love nothing more than to see my head on a pike."
"You specifically mentioned 'for the past few weeks'. Why then and not a year ago? Your information is inconsistent." Sakura said,holding his gaze. It was those eyes again. Those eyes that followed him everywhere he seemed to go. They wouldn't even leave him in his dreams, always there to slowly hypnotise him.
Continuing with his ploy, he hesitated for a moment before lowering his voice and saying, "We had handled them until then. But when the anonymous threats to my life, and attempted murders began, we decided it be safer if I didn't stay in the office. Not that I would have let Naruto die in my place, but just so that we could more easily assess the threats." He felt it necessary to add the last part after seeing the malevolent glares the dark haired girl was sending his way.
"You were receiving threats?"Sakura asked, half,sceptical, half genuine.
"Yes"
"From who?"
"I don't think 'anonymous' means that I know the answer to that." He said with a small smirk, watching her annoyed and exasperated reaction to his question. He found that he quite liked that expression on her.
No more irrelevant thoughts.
"Goddamnit Sasuke, you're an intelligent man. Surely you have some idea as to who it is. Or don't tell me, all that time spent posing as Naruto has actually made you as stupid as him." She said, aggravated.
Finally a reaction from her other than that cold and unfeeling 'Mr Uchiha'. He felt a sick satisfaction at having finally put a crack in that infallible mask. Hearing her soft silvery voice say his name had only served to add to his euphoria. Now all that was left was to capture those pretty little lips...
Kakashi's expression was one of warning as he wordlessly ordered Sasuke to keep his head in the more important task at hand.
"We suspected the Sahara group's involvement. But with no proof, we could allege nothing against them."
The room was quiet for a moment as the two agents searched for loopholes in that statement.
"Was it Mr Yakushi? Did he threaten you? Were you involved in some sort of underhand transactions or dealings which threatened his autonomy? Or perhaps you held some sort of proof of embezzlement or siphoning funds?" Sakura asked.
He knew very well what she was doing- trying to find a link between her case and his company. Straying hazardously into dangerous territory. They probably suspected something about Kabuto's involvement - especially after Sakura watched as he tried to drown Sasuke. And judging from what Itachi said the previous night, they had managed to come that much closer to the truth- at least, parts of it.
In reply to his silence, Sakura stood up, discarding the chair as she walked slowly around the room, coming to a stop behind Sasuke, her fingers trailing over the shoulder of his suit, edging closer to the skin of his neck. He felt his entire body stiffen beneath her touch, as he became painfully aware of her fingers. Oh yes, she knew the effect she was having on him.
If he had seen her face, he would have noticed the sly smile which graced her features. Kakashi, however, did notice it.
"What's the matter, Mr Uchiha? Aren't we a little...quiet? Guilty perhaps? Someone hit the nail on the head?"
"Wait a minute, he doesn't have to answer that- don't answer that Sasuke." Kakashi interrupted, "You have no permission to push for an answer when none is offered up. Nor to resort to tactics that incriminate him."
Leave it to Kakashi to scoop him out of the mess that would have been bound to ensue.
"But he didn't deny it, did he?" Sakura said, turning to Kakashi, "You may be here to legally advise him, Mr Hatake, but you can't speak for him."
"We had our suspicions, but no proof to ascertain that it was in fact Mr Yakushi who was issuing the threats. That is, until recently when we tried to withdraw our funding and he tried to drown us." Sasuke cut in, "And no, we did not partake in any underhand dealings, nor do we have anything that we could hold against them."
"Why not come to the FBI sooner? When the threats started coming?" Hinata asked.
"We had it under control. Our men were looking into the issue. We had planned to go to higher authority if and when we had the sufficient proof." He said. They hadn't left any loopholes in their story.
"Are you still receiving these threats?" The pinkette asked.
"...yes" he replied hesitantly.
"What about when the FBI came to you for other things? You could have avoided all of this, and we would have helped." Hinata added.
Sakura, listening intently from behind him, stayed silent, as she stood between the chairs of the two men, her hand grazed the side of his head with her arm as she rested her hand on the back of his chair. The contact was minimal, but it riled him nonetheless. He felt his hairs stand on edge as her cool skin brushed against his ear.
A small nudge from Kakashi prompted him to answer the question the raven haired woman had asked him.
"Like I said, we had it under control. And we would have come clean about the identity confusion once we were certain that the Sahara group was behind all of the threats." He said.
"That doesn't justify your deceiving the FBI." Sakura asked, finally leaving her station behind his chair and walking back to where Hinata was seated, picking up her jacket.
"Even so there's nothing we can do to rectify that now. I've told you everything that was the truth." Sasuke said.
She frowned as she heard him speak, once again walking closer to the table, leaning over it ever so slightly with one hand resting on the tabletop, to look Sasuke in the eye.
"You've told us your side of the story. It's up to us to decide if it's the truth or not."
Her face was less than an arm's length from him now. In fact, if he closed his eyes he could almost smell her trademark cherry blossom scent. Being in close proximity to her while she was,being so cold and apathetic felt like torture.
But that's not what it was supposed to be like, so quite obviously, Sasuke didn't acknowledge it.
"You can't incriminate him from what he's said. There's no reason to continue this." Kakashi said.
Sakura held his gaze for a few moments more, before sighing and turning away to Hinata. "This interrogation is over." She said, her back turned to him, hips swaying as she walked out of the room, her companion close behind.
Neji watched as Sakura and Hinata walked out of the interrogation room, leaving the Uchiha and his lawyer inside. He was not pleased. Not at all.
A pair of feline eyes gazed upon the scene from next to him. Arisa asked, "What do you think, Neji?"
"I don't buy it. He's hiding something."
His dislike for the Uchiha may have spawned from the predatory lustful way he was looking at a girl whom he considered his younger sister. But he still didn't believe the half assed excuse he had provided.
"I don't know Neji. I think they're cute. And it's not exactly one sided."
He didn't reply, instead glaring at the Uchiha.
Arisa let out a small laugh as she said, "Don't be so uptight. Besides, if they do get together, we'll be there to bash his skull in if he tries to pull anything with Sakura." He nodded silently in agreement as they watched Kiba and Choji enter the interrogation room to escort the Uchiha and his lawyer out.
"Don't you think he reminds you of Itachi?" Arisa asked softly.
"Hn"
He did have an uncanny resemblance to their friend.
The doors barged open and Sakura, Ino and Hinata walked in.
"That was soooo fun to watch! You were driving him crazy in there!" Ino said, laughing.
"I was not!" Sakura defended, as she joined Arisa and Neji.
"Good work." Neji said, though his expression was still set in a scowl.
"I want you to keep an eye on him. He claims to be receiving threats to his life. Guard him." He told her, once again assuming position of Unit Chief. He didn't want the Uchiha anywhere near any of his family at present, but it was the best way to find out what he was hiding.
"What?Why?" Sakura asked, gears turning in her head.
"Something doesn't add up. He's hiding something. See if you can find out what it is."
Slowly nodding, she said, "Understood."
Another officer walked into the room, saying, "Hyuga! Arisa! The higher ups want you in their office. And Inuzuka too!"
"Kiba's not here." Arisa said.
"Umm...Genma, which Hyuga?" Hinata asked.
He looked between Neji and Hinata, before saying, "You", pointing at Neji, "Though I can't imagine why only you three." He left the room.
"I guess now we're about to find out what the repercussions of what we did yesterday are." Arisa said in reply to Sakura's questioning look.
She followed Neji and Genma out of the room.
Hope you liked that. Maybe I might have made Sasuke a little Ooc, but I had fun anyway so you'll have to bear with me.
A big shout out to everyone who's stuck with me till here!
As a side question, did anyone have a problem with Arisa? Like, do you like her or hate her or just don't want any more of her in the story? If it's a negative response to more of her then I won't add any more...but I kinda want to do it. But you readers come first, so let me know what you think.
Read and review!