Sai was waiting in the kitchen when the first person came down. He hadn't expected it to be Sasuke. As far as the Order had been able to ascertain, his
sharingan was always active when he slept, doing something that left him drained and easily read when he first woke up. Yet he was the first one to appear
that morning, groggy and slow on his feet, but awake and still very much in the house. He should have been long gone by now. It was all Sai could do to keep
his talents inactive as he watched him clumsily start a pot of coffee. It wasn't just about his orders to avoid direct interference. He had already acted against
those, to no avail. The temptation lay in the simple fact that he didn't know what he would see if he looked at him without his energy fully suppressed. If Sasuke
died today he would never know why Itachi hadn't wanted him to read the boy. Unlike Iruka, Sasuke was a mystery he could solve with one look. Only the
prospect of Itachi finding out kept him from it. The Order didn't want Itachi viewing them as his enemy, and technically Sai still worked for them.
Kakashi was the next to make an appearance. Although he shook his head at Sai, he didn't pay him much more attention than Sasuke had. He poured two
cups of coffee, mussed a hand over Sasuke's head – making the boy stiffen and flash a quick red-eyed glare at him – before sweeping back out of the
kitchen. Sai wondered if he and Iruka were sleeping together. Normally he would have known on sight. Energy had a way of rubbing off and merging when two
mutants had sex. But Kakashi's energy changed depending on the talents he was using, and Sai wouldn't have recognized Iruka's even if Kakashi had been
coated in it. His attention turned back to Sasuke and he wondered if a real look would reveal him covered in Naruto's red. As amusing as the thought was, he
doubted it. Itachi's rule against rape was too well-known. With Sasuke's looks it was easy to see why some of Itachi's men might have been tempted. But the
rule had been placed over everyone who had contact with him, even those who would have been disgusted by the very idea. The rule had been designed to
protect Sasuke's sanity. As far as Sai was concerned if being raped a few times was enough to break him then the craziness that had taken Itachi probably ran
in the family. The only question was why Itachi was so set on it not infecting his little brother. Itachi had embraced his own insanity too much to view it as a
weakness.
"Are you and Naruto having sex?" asked Sai. Sasuke stiffened and slowly looked over his shoulder at him. With his blank face and red eyes the resemblance
was uncanny. Yes, Sai could definitely see why he had tempted Itachi's men. Doing him would be almost as good as the real thing. It was a shame Itachi had
worked so hard to keep him a frigid virgin. "I won't be here much longer and he looks like he'd be a lot of fun. Kinky, even, what with that fox of his. We seem to
have similarly eclectic tastes."
"Get out," Sasuke snapped.
"Are you sure? I wouldn't mind giving you a hand with breakfast. You have to crack the eggs before you put them in the skillet," he said helpfully. Those red
eyes narrowed, but he couldn't tell if it was simple annoyance or possessive jealousy. Did Uchihas even experience emotions like jealousy? He rose from the
table with a careless shrug. "If you have this covered, then I suppose I can go see if Naruto needs a hand with anything. I'm very good with my hands." Not so
much as a twitch. Sai left the room with heavy disappointment. Even with his hair mussed, Sasuke was as cold as his brother. Maybe that was just as well. If he
were going to risk his life screwing with an Uchiha he would much rather do it with the real one.
.-.
For a horny fox who had finally 'gotten some,' Kyuubi was far from content. Naruto was disappointed that he hadn't gotten to take his time bringing Sasuke off.
Kyuubi was disappointed that he hadn't gotten to fuck him senseless while he was lying there flushed and vulnerable. They both felt cheated that Sasuke had
promptly left the room. Naruto was hurt by the lack of snuggling. Kyuubi was insulted by the lack of trust. If he had wanted to force himself on Sasuke while he
slept he would have done so a week ago. There was no reason Sasuke couldn't have stayed, mollifying Naruto's need for tactile affection and letting him enjoy
the scent and feel of him. He had let Naruto lie flat on his back, giving himself over to Sasuke's whims. The least Sasuke could do was let himself be held
afterward. But, no, he had left, and Naruto was too stubbornly considerate to stop him. Naruto insisted Sasuke was still worried he might lash out in his sleep,
but Kyuubi wasn't buying that.
Kyuubi kept his senses trained on Sasuke's room all night. For nothing. The brat made no attempt to slip away, didn't even leave the bed. That proved he
could just as easily have spent the night with them. Kyuubi knew Sasuke had refused to do so because of him. His chosen mate was afraid of him. Naruto
would never understand how insulting that was. He wanted to dominate him, to have him completely at his mercy, but it wasn't as if he would hurt him. The
point was to force him to enjoy everything he did to him. And he would. Sasuke had proven he liked it every bit as rough as Kyuubi had hoped he would. So
why the fear? All Kyuubi could think was that emotions had something to do with it. That thought made him want to eat a tail just so he could cough it up in
disgust. He had enough trouble dealing with Naruto's emotions. He refused to pander to Sasuke's as well.
The moment Sasuke left his room, Kyuubi rolled Naruto out of bed so he could take a well deserved nap. Emotions? That was definitely Naruto's domain. He
was the one ruled by them, after all.
After a sleepy shower, Naruto left the bathroom only to freeze when Kakashi passed him in the hall, bringing two cups of coffee up to Iruka's room. The man
merely gave him a nod and a knowing, somehow commiserating, look on the way by. Naruto halted in his tracks, a burning rush of...something...heating his
face. Embarrassment, as if Kakashi knew exactly what he had been up to last night. Fury, because Kakashi might have been up to the very same thing with
Iruka. Shock, to realize just what a damned hypocrite he was. Just the thought of last night made him want to jump back into bed and relive it over and over
until his hand cramped up. He was never going to get enough of Sasuke and never wanted to. But Iruka had, what? One more day? Two? And then he might
never see Kakashi again. Naruto knew there was a good chance Sasuke would try to leave him, but only in order to protect him. If Kakashi left it would be
because he wanted to, because he was done here, and Naruto would be damned if he was going to let his sensei be hurt that way. Them...doing stuff...was
painful and gross and so very very wrong. But if Iruka wanted to keep him even half as much as Naruto wanted to keep Sasuke, then...then what kind of man
would Naruto be if he didn't do his part to help? Iruka deserved to be happy, too. If he and Kyuubi had to drag Kakashi back kicking and screaming, so be it. At
least he'd get to mutilate him a little while he was at it. He had done well enough in biology to know a man only needed one ball to get stuff done.
Sai caught him at the bottom of the stairs, waving him into the living room. Naruto wanted nothing more than to ignore him. Kakashi had pounded in the
warning that they do nothing to let Sai know his predictions were off, but as far as Naruto could tell they weren't actually off yet. Since they hadn't actually seen
Itachi yet he might as well have arrived today. For all they knew, Itachi's flunky was the only one who had really arrived early, and Sai hadn't made any
predictions about him. Things could be going exactly according to Sai's timetable. That, along with how the bastard had endangered Kyuubi and Sasuke
yesterday, made him want to beat the hell out of him, or at the very least throw him out of the house. He still couldn't understand why Iruka wouldn't throw the
guy out.
"What do you want?" Naruto growled, as he stalked over to stand in the doorway. He was momentarily distracted by the sight of Shino sitting on the couch and
Akamaru sitting on the floor across the short table from him. Those three were all he needed first thing in the morning. He was glad Kyuubi was taking a nap.
"The dog has fleas," Sai said cheerfully. "I thought you would like to know."
"What?" Naruto shot a startled look at Akamaru, who promptly hung his head. "But Iruka-sensei gave him a bath! And flea drops. Expensive ones!" Iruka had
still been complaining about that when he got back from the vet.
"It wouldn't have helped if he's been around other animals with fleas since then," said Shino.
Akamaru ducked even lower on the floor, managing to look both embarrassed and guilty. Naruto cringed at the thought of fleas hopping off him to dig their
way into the carpet. "Why is he inside, then?! Get him out – quick before they're everywhere! Iruka-sensei hates bugs!"
"Does he?" Sai asked curiously. He raised an eyebrow at Shino. "It's a wonder that he let you in the house, then, isn't it?"
As biased against Shino as Naruto instinctively was due to his blatant weirdo if not pervert trenchcoat, he wasn't about to let Sai bully someone Iruka had
invited to live with them. "Leave him alone," he warned Sai. "If you want to start something, start it with me. I owe you an ass-kicking for yesterday."
"I'm flattered that you're so interested in my ass," Sai lied politely. Despite what he had told Sasuke, Naruto really wasn't his type. It was that fox of his. Sai
drew the line at bestiality. "I am concerned, however, that no one seems to know about his talents. Would you care to demonstrate them, Aburame? I'm sure it
wasn't your intention to come here under false pretenses." Despite his affinity to them, Shino was not a flea. He slunk around in the background but he didn't
intentionally hide there.
Shino leaned forward and stretched a hand out over the table. Naruto was startled to see thick bandages peaking out of the arm of his coat, then he was
distracted by the sight of Akamaru's fur ruffling. He watched in growing horror as bugs, fleas, hopped up the dog's back, onto his head and nose, and then
right into Shino's palm. In a matter of seconds the boy was holding a black clump of bugs in his hand and Naruto's hairs were standing on end. "Oh my god!"
Naruto cringed. "Iruka-sensei is going to die!" And Kyuubi had known. That was why Kyuubi had laughed and wanted them to be there when Iruka found out.
His fox was a sadistic monster!
Naruto rounded on Sai. "You can't tell Iruka-sensei about this! One word to him and I'll make you eat your teeth. I swear I will!" Poor Iruka had enough to worry
about today without being traumatized first thing in the morning. Naruto wasn't nearly as creeped out by bugs as Iruka was and even he couldn't bring himself
to look back at Shino's hand. "I mean it!"
"I never intended to keep it a secret," said Shino. Akamaru was rubbing against his leg in gratitude and he reached down to scratch him with his free hand.
"Tenka merely advised me to hold off on mentioning it."
Naruto nodded quickly. "Keep holding off. In fact, you might want to hold off forever. There's no point-" He winced back a step when Shino rose. None of the
bugs fell out of his hand and onto the carpet, but they could have. "What are you doing with them?"
"Releasing them outside."
"Why? Can't you flush them down the toilet or something?" Naruto wouldn't have thought sunglasses could glare, but Shino managed it somehow.
"They didn't ask to be brought inside. They were only doing what they have to in order to survive."
Naruto decided he didn't like being lectured on the fair treatment of bugs. Shino might not be a pervert, but he was definitely a weirdo. Akamaru chuffed at him
and he scowled down at the dog. "You're still getting a bath. I bet you have flea shit all over you." The dog shook himself as if he were trying to knock the flea
droppings off onto the carpet. If Kyuubi had been awake Naruto was pretty sure he'd have kicked the mutt. As it was, he just glared until Akamaru trotted over
to scratch on Kiba's door. "Don't leave marks in the wood," he muttered, as if Iruka was going to care about that when he had a flea-master living in his house.
What kind of talent was that? And he had thought having a fox in his head was weird.
"Don't try to help," Sasuke said when he entered the kitchen. "Grab some coffee, sugar it up, and keep quiet."
Naruto made a face at his back, but he still followed his orders. He had already discovered that he liked watching Sasuke the morning after. This time it hadn't
just been dreams, either. He was so smug about that he didn't even bother to hide behind his coffee cup.
.-.
For the second night in a row, Iruka had forgotten to dope himself up. He'd been drawn to the same place, which was strange because he usually wandered so
far and stopped so many places that he didn't remember anything when he woke up. The screams were definitely his, he realized, and they continued
incessantly, increasing in volume long after a hand was clamped over his mouth. They were a child's screams, muffled at first, then piercing his ears and mind
until he would have given anything to shut them up. He would have killed him himself if only it would make the screaming stop. Then his eyes snapped open
and the hand that had refused to let go was on his shoulder, bigger, warmer. Except it was Kakashi's hand now. Kakashi. He smiled faintly at how quickly that
name came to mind, even easier to remember than his own.
"Bad dream?" asked Kakashi. He was alarmed to see tears spill out of Iruka's eyes when he blinked up at him. He had appeared to be sleeping as deeply and
peacefully as ever when he had reached down to shake him awake.
"Not mine," Iruka sighed. He rubbed the back of his hand over his eyes and pushed himself up. "Something is wrong. I never go to the same place twice. I have
to stop doing this..."
"Doing what, exactly?"
"Indulging myself with you until I'm too content and tired to take my pill," Iruka huffed. For once he ignored the temptation of coffee, choosing instead to pull
Kakashi into a good morning kiss. Even after the excesses of last night, Kakashi remained temptation personified. He wanted to drown himself in his fluid heat
and never come up for air. Suffocating. Had he been suffocating in a closet? He broke the kiss and took one of the coffee cups Kakashi held with a befuddled
and apologetic smile. If he was going to be drawn to the same place he should at least be able to put the details together. He could have sworn he'd been
kneeling in a hallway when the screams started. He didn't recall anything about a closet. Maybe he had been more places than one, after all.
"Are you ever going to tell me what that pill of yours does?"
Kakashi's pout reminded Iruka of the way he had whined last night when he had refused to even try taking both halves of him at once. As if Kakashi had any
right to complain. It was no wonder the man never bottomed. He was a wimp when it came to his own discomfort. Like a spoiled child, really. It wasn't the least
bit sexy. "You look like a ten year-old when you pout," Iruka informed him. He laughed when that lower lip protruded even more. "Stop it before I start feeling
like a perverted old man."
"I deserve something for letting you defile me," Kakashi complained. "I'm still sore."
"Then you can imagine how I feel," Iruka pointed out. He supposed he would have to heal Kakashi's ass while he was soothing away his own aches. The
prospect had him laughing again. "I like you..."
"I noticed," Kakashi said smugly.
Iruka noticed that he didn't return the compliment. He didn't stop watching him expectantly, either. "Have you noticed that I'm very normal? Boring, even?"
Kakashi's eyebrows shot up, which was somewhat flattering. Iruka sighed. "The medication I take is a marvel and the woman who designed it is terrifying. But
there is nothing at all special about what it does to me or why I need it." He hadn't intended to make it into a mystery with his silence, he just didn't like talking
about it. It had ruined the majority of his life. Kakashi was expecting something impressive or horrible and in truth it wasn't either, it was just a pointless shame.
"All it does is keep me from sleepwalking. Mentally."
"Telepathy?"
"No," Iruka muttered. Did Kakashi have to sound so hopeful? Telepathy would have been nice and useful. Telepaths were rare and powerful and he could only
wish he had something like that. "It's more like what Ino does, except I can't do anything to the person I make contact with. I don't even remember who I am. I
wander off, lose myself, and experience things through the eyes of others. Only bad things." Because his desire was to help and without remembering himself
he always forgot that he couldn't help in any way. "Nightmares, memories, pain and death and I can't do anything about any of it."
"Except keep yourself from roaming," Kakashi said slowly. "That's why your energy tries to latch onto anyone nearby when you sleep – it's trying to roam."
"It does?" Iruka winced. "Even with the drug?"
"I said it tries," Kakashi said soothingly, "not that it succeeds. Your blanket keeps it from going very far. I noticed it that first night, when you fell asleep on me.
Energy isn't supposed to behave like that. It's unnatural."
"That's why I take the drug. Before I started taking it, I was–" He didn't even know how to describe it because he couldn't remember anything from those years.
"Tenka says I was like an empty slate every time I woke up. He thinks I cut myself hoping the scar would help me remember my own name. If I did, it didn't help.
I had to keep a journal for that." According to Tenka, when they had met he had slept with a card tied around his wrist reminding himself that he was Umino
Iruka and not to believe anything anyone said until he had read his journal. He couldn't even conceive of having lived that way.
"This is worse than I thought," Kakashi drawled.
"You're mocking me!" Iruka knew he should have been outraged, furious even, but he couldn't get past the startled hurt. He shouldn't have told him anything.
He should have let him go on thinking he had some mysterious power hidden away. Kakashi, with his copied talents and directionless life, would never
understand how it felt to want to save the world while being unable to even save himself without suppressing what few talents he did have. A hand reached
toward his cheek and he jerked his head away from it. "Get out of my room."
Kakashi sat down on the edge of the bed, which placed him right in Iruka's lap and stopped him from issuing another eviction notice. "Iruka, I am not mocking
you." He smiled when all he got was a snort of disbelief. "I'm mocking myself. I thought I had you all figured out. I thought that drug of yours was what blocked
you from being read by Sai and his group. I had you down as a reactor all blanketed over so your energy won't spill out onto whatever mutants happen to be
nearby."
"My energy does not spill out on anyone," Iruka said stiffly. It was difficult to be anything else but stiff when he had a lap full of Kakashi. "I have better control
than that."
"When you're awake," Kakashi agreed. He casually leaned sideways until Iruka's arm came up to brace him. He was so accommodating. "But what happens to
the mutants you go to in your sleep?"
"I don't know." He had never given it much thought. "I never know who they are. I don't even know if they are mutants. They're just people, males usually, and
I'm seeing things through their eyes. Bunchu helped me do it with Tenka a while back and he never knew I was in there. I assume the others don't, either.
Sakura is the only one who ever noticed me, and that's only because she has a separate personality that saw me before I was drawn into her memory."
"I'll have to ask her about that some time," Kakashi decided. He clearly hadn't paid enough attention to the girls' talents. "It appears Naruto isn't the only one
around here who needs to do some experimenting with his talents."
"Are you suggesting that I-" Soft lips cut him off, and then his lap was empty and Kakashi was plucking away his coffee cup. It was a good thing he had drunk
most of it or it probably would have spilled.
"I suggest you get dressed, put on your game face, and go help Sasuke with breakfast. We have an important meeting in a few hours."
One he had been meaning to talk to Kakashi about. "I am not going to-"
"Be late," Kakashi finished for him, even though he knew that wasn't what Iruka had been about to say. "He hates that, after all."
Mask firmly in place, he left the room before Iruka could reiterate his refusal to take Naruto along with them. Sasuke had stuck around. If Sasuke was willing to
walk in there on his own two feet, then Iruka would survive having Naruto walk in along with them. The address was for a public place, after all. If there was
slaughter on the menu, it would probably be delivered afterward. There was a method even to madness. He just had to put the pieces together. That would
have been easier it he weren't still missing some of the key ones.
.-.
Shikamaru and Gaara were missing for breakfast. Iruka assumed they had gone to see Bunchu again. If he had known Hiko was going to be getting this much
company he wouldn't have agreed to let Tenka hide out at his house for the night. It was just as well that he had, though. Tenka would keep an eye on things
while they were gone. Iruka hoped he kept an especially close eye on Sai. The boy had shown a suspicious lack of interest when he learned that the four of
them would be going out for a while. Iruka hadn't given up on the idea of Sai doing something at the last minute to keep Naruto from being involved, but he
was starting to worry that any interference on his part might backfire and make things even worse. So Iruka kept his mouth shut, maintained a casually
pleasant demeanor for the kids' sake, and ultimately left the house at a brisk pace as if his mind weren't rebelling with every single step. Naruto spoke up the
moment they reached the sidewalk and it was all Iruka could do not to whip around, grab him up, and race him right back into the house.
"Where are we going, anyway?" asked Naruto. His nervous excitement was a physical thing. He could feel it on his arms, almost see it shimmering in the air. It
was actually happening, finally, and Sasuke was walking right there beside him. True, Sasuke was blank and cold and looked more like a killer than a person,
but he was within reach of his hand. The only thing that kept Naruto from reaching out was the fear that Sasuke would flinch away, possibly even bolt, if he did.
"The coffee shop," Iruka said gloomily. The very same shop where he and Kakashi had first learned of Itachi's impending arrival. He knew there were only so
many places in town that served tea, but the coincidence still struck him as intentional if not cruel. Kakashi's sleeve brushed his arm and he glared down at it.
They might as well be reliving that first walk home through the fields for all the concern Kakashi was showing.
"He invited us to tea at a coffee shop?" Naruto made a face when no one else commented on the weirdness of that. "I don't like tea." Sasuke faltered a step,
but when he glanced over at him he was still blankly focused and closed off.
Kakashi snorted in amusement. Leave it to Naruto to ruin the doom and gloom Iruka and Sasuke were trying so hard to drown them all in. "If he offers you tea,
you take it, Naruto. Assuming things even progress that far."
"This is insanity," Iruka stated. Was he the only one who saw that? The shop was right there, less than a block away.
"When in Rome," Kakashi drawled.
Iruka was sorely tempted to hit him. "You do not play into the delusions of a madman. That only encourages them." Then he had to shut up because they were
at the door and that bizarre looking shark-man was stepping out to hold the door open for them.
"Looking good, kid," Kisame greeted Sasuke. "Shoot up another foot and grow that hair out and you could give him a run for it."
Sasuke didn't even look at him, but Naruto did. He bristled and glared at the man's pointy teeth. This had to be the shark Sasuke had told him about, the one
his journal said had stolen every drop of energy he had. Kyuubi wanted to claw him up for that, but they had bigger fish to fry. Naruto followed Sasuke inside
and finally got his first look at the infamous Itachi.
The resemblance was undeniable. The man was facing the door, seated at a small table with only three empty chairs. He was young, pale, with long black hair
held in a low tail that let strands fall along his face in a style that almost reminded Naruto of Hiko, except on Itachi it was downright pretty. He would have been
struck by that, how damned pretty he was with that black hair and those red eyes, if this hadn't been Sasuke's insane bastard brother who needed to be killed
for every horrible thing he had done to Sasuke over the years. The man seemed utterly casual, as blank-faced as Sasuke at his worst, as he looked at Iruka
and Kakashi. Then his gaze shifted past them to Sasuke and those eyes narrowed. Naruto never saw him move, but suddenly he was standing a foot away
from the adults and his eyes had swirled into a black three-bladed pinwheel that was nothing like the rounded star-like pattern Sasuke's sharingan had taken
that time. Somehow Itachi's was much worse and it wasn't even being directed at him. Naruto couldn't move, couldn't tear his eyes away to even look at
Sasuke. Kyuubi did it for him. Naruto immediately wished he hadn't because Sasuke's eyes were pitch black as if he weren't even trying to counter that creepy
stare.
"What have you done, little brother?"
That soft voice sent claws scurrying down Iruka's back, but his eyes remained locked on the terrified woman standing behind the counter across the way. She
was just doing her job, trying to make a living, and now she was trapped by two inconsiderate mutants who had come in as if they owned the place and
frightened all of her customers away. "You're being very rude," Iruka heard himself saying. "We haven't even been introduced yet." Those strange eyes flicked
to him and he fought to keep his revulsion off his face. One didn't play into another man's madness. He knew better. Yet he couldn't help pointing out, "You did
invite us to tea."
"I did," said Itachi. "Pardon my rudeness. It pains me to see that my foolish little brother still has not learned to let go."
Iruka's right hand clenched painfully and then those eyes shifted away and he found himself looking back over his shoulder just in time to see Sasuke leave
the shop. It only took a split second for Naruto to chase after him. When Iruka glanced back, Itachi's eyes were three black circles on red, no different from
Kakashi's. Iruka suddenly knew why there were only three empty chairs at the table Itachi had chosen. The man had never intended the boys to join them for
this, whatever this was.
"Please have a seat," Itachi invited, with an elegant wave to the table he had chosen. "The tea here is weak but passable. Kisame assures me that the cakes,
however, are divine."
The woman behind the counter let out a high-pitched giggle that made Iruka worry for her sanity. Whatever Itachi had might very well be contagious. "That
sounds lovely," said Iruka. He was grateful when Kakashi took him by the arm and escorted him to one of the chairs. Kakashi wasn't being very helpful, his
face pale and pinched beneath his mask, but at least he wasn't cracking jokes or giggling frantically. Iruka could only cope with one madman at a time.
Kakashi kept quiet while Iruka soothed the shop-girl enough so that she only spilled a little of the tea she served them. The mannequin was looking much
healthier than the first time Kakashi had seen him, more pale than gray, and just as casually batty as ever. He seemed to appreciate Iruka's particular brand of
calm politeness. That was more unnerving than Kakashi liked to admit. The fact that Iruka could so easily look him in the eye made him wonder if he weren't a
little crazy himself.
Iruka took a sip of the tea, which was indeed weak, and then got down to business. "What can I do for you, Uchiha-san?"
"An exchange of favors. You fix my little brother, and I will fix you."
Kakashi coughed around what might have been a laugh if he hadn't been watching Iruka take tea with the mannequin as casually as could be. "I wasn't aware
that either of them were broken."
Itachi gave him an admonishing narrow-eyed look. "That is the only reason I have allowed you to keep that eye. Now hold your tongue before I change my
mind. It's rude to interrupt."
And these two were very against rudeness. Kakashi nodded and went back to watching the spectacle silently. He supposed it was just as well that the boys
weren't here for this. Naruto was even worse at keeping his mouth shut than he was.
.-.
Sasuke made it nearly a block before Naruto caught up with him. From the way he had bolted out the door, Naruto had expected him to be running. Instead,
he was walking slowly down the middle of the sidewalk with the shark keeping pace just a step behind. Naruto barreled past the tinted fish-man and caught
Sasuke by the arm.
"Sasuke! What are you doing?" He jerked him around only to freeze at his expression. This wasn't like the blank face Sasuke had been wearing earlier. His
black eyes were wide, empty and unfocused, and his face was so emotionless he looked like a porcelain doll. "Sasuke...? Hey!" Naruto grabbed his shoulders
and shook him hard. "Snap out of it, Sasuke! Wake up! We can't leave Iruka-sensei alone with-" His eyes dropped to see a pale blue-gray hand slip under his
arms and push against his chest. He was shoved back so hard he stumbled and would have fallen on his ass if Kyuubi hadn't surged forward to catch them in
a crouch. His head snapped up just in time to see Sasuke's eyes roll into the back of his head and the shark duck down to pick him up. "Don't touch him, you
bastard!"
"Relax," Kisame grinned. The blonde might have some teeth when he went red-eyed like that, but they were nothing compared to his own. "I've got this. He
might have shot up a few feet, but he's still tender as a seal pup when you get right down to it." He appreciated the way the fox's energy flared so thickly even
he could see it. Unfortunately a fight in the streets in broad daylight wasn't his style any more than it was in the plan. Too many bystanders. "Behind you, kid."
Naruto whipped around and bared his teeth in absolute rage. The fucking interfering bastard! "You-"
Sai shoved his hand through that fiery energy, striking him hard on the stomach. It was like slamming the door of an incinerator, and more than worth the
burns. That energy was cut off, Naruto's expression blanked, and his eyes fluttered shut. He crumpled to the sidewalk in a messy heap. This time Sai didn't
bother trying to catch him. He was too late to get Iruka out of this, but he could at least remove Naruto from the equation. Naruto's fox might reside in his head,
but when two personalities were connected that deeply it was always through the umbilical. This seal would keep them both locked up nice and tight.
Kisame raised an eyebrow at the blonde boy lying like a corpse on the sidewalk. Itachi was worried about someone like that? He swore he was never going to
understand the way his mind worked. He raised his eyes to glower at the boy responsible. "You better hope that wears off fast."
"It won't," Sai said flatly. He knew all about Itachi's pet shark. The man wouldn't lift a finger against him when he had Itachi's little brother to protect. "He'll stay
under until the seal is removed."
"Oh," Kisame sighed. "That's fine, then. You had me concerned for a second there." He shifted Sasuke so he had a hand free to point at the downed Naruto.
"Itachi wants that one alive and unharmed. Bring him to the house when you're done, would you? I'll get enough attention just carrying one of them."
Sai wondered if the man's brain was as proportionately small as the fish he resembled. "I'll do no such thing." Then he tensed and clenched his teeth when a
voice spoke up from right over his shoulder. He hadn't sensed anything.
"I would be glad to," said Gaara.
"Great," said Kisame. "Try not to take too long or make too much of a mess. He's a meddlesome brat, but he's still a bystander. Rules, you know."
"Of course," Gaara acknowledged. He watched Kisame leave with Itachi's brother and waited patiently for Sai to face him. He had hoped following him would
prove more interesting than sitting on the roof all day. When Sai finally turned it was with a face nearly as blank as his own. Gaara's interest kicked up a
knotch.
"You're working for them?" Sai asked in disbelief. He couldn't have misjudged the situation that badly. He'd thought this boy was just another of Tenka's
rescued mutants. Because that was just how Shikamaru had introduced him...
"I don't work for them. I'm just bored." Hopefully Sai could put up enough of a fight to alleviate some of that. If not, he could always threaten Sasuke when he
brought Naruto there. He knew for a fact that Kisame could put up a good fight. "Unless you stop me, I'll be taking him with me now."
Sai's eyes narrowed. The boy didn't look big enough to drag Naruto, let alone carry him. But if he was wrapped up with both Shikamaru and Itachi there was no
telling what his talents really were. Shikamaru and Itachi? That was ridiculous! One was a reluctant do-gooder and the other a narcissistic psychopath who got
his kicks from making grown men soil themselves. He glared at Gaara, trying to figure out how he might possibly fit into such an unholy union. "Where do you
think you're taking him?"
Gaara ignored him as his sand crept over Naruto's stomach, feeling the seal that had been placed on him. It was just a small slip of paper, yet it seemed
bound right through his clothes and into the flesh below. He wondered if ripping it off would be enough to release him, if he would immediately begin raging
with that bold energy he'd been using just minutes ago. Naruto could put up a good fight, too. Gaara had seen just how much damage the boy could take
without going down. He wondered how Itachi would react if he decided to keep Naruto for himself. It would be very rude, after all...
Sai never had a chance to react. He saw that hollow container shimmer, explode into tiny particles, and then he was being swallowed in a fist of sand. His last
thoughts were that if he survived he would quit. He'd had more than enough of this nonsense.
.-.
PART 47
.-.
FEEDBACK
FANFICTION INDEX