Blackmail and Betrayal

AN: *hides all the of pitchforks and ropes before addressing readers* Hope you all enjoy this chapter!! I should be posting up my one-shots and stuff here real soon! It was nice having a small break, but I think I am going through withdrawals already, lol!!

Two pieces of SoD fanart that arrived after the last chapter that I wanted to share, both of furry!Naruto:

The first from Xpyne: http://soliandxpyne.livejournal.com/34760.html
The second from Adi: http://yaoi.y-gallery.net/view/339356/

Thanks for the wonderful fanart, girls!! *lurves on you both!!!*

Thanks so much for reading!

Chapter 10


Sasuke sat in his car, body humming with the need to find Naruto but unable to due to the fact that he had no clue where Orochimaru’s hideout was located. From the talk in the station he knew that the man’s territory was located around the bay area, but they had yet been able to pinpoint the base of operations.

He could always go into work and ask around until he found whoever was working a case involving the crime-boss wanna-be but then Baki would be able to detain him.

Taking a deep breath and trying to force himself to remain calm, he tried to search his memory to try to remember who was working on Orochimaru’s cases. Who would know where the bastard was? Who could help him find Naruto?

Kakashi.

Naruto was always at Kakashi’s and they seemed to be on friendly terms. Surely the man had an idea where Orochimaru was and, by default, Naruto. With at least a direction in mind now, Sasuke turned on his lights and spun out of his parking garage.

As he tore down through the streets, he could only hope that the perverted porn shop owner had a clue. He had a twisting sensation in his gut that if he was too late then he would lose Naruto in the same way he had lost his family.

A few blocks away from The Toy Chest Sasuke turned off his lights so as not to draw attention to where he was going. He whipped his car into a parking space and immediately leaped out to dart across the street, barely looking for on-coming traffic.

Ignoring the squealing of brakes and the honking of horns, Sasuke dashed into the porn shop, eyes immediately latching onto the silver-haired man with his nose buried in the book behind the counter.

“Good morning, detective,” Kakashi drawled without lifting his gaze from the words before him. “Did you need an emergency resupply of lubricant or is there something else to which I owe the pleasure of your visit?”

Sasuke didn’t hesitate as he got up into Kakashi’s personal space. The older man tilted his book down over his nose, looking at the detective curiously with his one good eye.

“I need to know where Orochimaru is. I need to find Naruto,” he said urgently in a low tone.

“If you give him a little bit, I’m sure-”

“They know!” Sasuke interrupted angrily. “They know that he was with me and that he’s working with me. I need to get to him before something happens!”

Kakashi’s dark eye widened in sudden understanding. He quickly stood, dropping his book on the counter and revealing the loose scarf he had around the lower half of his face. He walked to the door, flipped the closed sign and turned the lock.

Sasuke glanced around reflexively and saw that, in fact, the shop had been empty of customers.

Kakashi came back over and picked up his cell phone. He quickly dialed a number but then hung up almost immediately. Before Sasuke could ask what in the hell was going on, Kakashi’s cell phone rang back.

Kakashi picked up the line, but didn’t greet the person on the other end. There was a pause and then, “No, I don’t have anything new for you. I need something from you. Where does the snake nest?”

There was some kind of response on the other end that Sasuke didn’t hear, but Kakashi’s face twisted in annoyance.

“Because my informant is in danger, Ebisu, and I need to know where he is,” Kakashi said evenly enough into the phone.

“Has anything happened there?” he asked shortly.

“Because Uchiha is here and he says that they’ve been found out.”

There was a longer silence as the other person, Ebisu apparently, replied.

“How big were the trucks and how many?” Kakashi asked.

Sasuke was practically hanging on every word and the urgency was coming back upon him tenfold. He had to find Naruto!

“I’ll meet you there!” Kakashi practically slapped the phone shut and raced to the door with Sasuke on his heels.

After letting them out and locking the shop behind him, both men made their way to Sasuke’s car. It was only when the vehicle was started that Kakashi gave him curt directions.

“Docks, northside.”

Sasuke smoothly pulled into traffic, focused now that he was actually doing something. “What’s going on?” he demanded as he turned on his lights and siren and sped up through traffic.

“I have friends that have been working on putting Orochimaru away for some time now,” Kakashi answered with his one-eyed gaze scrutinizing everything around him.

Sasuke was about to insist on an explanation when he felt his cell phone start vibrating in his coat pocket. Already guessing who it was, he pulled it out long enough to glance at the number to confirm it. He turned the ringer off, ignoring the call from the station, and returned his attention back to both the traffic and Kakashi.

“You said something about Naruto being your informant?” he prompted as he swerved around some idiot who decided to stop in the middle of the road rather than pull to the side to let him pass.

“He doesn’t know he is,” Kakashi said after a few moments. “I retired when I lost my eye. I bought the shop and was going to spend the rest of my days kicked back and selling toys to other perverts. But then Naruto showed up and pulled off one of his blackmail set-ups in my shop. After I realized who he worked for, it was too good of an opportunity to pass up. He trusts me enough to talk and I turn anything that can be used against Orochimaru over to my previous colleagues.”

“Who did you work for?” Sasuke asked shortly as he pulled a tight turn.

“FBI.”

The detective shot an incredulous look over at Kakashi. “You’ve been using Naruto to dig for information for the feds?”

Kakashi returned the look mildly before once more turning his gaze back to their surroundings. “I’m not the one that uses him, Uchiha. I just try to help when I can to keep him out of the worst of it. To keep what he has to do to a minimum and if the feds can use what I send them to get rid of Orochimaru, then so much the better for Naruto.”

Sasuke was silent for a long moment, trying to piece everything together and not get distracted by the unimportant factors. “What about the trucks?” he finally asked.

“We’ll find out more when we get there,” Kakashi answered calmly. “Which would be any moment now,” he added as the warehouse district came into view. “Turn off the lights. Let’s not attract too much attention.”

Sasuke quickly turned off the lights and siren and pulled into the area as Kakashi dialed his phone again. This time he waited for the line to pick up.

“We’re here. Where are you?” Kakashi nodded a few times before hanging up. “Turn right here,” he told Sasuke.

Sasuke followed the older man’s directions as he led them deeper in amongst the bulky, square buildings. The traffic of trucks and forklifts became lighter as they moved into the outskirts of the area where the buildings were larger and security was tighter.

“Stop here,” Kakashi told him.

They were alongside of what appeared to be an empty building that was rather intact looking. A small door opened to the side as a man dressed in dark casual clothes with a bandana covering his hair stepped out, his sunglasses glinting in the bright afternoon sun.

“Ebisu,” Kakashi greeted as he stepped out of the car.

“Kakashi,” the man returned as they clasped hands. The man then turned his eyes towards Sasuke. “Uchiha.”

Sasuke lifted an eyebrow slightly, but nodded cautiously in return. “Where is he?” he asked after the preliminaries.

Ebisu made a small, disgruntled noise in his throat. “Don’t worry, your boyfriend should be safe enough. He’s still in the warehouse.”

Sasuke’s lips thinned out as his fists clenched. “How do you know for sure that he is?” he demanded, choosing to ignore the implied insult for the moment.

“Orochimaru isn’t there. He and his right-hand man left about twenty minutes ago. Uzumaki wasn’t with them and he hasn’t come out of the warehouse since he went in,” Ebisu said condescendingly while pushing his glasses up on the bridge of his nose.

“You said something about trucks,” Kakashi intervened.

Ebisu shrugged. “Nothing too unusual. It happens now and then. He had a couple of trucks leave the warehouse shortly before he did. Sometimes he moves drugs, sometimes he moves stolen merchandise. Just depends. The only thing odd about it is that he usually only moves one truck at a time and we have more warning than this.”

“If you know so much about his movements, why haven’t you done something yet?” Sasuke demanded.

Ebisu turned his attention once more toward the detective. “Orochimaru is into a lot of things. He has bureaucrats in his pocket, drugs on the streets and contacts deep in the criminal world. There’s a lot going on and not a lot of proof to back it up. We’re trying to find out as much as we can so that when we shut him down, he stays that way.”

“I’m not going to wait until you decide to do something,” Sasuke growled. “Where’s the damn warehouse?”

Ebisu hesitated for a moment before nodding over at the fence a few hundred feet away. “It’s in there. Good luck getting in. Constantine wire, armed guards at the gate, surveillance. You’ll be shot as a trespasser before you even get near the warehouse.”

Sasuke scowled at the other man. “I don’t give a damn. Someone has to get him out of there. I don’t believe for one second that Orochimaru doesn’t know what’s going on. And if you aren’t going to help me then-”

A loud roar suddenly cut off Sasuke’s rant as large billowing flames exploded outward form a point of origin within the warehouse that sat back quite a ways from the fence line. Glass and debris sprayed the compound as windows were blown out from the force of the blast, filling the air with deadly shrapnel. The ground under his feet rumbled and several car alarms started sounding within the area.

He instinctively ducked at the first burst of noise and watched in horror as fire quickly engulfed the building. It was only when he heard a yell from far behind him that he realized that he was already running toward the gate.

While the only thing in his mind was to get to the damn warehouse and somehow find Naruto, he hesitated long enough to look for a guard to yell at to call 911 only to find the guard shack was empty. He then resumed his sprint, his loafers crunching over glass even this far away from the building.

Two other sets of running footfalls could be heard behind him as the two other men followed him to the building. Just as he was about to throw himself at the heated door, the building gave a great shuddering groan and then began to collapse in on itself.

A pair of hands grabbed Sasuke and pulled him back from the warehouse as the walls started buckling.

Sasuke struggled against Kakashi as the older man tried to drag him away. “Dammit, he might be in there!”

“And there might be more explosives in there, too!” Kakashi snapped as he had to yet again adjust his grip as the detective slipped an arm free. “Or the building might cave in on you. What good are you to him dead?”

“What good am I if he’s dead?” Sasuke countered angrily.

Kakashi spun Sasuke around to face him, his one good eye taking in the fearful-determined-desperate look on the pale face before him. “Wait for the building to settle down,” he urged quietly. “At least wait until it stops falling in.”

“I can’t,” Sasuke replied just as softly through clenched teeth. “I have to find him.”

Kakashi hesitated a moment, then let go. Sasuke immediately turned around and darted through the now twisted, open door.

“He’ll mess up the scene,” Ebisu predicted morbidly.

“He’s a police officer,” Kakashi reminded him. “The scene won’t be compromised.”

In the distance, they could hear the sirens of the fire trucks.


Sasuke entered into the smoke filled building. He quickly pulled the lapel of his jacket over his nose as the hot, acrid air stung his eyes and clogged his throat.

To his left were the remains of what looked to be the open warehouse. Twisted metal and burning debris turned the area into some strange macabre junkyard where the burned out shells still groaned their despair and the smell of burned chemicals and flesh filled the air.

To the right was the half collapsed doorway that led to what appeared to be some kind of living quarters. Figuring that Naruto would more likely to be that way, he slipped in through the cracked frame and into the half collapsed rooms beyond.

It seemed as if there had been a separate explosion in here as the damage varied within the living quarters. It was bad from where it was close to the warehouse and then seemed to go relatively unharmed apart from the collapsed roof and then back to severely damaged again.

He picked through the rooms, noting that there was a lot of commotion outside now. Sirens were arriving and there were shouted orders being thrown about. However, none of that truly concerned him. The only thought that cycled through his mind was to find Naruto. Whether it was proof that he hadn’t been here or perhaps finding him injured amongst the debris somewhere.

He shied away from contemplating a third alternative.

He came upon another room and, after a cursory glance that didn’t reveal anything living, was about to move on when he stopped. In amongst the shattered remains, which seemed even more tossed about than the other rooms, he spotted several pieces of tattered orange material.

Stepping further into the area, he watched as the fire steadily ate away at the contents. Slowly erasing any proof of the previous inhabitants existence. He felt his chest tighten painfully at the sadistic symbolism. He had almost succeeded in ripping himself away from the room when something orange and fluffy caught his eye.

Flipping a few clothes onto the oncoming flames to delay them, Sasuke plucked a small stuffed fox out from under the edge of a mattress.

‘Foxy.’ That was what had been on the back of Naruto’s helmet.

The plushie was a little worse for wear, scorched and reeking of smoke, but still relatively intact. He clutched the toy momentarily in his grip, promising himself that he would find Naruto before shoving it into the pocket of his jacket.

The only other area in that particular side of the building was almost obliterated and he hazarded that it had probably been at ground zero for a second but synchronized explosion. Unable to proceed, he pulled back and reluctantly made his way back out into the warehouse. If Naruto hadn’t been in the living area, he hoped and prayed that he hadn’t been in the warehouse. He doubted anything could have survived the destruction that he had seen upon entering.

Fire fighters immediately spotted him and ushered him outside, urging him to get to the ambulance for oxygen while simultaneously demanding to know if he had found anyone.

At his negative reply, they instantly went back to their jobs of putting out the fires and searching for survivors. As he held the clear plastic mask over his face, getting his first taste of clean air in what seemed to be an eternity, he noted that the bomb squad had arrived as had several police cars.

Kakashi and Ebisu seemed to have disappeared at some point in time, leaving Sasuke alone with his own fears beating at his mind.

He kept a sharp eye on every body that was removed from the warehouse. Some were obviously not Naruto; others were unidentifiable as shrapnel had turned them into so much ground meat. A few bodies had some form of salvageable identification on them, but not many.

It was when the forensics expert called out for the officer in charge that he felt his heart skip a beat. Having already discarded the oxygen and perfunctory blanket given to him long ago, he moved in closer, trying to keep from being noticed but wanting to hear what was going on.

“This one was shot,” the medical expert pointed out. He had a charred corpse in front of him whose features weren’t readily recognizable and from the blackened skin it was doubtful that they would be able to lift any form of prints from the body. The body also was missing an arm and a good chunk out of its abdomen from the blast.

“Any ID?” the policeman asked brusquely, his gaze taking in the body briefly before looking away.

“Just a partial.” He handed up the charred remains of a wallet with the half melted driver’s license inside.

By habit, the officer pulled out a plastic baggy with which he used to grip the wallet. “Looks like he was blond,” he muttered as he turned the picture this way and that to try to get a better look at the smudged, burnt name.

Sasuke immediately pushed his way closer to try to get a look at the identification.

“U-zu-ma- hey!” the officer protested as Sasuke yanked the wallet away from him.

There, right in front of Sasuke was Naruto’s name albeit smudged and difficult to read. The only part visible on the picture was the right side of the face which showed three marks on the cheek and a few locks of blond hair.

Sasuke swallowed thickly, ignoring the demanding questions from the man in front of him, as his eyes dropped to the charred remains in front of him.

He wanted to deny it. He wanted to refuse to believe. But the burnt evidence was before his eyes and his eyes didn’t lie.

Naruto had been shot and then Orochimaru had blown up the building to cover his tracks.

Slowly, his trembling stopped. Slowly, his racing pulse returned to normal. Slowly, any warmth within him froze. Slowly, his mind became, to him, rational as he saw with crystal clarity what he had to do.

He had to hunt down and kill Orochimaru.


TBC

Sorry if it seems short, but I had to stop here to not blur the events together. /hugs!!