Full Circle

Full Circle

chapter 13

"Umm, thanks for sticking up for me in there, I guess," Naruto said rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably. Dinner had ended on an awkward note and he and Neji had quickly excused themselves from the table and escaped out into the cool night air. Neji glanced over, taking in his friend's continuing distress at the situation.

"You don't have to thank me. She was completely out of line. There's no way I could allow that kind of behavior to continue," he replied calmly. "You've never done anything in your life to deserve such treatment... It's been an interesting day hasn't it?"

Naruto nodded with a thoughtful frown and looked up at the stars as they continued their slow circle around the pool.

"I must admit, I find myself somewhat confused by all of this," Neji finally continued, cutting through the silence. "Sasuke hasn't been behaving in quite the way that you described to me earlier. I'm not entirely sure what to make of him. I was suspicious of his reactions in the ice-cream parlour and then there are Sakura's allegations that he isn't gay at all. She may just be jealous and in denial, but that doesn't mean we should dismiss her words without first considering them... On the other hand, his anger over her treatment of you at dinner really did seem genuine."

Naruto was watching quietly with open curiosity while Neji puzzled over the situation. The Hyuuga fell silent once again and they continued to pace the back yard until he turned to the blond and stopped.

"It would be easy enough to come to a conclusion on this matter, if it weren't for one thing. This Sai character is bothering me a great deal. Things would be so much simpler if he weren't in the picture. I'm not sure what he thinks he's doing but whatever it is it's clearly inappropriate, and for some reason, Sasuke is failing to acknowledge that. I might have even suspected... but then he doesn't exactly seem thrilled about it either. Naruto, I think that you should do your best to distance yourself from that guy. I don't like him. I'm sure that nothing good will come of associating with him too closely."

"Don't worry about Sai, Neji," Naruto murmured quietly. "I understand your concerns. I had my reservations about him myself of course but I have everything under control now."

"I just need to make sure Naruto. I don't trust that guy and I really don't think you should either. He's bad news."

"Thanks Neji. I'm glad I can count on you to look out for me but I promise I know what I'm doing. I can take care of myself."

"I'm sure you can," Neji conceded. "And hopefully he'll turn out to be harmless after all. It's Sasuke that has me really 'stumped'. I can't tell what he really wants. Do 'you' trust him?"

"I'd like to," Naruto sighed. "... I think I'm going to go get ready for bed."

"Ok. I'll be along later."

Neji's mind wasn't ready to let him relax yet. He watched silently as Naruto disappeared into the pool-house. A few minutes later Sasuke stepped out the back door, invading the Hyuuga's solitude. As he hadn't completely made up his mind about things yet, he didn't much feel like having a chat and a long silence would be awkward, so he just nodded to him before going into the main house and leaving him alone outside.

The lone Hyuuga wandered aimlessly throughout the halls of the huge home, his mind wandering until he caught sight of a tall shadow coming his way. He slowed his steps, squinting slightly at the figure ahead, trying to make the person out.

"Good evening Mr. Hyuuga," came a deep voice. "Exploring the house?" Neji thought he recognized the voice as belonging to Sasuke's older brother, and sure enough, as the figure move closer, he made out the smooth, stoic face of Uchiha Itachi.

"Ah, Itachi san. I was just wandering about actually. I have some things on my mind that need to be sorted out and I tend to think better when I walk."

"Indeed. Does something trouble you? I hope that you haven't made too much of the incident at dinner. Miss Haruno has a long standing tendency to be overly... emotional. She cannot be taken seriously."

"Is that so?" Neji raised a brow in mild interest. Itachi nodded.

"Truthfully, I'm quite glad that she will not be marrying my brother after all. No good could have come from such a union. Divorce is scandalous enough. It would have been a shame to have to add murder to the smears on the family name."

"Add? Has there 'been' a divorce in the family?"

"There will be soon enough I'm afraid. You have met my lovely wife. I'm sure you could tell that she is not exactly happy with her current position."

Neji actually stared in surprise. He certainly 'had' noticed the strain relations, but he would never have expected an Uchiha to resort to divorce no matter the situation. Itachi gave a tiny smile at his subtle reaction.

"It has been selfish of me to hold her to her vows for the sole sake of my own reputation for as long as I have. That fact was recently thrown into my face in a way that made it impossible to ignore... A fine example like Naruto kun can be difficult to live up to but apparently even more difficult 'not' to follow."

At this the Hyuuga smiled and nodded knowingly.

"Naruto is truly an amazing person. I'm lucky to have him as a friend."

"It seems to me that he is just as lucky to have you as a friend," Itachi smirked. Neji blushed at the reference to his earlier 'outburst' and the Uchiha's smirk grew a little wider.

"Nothing to be embarrassed about," he assured in a light tone of amusement. "I think you carried that off admirably. I must admit to a feeling a distinct satisfaction at seeing her being scolded like the selfish little brat she is." Itachi certainly looked quite satisfied at the very thought and Neji couldn't help but chuckle a little.

"Well something did 'have' to be done," he agreed. "It's bad enough that she would speak that way about a sweet person like Naruto, but she 'had' to be cut off before she could take it any further in front of a five year old."

"Ah yes," Itachi drawled, his gaze intensifying. "Takara. He seems to have found a new hero. He wouldn't stop talking about how 'cool' you were right up until bed time. At first I didn't quite understand his sudden idolization of you but then you really did manage to impress me." Neji began to look slightly uncomfortable again. "I'm serious. You stood up for your friend and that is admirable enough but you managed to do so in a reasonably calm and dignified manner which is all the more difficult. Sasuke, for instance simply tried insulting her back and that only made things escalate further."

"Sasuke san has a history with her, which makes it harder for him to keep his temper," said Neji quietly. "Thank you though, for the compliment. I'm glad that I haven't offended you."

"Not at all. You were... powerful. I find that very sexy."

Neji blinked in surprise and his silvery eyes darted up to meet Itachi's smirking gaze. A slow blush began to darken his cheeks despite his attempts to control it.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sasuke sighed deeply, slumping further into the lawn chair that he occupied as he went over and over the disastrous evening in his mind. He might have known that Sakura would try to make trouble for Naruto. He should have been prepared for it. Instead he'd let his temper get the better of him. He shouldn't have allowed himself to sink to her level and toss insults back and forth like children.

He felt like he'd been totally shown up by the Hyuuga, and it was his own fault. What's more, is he had actually made the situation worse. He'd meant to focus her anger on himself but instead he'd just driven her to say even more horrible things about Naruto. He could still see that awful look on the blond's face. Naruto had obviously never been the target of such venom before. And why would he have? Nobody would have ever had a reason to hate someone like Naruto. Sasuke fervently hoped that the boy's innocence, which he had come to think of as something rare and precious, hadn't been needlessly damaged. He was actually grateful to Neji to some extent for putting an instant halt to the whole thing before it could get any worse.

Childish or not though, there was no way that he was going to let Sakura get away with this kind of shit. He was definitely going to come up with the perfect revenge for the stupid pink bitch. Nobody messed with his... fiance... Come to that, it was about time he officially called things off with Sai. He really didn't want to go through with this anymore. He hadn't for a while, but this evening's events had truly driven home the fact that he didn't want... hated the very idea of... seeing Naruto hurt.

The Uchiha was roused from his depressing thoughts by the sound of rustling leaves. Frowning, he looked around at the trees in and around the yard. There wasn't a breath of wind to stir them and the sound had been too loud for a bird. Quietly, he got up from his lawn chair and began to tiptoe toward the edge of the property, where the large brick wall surrounded it. A few meters from the wall he turned to follow it's path, eyes searching the branches that hung above it.

Another rustling sound drew his attention and he swiftly looked down to where the wall came to the pool-house, passing just behind it. There it was. A shadow, denser than the leaves, outlined by the cheerful light of one of the pool-house windows. Sasuke's heart sped up. Was someone trying to break into the pool-house?! Was Naruto in there?!!

In one fluid move, he bent to scoop up a rock and straightened to hurl it full force at the shadowy intruder. He heard a masculine grunt of pain as the rock connected with it's target and the shadow visibly wavered, almost falling before regaining balance. Sasuke already had his cellphone out and opened.

"I'm calling the police right now! You'd better get the 'hell' away from there!" he called out in his most intimidating Uchiha tone.

"Damn it Sasuke," came the grumbling response. "Why is your first impulse always to throw some painful object at me? One of these days you really 'are' going to take out an eye."

"Sai?!" Sasuke slowly lowered the phone in his hand as the shadow jumped down from it's perch and stepped into the dim light. Sai, dressed all in black, was brushing leaves out of his hair as he came closer.

"What the hell were you doing up there?" Sasuke demanded irritably, focusing in on the camera that hung around the other's neck. "By Naruto's window?" he finished in a dangerous growl.

"Eh... well I was just doing a little research," Sai said with his usual smile.

"Research. In other words, you were spying on Naruto and taking pictures of him in his room?!!"

"You misunderstand," Sai hastily assured in an attempt to sooth that scary look from his employer's face.

"No 'you' misunderstand!" Sasuke cut in. "This is 'not' what I hired you for."

"I just wanted to gather some information about his relationship with that Hyuuga fellow. I could tell right away that he was going to be a problem. They're a little too 'close' to each other. You must have noticed."

A dismal sense of doubt and worry washed over Sasuke for just a moment at that, before it was swept away by his much greater anger and jealousy toward the young man that stood here smiling at him. This disgusting jerk had just been spying on Naruto, probably watching him change or something! Mustn't lose sight of 'that'. Oh no. The anger surged through him, churning furiously in his gut.

"Nice try Sai. I know for a fact that Neji isn't in there with him, or even in the pool-house at all. I want you to get lost..NOW! You're fucking fired! Beyond fired! I 'was' going to give you a healthy severance package, but now I just want you out of my sight."

Rather than scurrying off like a scavenging rat when the lights are turned on, as Sasuke had expected, Sai stood his ground, a devious smirk lifting the corners of his mouth.

"I'm fired am I? And you want me to just get lost and never speak of this again? I think not."

"What?"

"I've decided that I'm going to seduce him whether you like it or not. He is awfully cute, isn't he?" Sai ginned. Sasuke's glare deepened.

"What the hell makes you think you can just..."

"What makes 'you' think you can stop me. I can do whatever I like. You can't do a thing about it without revealing yourself as the mastermind of the whole scheme. I'm your 'best friend', remember Sasuke kun? And if you decide to have a sudden falling out with your best friend, certain information will just have to find it's way into the hands of certain people."

"Fine damn it! I'll pay you the full amount. Just get lost." Sasuke's eyes widened as Sai slowly shook his head, still smirking.

"Not enough."

"Sai, I mean it. I want you 'gone'...How much do you fucking want?" he sighed.

"That's just it. I want everything. Naruto is worth more than you. If I were to convince him to marry 'me', I'd have the Uzumaki fortune at my disposal 'and' just as an added bonus, I get to have all the 'fun' with him I want. Naruto's the generous type you know? I'm sure he'd be willing share 'everything' with his husband."

"Son of a Bitch!" Sasuke bit out before seething anger began to give way to desperation. "You'll never get him to break our engagement for you anyway Sai. I'll give you double the agreed amount. Save yourself all the trouble and just take the money and run."

"Aww, that's so sweet of you Sasuke, but I'm afraid you're out luck. If I could have it all, why should I settle for anything less?"

"That's a major gamble Sai." Sasuke warned. "You could end up with nothing. I'm offering you a sure thing, and all you have to do is nothing."

"It's a gamble I'm willing to make Sasuke kun. I stand to gain everything," Sai chuckled, then cut off the frustrated Uchiha before he could hurl anymore threats. "And I'll remind you one more time that 'you' stand to 'lose' everything. Exposing me means exposing yourself and if that happens you'll be alone 'and' penniless. I'll see you later my friend."

Sasuke stood rigid with anger as he watched Sai wander off, fading back into the shadows. He didn't really know who he was more angry with though, Sai or himself. Sai was a dirty double-crossing little snake, to be sure and Sasuke would have loved to just rip him limb from limb. On the other hand, he had undoubtedly brought this entire mess upon himself. This is what he got for coming up with this crazy plot in the first place. Someone like Naruto didn't deserve to be caught up in the middle of this idiocy. If only Sasuke hadn't been so hasty and so self centered.

Now was not the time to wallow uselessly in guilt and self-pity though. However tempting it might be to just give up and sulk, Naruto was the real victim here. There was no way he could let that prick use the trusting blond and break his heart like that. Sasuke might not be able to expose Sai but if Sai wanted to win Naruto over, he couldn't exactly expose Sasuke either. Sasuke would just have to keep him away from from his fiance in more subtle ways.

"You want a bloody war? You've got one!"




(A/N; This one's for all the readers who were worrying about poor Itachi being stuck in his loveless marriage. Yay! And Sasuke finally decides to give Sai the boot. Well that didn't work out quite the way he wanted, but at least it should make things interesting for the rest of us. LOL
Kodos- You had it nearly completely figured out. Bravo! There are still some tricks up my sleeve for later chaps though. See if you can keep on my wavelength =^.^=)