Blackmail and Betrayal

AN: I’m not dead!! Although I have a feeling some of you might wish for me to be, lol. I am terribly sorry for my absence. The holidays were hectic for me and then I was just so damn tired that I took a small, unintended and unplanned break. Now that that is out of my system, things should continue as usual from now on.

I am planning on not this Tuesday but the next for the next chapter of Blackmail as it is already Thursday and I haven’t started yet.

I’m not sure what I personally think about this chapter since it kept kicking my ass, but I hope that you all enjoy it! (This hasn’t made it to my beta yet as I wanted to get it out as soon as I was finished so forgive any errors.)

Thanks for reading!! /hugs


Chapter 14


Sasuke surveyed the seemingly innocuous warehouse from the shadow of a nearby building. While the area appeared deserted, he could spot dim lighting through the grungy windows high up near the roof. There were a few different entrances, but he didn’t know how many men were in the building and in what areas they were located. He didn’t want to just walk over and ease open a door to find a room full of guns pointed at him.

All of his careful planning screeched to a halt when he heard shouting. From his distance it was impossible to make out any words, but the voice was distinctly male, extremely pissed off and heart-stoppingly familiar in timbre.

His hand reached for his weapon even as he dashed across the empty stretch of ground separating the buildings. He tried to keep to the darkness as much as he could, but his mind was driving him to get to Naruto as quickly as conceivably possible.

As he neared the warehouse, he was able to zero in on the section from where the now ceased yells had been coming. Even as he slid up to the side of the door, his brain was screaming a repeating litany of ‘Too late, too late, too fucking late,’ in his mind.

He reached out and cautiously pushed down on the latch to the door, wincing when it squeaked slightly. When no one shoved it open from the other side, he pulled it open gingerly before ducking his head in and then back out again. He processed what he had seen; a dark room full of old junk but devoid of people with two doors leading off.

He slipped inside quietly and made his way to the first metal door that had noises coming from the other side. He pressed his ear to it, taking in the casual laughter and conversation with the slight echoing sounds of metal clanking in a large open space. That didn’t sound like the place from where the yelling had originated.

He moved to the next door and listened carefully. He could hear a few low voices that murmured indistinctly but before he could try to decipher what they were saying another noise invaded his hearing. He scowled at the strange creaking sound in frustration, wishing it would stop so he could maybe pick up a clue as to Naruto’s whereabouts.

His frown slowly disappeared as the rhythmic nature of the metallic squeaking registered in his mind. Hoping fervently that his mind had just been perverted by his exposure to Naruto and what was happening wasn’t really what he suspected; he carefully pushed down on the latch securing the door.

Thanking whatever power that was currently watching over him that the handle didn’t squeal in protest, he gently pushed the door open a crack and looked inside.

His brain automatically counted the number of people in the room as his eyes zeroed in on the figure bouncing on top of a restrained figure. His mind then began to identify the blond hair, the scars, the lust-tinged murderous look on the figure’s face and the way that every muscled strained to reach the person atop him.

Sasuke’s gun came up without any conscious command and aimed at the back of the writhing figure. Just as he was about to pull the trigger, a man with silvery-blue hair stepped into his line of sight, staring straight at him. The man opened his mouth on what would have been a demanding question or a cry of alarm had Sasuke not redirected the barrel of his gun and fired.

There was a brief scream of metal twisting that was closely following by the cracking of a fist connecting with Orochimaru’s jaw. The pale skinned man flew from his perch and fell to the floor heavily, conscious but in extreme pain. Kabuto immediately rushed to his side as the others in the room pulled weapons if they had them and sought cover.

Sakon drew his gun and, not bothering to cower like the others in the room, fired as fast as his finger could pull the trigger; rage over his twin brother’s death overriding any sense of self-preservation. He saw a dark head of hair duck around the door frame right before a round imbedded itself in his thigh, the force of the impact causing his knee to buckle as fire lanced through his flesh.

Suigetsu’s gaze swept over the room and quickly decided that now was the perfect opportunity to remove himself from the premises. Kabuto had just proven that they were a lot crazier than he had originally believed and it was apparent from their current actions that they were letting personal matters interfere with their ability to run their criminal activities. He didn’t mind drugs, guns and other methods of money-making but he saw Orochimaru’s current actions as counterproductive and just asking to get busted.

He didn’t intend to be collateral damage as they went down in a blaze of whatever it was they were aiming for.

Besides while Naruto was a little punk, he wasn’t that bad of a guy and didn’t deserve all of the shit that he had been put through. Orochimaru should have just put a bullet through him and been done with it.

Making a mental note to himself to avoid insanely brilliant and creative crime lords in the future, he quickly ducked out through the door leading into the main warehouse. The armed men that had been about to come through almost shot him as he dashed into the room but quickly recognized him.

“What’s going on?” one of them demanded.

“Cops!” Suigetsu yelled as he dashed for the far door that opened towards the bay.

The men looked at each other for a brief moment before scattering to the winds.
Naruto quickly unbuckled the other cuff around his arm before flipping the metal bar that was still attached to his wrist around so that he could use it to pry the cheap clasp holding the chains in place around his midsection. There was a loud clatter and rattle as the cold links slid from around him and down to the floor.

Tayuya and Kidoumaru had already pulled out handguns and were laying down suppressing fire around the area of the door, trying to force whoever was behind it to stay low until the men from the warehouse could either join them or circle around through the other door to get the drop on the person or persons firing upon them.

Karin crawled along the floor until she got to the room that Orochimaru had used earlier, knowing that there was a window high up on the wall that she could probably use to escape if it came down to it. She didn’t have any weapons on her and she wasn’t going to sit in the crossfire and wait until someone got in a lucky shot. She spared a sneer as she passed Ino huddled on the floor before slipping into the empty room.

Kabuto got Orochimaru to his feet, grabbed the man’s pants and quickly directed him to the back room. His first and foremost thought was to get his boss to safety. He didn’t think there were many gunmen outside, but where there was one; there was always the potential for more. He would remove his boss from danger and then he would take care of the problem.

Sasuke ducked his head around the corner to see Kabuto keeping Orochimaru’s head down low as he guided him towards another door in the room. Scowling, he squeezed off a few shots from his new clip but he didn’t have a clear line of fire and the bullets imbedded harmlessly into the walls of the room.

Naruto ripped the last cuff from around his ankle and leapt from the table with a roar of black rage and charged the two fleeing figures. A slim blade had just cleared its sheathe in Kabuto’s hand as the enraged blond slammed into him, taking all three of them to the ground.

Naruto ignored the icy cold fire that slid into the juncture of his left shoulder and chest as he focused on his cousin’s rapist. He grabbed the wrist of the hand which was holding the knife handle and twisted even as he brought his other hand back and drove his fist down at the older man’s spectacled face.

Kabuto blocked the punch and slipped his arm around Naruto’s, entwining the two but leaving himself in a position to start exerting pressure to dislocate the younger man’s shoulder.

Sakon heard the commotion behind him and turned to see the two on the floor. A slow smile twisted itself across his face as he lifted his gun towards Naruto.

Sasuke’s eyes widened briefly before narrowing down to his target. He pulled the trigger just before something moving over a thousand feet per second impacted his chest with the force of a sledgehammer causing him to spin back around and slam into the wall.

Ino’s body jerked instinctively as the sound of gun fire almost deafened her. A splash brought her attention up as hot blood and slick grey matter sprayed across the wall right above her head. The firearm flew from Sakon’s hand and skidded over the floor, coming to a stop two feet from her. Her eyes dropped to the weapon and then lifted to where her cousin straddled Kabuto.

Naruto had let go of Kabuto’s hand which held the knife and had started beating the hell out of the other man’s face when his opponent abruptly shifted. Naruto let out a pained yell as something popped in his shoulder, forcing him backwards away from the other man far enough for Kabuto to yank the knife from Naruto’s shoulder before pushing the blond off him.

Kabuto regained his feet before Naruto and assumed a fighting stance, still holding the knife. Naruto growled at him as he crouched down, ready to launch himself at the murdering bastard once more when a gunshot rang out from practically beside him.

Kabuto immediately turned his gaze on Ino’s kneeling form. He took a step toward her and another shot rang out. He staggered back into place as this time the shot didn’t miss and a red hole appeared around his stomach area. He scowled at the girl and started to lurch in her direction.

Another shot rang out.

And then another.

And then another.

And then another.

Click.

Click.

Click.

Naruto carefully moved away from the immobile body on the ground and eased over to his cousin. Ino was still staring wide-eyed at the corpse; her finger still pulling on the trigger even though the clip was empty.

“It’s okay, Ino,” he whispered as he gently pushed down on her shaking hands, urging her to lower the weapon. “He’s gone.”

Tayuya glanced behind her at the gunfire and saw Kabuto on the ground. She swung around, gun training on the two little traitors against the wall.

“FBI! Drop your weapons now!”

Tayuya whipped back around to see the barrels of several rifles framing the doorway as men in bullet-proof vests crowded behind them. She dropped her gun and slowly stood, Kidoumaru reluctantly following her lead.


Karin had quickly stacked a few boxes on top of each other and had successfully opened the window. The door opened behind her and she saw Orochimaru enter the room. He took one look at her work and smirked at her.

“Always ready to bail at the first sign of trouble,” he murmured more to himself than to her. “Well, hurry up and see if there are any signs of the police out there,” he instructed abruptly as he pulled on his trousers.

Karin quickly climbed her makeshift ladder and stuck her head out through the window. The coast seemed to be clear. Of course the next problem arrived in how they were going to get down from their current height.

She looked down and swallowed. It looked like jumping was the only option and while they weren’t up at roof level; they were still high enough that it was going to hurt when they landed.

“No one’s around,” she reported once she pulled her head back inside.

“Then it would be wise to get moving,” he commented, his voice dropping down into a less than pleased tone as the gun fire seemed to increase out in the other room.

She was halfway through the window when a spot light suddenly illuminated the area from above. Karin glanced up to see a helicopter hovering on whispering rotors as ropes were thrown out and men descended rapidly to the ground.

Guns were quickly brought upwards and aimed in her direction. She ducked back inside and looked at Orochimaru with wide eyes, waiting for him to tell her how they were going to get out of their predicament.

Orochimaru let out a long sigh, his facial features smoothing out into a calm, patient expression. He pulled a chair out, sat down and prepared to wait. He knew that they had charges to bring against him, but they would never find evidence of crimes bad enough to lock him away for long.

He was confident that he could beat the system with his connections and money.

***********************
The rest of the night was a blur to Sasuke. He remembered the FBI agents entering the building. He remembered the paramedics patching him up before the ambulance carried him to the hospital. Then there was a string of events involving the bright overhead lights of the hospital, doctors barking orders and then this lovely weightless feeling that overtook him before everything went dark.


Sasuke slowly blinked his eyes open. He didn’t feel weightless any longer but he still had this strange numb sensation and he had a suspicion that not all of the cylinders were up and firing in his brain.

The vivid whiteness once again assailed his retinas, but this time it belonged to the room in which he was currently residing. He heard someone shift in a chair at his bedside and slowly lulled his head in that direction, hoping to see blond hair and bright blue eyes.

It was almost a surreal feeling to see the pink-haired young woman dozing lightly beside him. It was as if the last week had never happened or perhaps Naruto was someone that he had made up in his mind. Either that or they had him on some really nice pain meds.

Sakura seemed to feel his gaze and opened her eyes to take in his pale features. She immediately glanced at the various monitors around him, assuring herself that all was as it should be before meeting his dark, cloudy eyes.

“How’re you feeling?” she asked in that quiet voice that everyone seemed to adopt in a hospital, as if afraid any loud sound would shatter the illusory peace that hovered in the air.

How was he feeling? Numb with an underlying ache, curious, concerned, anxious and then suddenly afraid.

“Where’s Naruto?” he croaked out.

She stood up and quickly poured him a small cup of water, which she then held as she encouraged him to take a sip through the straw.

“Where’s Naruto?” he asked in a smoother voice, but still as afraid and hopeful of the answer.

She shook her head. “I don’t know,” she replied as she replaced the cup on the rolling table. “I received a phone call saying that you’d been shot and came straight here. I don’t know anything else.”

Sasuke glanced down and noticed that his right arm was in a sling and that the dull ache he had felt earlier originated from his shoulder. He eyes swept over the private room, trying to find any evidence that either Naruto or Kakashi had been in the room; some clue as to the whereabouts or at least status of his blond lover.

The room was frustratingly blank.

The heavy wooden door opened and he felt his heart jump expectantly in his chest. However, it merely seemed to be the duty nurse checking on his condition. She paused in the doorway to say something over her shoulder to someone about him being awake and then proceeded into the room.

Behind her, a slender but toned man with medium length black hair that had a tendency to hang in his face and a bandage on his chin entered before shutting the door. He waited composedly as the nurse checked Sasuke’s stats even though the pale young man practically squirmed with impatience.

Once the woman finally finished and left the room, the man cleared his throat. “I’m Agent Izumo Kamizuki. Special Agent Ebisu assigned me with guarding your door until he can arrive to talk with you. Until then, you are not to talk to anyone regarding the events that have taken place recently. Do you understand?”

“What happened to-”

“I’m afraid that I am not permitted to talk with you regarding those circumstances as well. Rest assured that Ebisu will be able to answer your questions as soon as possible.” The agent sounded almost apologetic about his inability to supply Sasuke with information but not enough so that he went against his superior’s orders.

Sasuke gritted his teeth both in irritation and an effort to keep his less than charitable thoughts to himself. He merely nodded his reluctant compliance and watched as the agent left the room to guard outside his door.

There was an awkward silence in the room as Sakura fidgeted with the hem of her sweater and Sasuke glared at the ceiling.

“If… if you would rather I go,” Sakura started hesitantly, rising slightly from her seat.

Sasuke turned his head towards her and his gaze softened slightly. “No,” he said, his voice still slightly slurred from the medication. “I’m glad that,” he paused as he searched for the right words, “I’m glad that you came… with everything that’s happened.”

Sakura let out a pensive sigh as she settled back into her chair. “Even though things aren’t working out between us, I still care about you, Sasuke. We’ve known each other for a long time and perhaps… perhaps I should have known…”

“Known what?” he prompted quietly.

“That I wasn’t what you wanted,” she finished, staring down at her hand which still had a lighter colored strip of flesh about one particular finger where, until just recently, a ring had rested.

Sasuke frowned slightly, not sure he was following her thought processes. “And how were you supposed to have known that?”

“The things that I couldn’t do for you,” she said, a slight pink tinting her cheeks. “The fact that it felt like we were still childhood friends and not lovers. Not truly.”

Sasuke shook his head, the room lurching faintly with the motion. “It’s not your fault, Sakura. It was never your fault.”

She sniffled slightly before turning to study his face. “In those pictures…the expression on your face. I could never do that to you.”

He gave her a particularly dry smirk. “I don’t think you have the right equipment.”

Sakura’s eyes went wide as her cheeks flushed scarlet. “Sasuke!” she exclaimed, clearly scandalized. There was a pause as she floundered for words to express her shock when she suddenly let out a poorly muffled giggle.

Once her amusement had made itself known, however, she couldn’t hide it. It wasn’t long before she was laughing in a mixture of amusement and a release of stress and anxiety. Sasuke merely smiled gently at her, thinking about how long it had been since he had seen her truly laugh.

However, soon the laughter became tears and he held her against his chest, ignoring the protest of his shoulder as she bumped it with her quiet sobs.

“I’m sorry,” she mumbled against the damp hospital gown.

“Don’t be sorry,” he told her softly as he gently pet her cotton candy colored hair.

“This is the last time I am crying over you,” she said determinedly against him. “You don’t deserve it.”

“No,” he agreed, “I don’t.”

“At least you could have told me you were gay before you proposed,” she said, indignation tainting her voice.

He immediately balked at the label, but then let it go. It would be hard, not to mention stupid, to deny it at this point in time.

She pulled away from him after a few long moments and carefully wiped her face off before settling back down into the cushioned chair at his bedside.

“So,” she said, her voice switching to an almost no-nonsense tone, “are you two going to get together?”

Sasuke lifted a sluggish eyebrow, slightly surprised at her question. The medication was making him drowsy and all he wanted to do now was to sink down into oblivion until Ebisu showed up.

“What?” she asked a trifle defensively. “I think I have a right to know. And besides, he’s kinda cute and you obviously like him.”

“It would be nice,” he slurred out slowly, feeling the darkness trying to suck him under, “…if we could.”

Sakura let out a soft sigh, consciously restraining herself from brushing his hair from his face. The sooner she started letting go, the better off she would be in the long run. Instead, she settled herself down and prepared to get some rest while she could.


It was in the middle of the night and the room was almost pitch black; the only light source came from where the door was cracked open. Something in the back of Sakura’s mind told her that there was another presence in the room; a sense of something filling previously empty space, a change in the sounds and feel of the room. Her eyes finally spotted the form standing by the IV drip.

She reached over and clicked on the bedside lamp causing the nurse to jump at the sudden light. The woman laughed a little nervously as she put a hand to her breast.

“You startled me!” she exclaimed softly. Her hands went back to the needle that was sticking out of the IV line. “Don’t mind me. I’m just giving him a little something for the pain.”

Sakura frowned in confusion. Sasuke’s pain medication was on an automatic dispenser, injecting the drug into his system on a timed schedule. There was no need for extra medication unless either he had specifically requested it or the doctor had ordered it.

Sakura had read his charts when she first arrived in his room and there was no authorization for any additional medications and Sasuke was out like a light, clearly not needing something to take the edge off so he could sleep.

“He doesn’t need anything else for pain,” Sakura said with a frown. “Who ordered it and what are you giving him?”

“It was ordered by Dr. Roberts. There’s no need to worry,” she said with a smile. She hit the plunger in the syringe and then moved toward the door.

“He isn’t being attended by a Dr. Roberts,” Sakura said as she hurriedly stood from the chair. “Where is your ID badge?”

Her interrogation was interrupted by the heart monitor going wild behind her. She whirled around as Sasuke started to gasp for air, his body twisting in the sheets.

Sakura’s ER training immediately kicked in as she slammed the butt of her hand on the intercom to the nursing station. “We have a Code Blue, repeat Code Blue room 619. Respond Stat!”

She quickly stripped the sheets from him and began CPR as the room was suddenly flooded with both nurses and the doctor on call. The two FBI agents, different than the one that had shown himself earlier, shoved their way into the room, yelling and demanding to know what was going on and in the chaos no one thought to stop the hurrying nurse leaving the area.


TBC