Being a Yazkuza's Bride

Chapter 15: Collared



Sasuke stared down at the phone; he tapped his finger against the hardwood desk. The seconds passed into minutes, and then slowly into hours. 12 hours to be exact since Shikamaru had made the call to Juugo. The burly man was meant to call back to confirm that he had retrieved Naruto. He was 3 minutes late, and Juugo was anything but punctual. The fact that the brunette hadn't called back was grinding at Sasuke's nerves. In other words he was worried.



He wasn't sure if he should make the call either, if by chance Juugo was caught by Orochimaru, or they were in hiding; the last thing he wanted to do was make things worse for them. But he really needed to call them; he had to be reassured that everything was okay.



In the end his resolve shattered under the strain. So he picked up the phone and pressed the speed-dial for Juugo's number, before placing the phone against his ear. It rang, and rang…



And rang…



OoOoOoOoO



Naruto sat beside the sleeping man, watching over the brunette in a daze, then he heard the ringing. In the silence of the hut it was so loud and shrill that it startled him out of his daze. He looked frenziedly around the room, trying to figure out from where the noise came from. His gaze landed on Juugo's bloody jacket.



Hesitantly he crawled over to the tattered cloth, flinching at the sight of dried blood. Naruto reached inside the breast-pocket and took the ringing phone out; he flipped it open and pressed it against his ear. His throat felt extremely dry and he barely managed to talk.



"H-hello?"



"Naruto?" came a surprised, but cool baritone voice.



"Sa-Sasuke?" he shouted hopefully. It was too much for him; he gasped for air, his chest constricting painfully as tears gathered in his eyes. "S-Sasuke… he got shot, he was shot and there was so much blood, and they were chasing us-" and he broke down crying.



"Naruto, Naruto, who got shot? Was it Juugo? Are you okay?" came Sasuke's panicked voice.



"So much blood…" he whispered.



"Naruto, talk to me!" Sasuke could tell that Naruto was entering a state of shock. Not that he was doing any better, hearing that someone was shot only managed to make his worst imagination come true.



"I'm scared…" the raven-haired man bit his bottom lip at how broken that voice sounded.



"It's okay, it's going to be okay. I'm here…" and he was met by silence



"No, you're not here… you're still in Tokyo… I want to go home Sasuke, please take me home."



His grip on the receiver tightened, and his knuckles whitened. It literally broke him to hear the bubbly blonde so defeated. With frustration he wrung his long hands through his ebony locks, and took a deep breath.



"Don't worry Naruto, I'll take you home and I won't let you out of my sight," he said sincerely.



Slowly Sasuke managed to coax what had happened to them, and as the tale unwound Sasuke wished for nothing more than Orochimaru's death. As soon as he had Naruto back with him he would make sure that that snake bastard paid. But first he needed to confirm where their location was, so that he could hurry Naruto's rescue.



"Naruto, I need you to give Juugo the phone…"



"But he's-"



"It's okay dobe, just wake him up and give him the phone."



There was silence, some shuffling sounds and then a loud groan. "Boss?" came Juugo's weak voice.



"It's good to hear from you, Juugo," Sasuke couldn't help but let a smile filter on his face.



"I'm sorry boss, I failed you."



"No Juugo, you did more than most ever could; be reassured that your efforts will be rewarded. Now I need for you to tell me your location so that I can pick you up."



"We're near Miaoli port, there is a little fishing village about a mile off the coast…" he wheezed out. Obviously the man was in a lot of pain, and barely managing to keep this conversation up.



"That's good Juugo, now get some rest, I'm heading out right now. Hand the phone to Naruto, will you?"



"Okay boss," he replied.



Naruto, who had been watching the conversation with great curiosity, thought the way Juugo kept on referring to Sasuke as 'boss' was mildly disconcerting. It made him wonder who Sasuke truly was, and what kind of world the other man was involved in that got Naruto pulled into such deep shit. Vaguely he remembered the joke Sasuke had made about being a Yakuza (that was before he got molested in the Uchiha's office), now he didn't think that it had been a joke. Yet all the stereotypes pointed to it, owning a number of questionable business, the high class customers, and that one thing with Gato… you just don't threaten a man from the government and get out of it without a backlash.



Now Naruto wasn't naïve; he knew that there was every chance that Yakuza families still existed in the dank underbelly of the Tokyo skyline, but just the simple thought of who Sasuke could really be truly frightened him. It became even more apparent that he knew nothing of the other man, but even so… he was putting all of his trust in that man. Naruto did trust Sasuke, and it wasn't just the terrified-and-looking-for-help side of him speaking.



Naruto couldn't explain what he felt; all he knew was that he cared about Sasuke. So when Juugo shakily handed him the mobile, before collapsing on his bed, Naruto took it and with a clear voice said:



"I'll wait for you Sasuke, I'll wait for you to take me home…"



Just for that moment the Uchiha's breath was taken away; he could almost understand the underlying concepts within the words, the unspoken sincerity, and he couldn't help but smile.



"I promise I will…" there was a pause, a calm silence, and before Sasuke could say anything else a scream tore through the receiver.



Instantly he sprang up in his chair. "Naruto are you okay, what happened?"



"That wasn't me!" came his whispered reply. "Something is going on outside," slowly the blonde managed to stand up.



Juugo himself was awake and trying to sit up, but Naruto simply pushed him down. Slowly he went towards the door and peeked out, his blue eyes widening at the sight before him.



It was Kabuto, bandages covered his silver hair, and his face was pulled into a ruthless scowl. He grabbed Tsunami away from Inari and forced the screaming woman onto the ground, training a gun to her head. She shrieked and cowered, trying to scramble away from Kabuto. Inari was screaming for his mother only to be slapped harshly by one of the goons, so he was knocked to the ground. The old man was restrained by another thug.



"Naruto I know you're here; come out wherever you are, or you can be assured this family will pay the price for your stupidity," he called.



The blonde's grip on the phone tightened; this wasn't happening, this wasn't happening, this wasn't happening! Why now, they were so goddamn close, so fucking close to getting back home and now this, what was he meant to do now?



"Naruto, Naruto are you still there, what happened?" came Sasuke's voice from the phone.



"Sasuke, Kabuto found us…" he whispered back.



"Stay hidden, I promise I'll come and find you."



But as Naruto watched the distressing scene in front of him he knew he simply couldn't take a step back. These people helped him out of the kindness of their own hearts, and were now getting punished for it. He couldn't in the right mind let that happen, so he did the only thing he could do. He took a deep breath of air to steady his shaky nerves; this wasn't the time to act weak.



"I'm sorry, Sasuke…"



"Naruto?"



"He's going to kill them because of me, and I can't let him do that."



"What do you mean, what are you thinking of doing?" Sasuke was scared, Naruto could tell by the tone of his voice; this was the first time he had ever heard the raven like that. He looked back out at the crazy scene in front of him. The feared looks on their faces as they were being held at gun-point.



"You know if you don't come out we'll just take the woman and the kid and leave the old man to die. She'll bring in quiet a bit of money, such a pretty little thing, and the kid? Well there are always buyers for little boys," Kabuto taunted.



Like hell he was going to let that happen!



"I'm sorry Sasuke… but I can't let them get hurt because of me," he sighed in defeat. "It seems like I won't be coming home after all…"



"Naruto? NARUTO?"



"Goodbye," he flipped the phone shut, and placed it beside Juugo before taking a heavy blanket and covering the large man from view.



With another heavy sigh he ran his hand through his messy hair, and with one last look at the injured man he walked out of the room and into the lion's pit. Kabuto instantly turned to look at him, and with a sneer he dropped his grip on the crying woman but didn't remove his weapon from her head.



"So you finally came out?" he said with an eerie smile. "Orochimaru-sama isn't happy at all about you running away."



He tried to repress the shiver when he heard the disgusting man's name. "Let them go, they have nothing to do with this."



"Maybe not, but you did pull them into this," he replied and pulled the trigger.



"NOO!" the blonde screamed, but the bullet missed Tsunami by just an inch and embedded itself into the wall.



Naruto stared from the bullet to the smoking gun, and then at Kabuto's grinning face. "Oh my, it seems I missed, maybe I should take another-"



"NO, please don't, you already have me, please don't do it!" he pleaded. Naruto already knew that Kabuto was only playing with him, most likely payback for slamming that rock against his head.



The silver-haired man chuckled and pushed the glasses on his face up, "Of course you are right; where is that traitorous Juugo? I have a bone to pick with him."



The blonde froze, "H-h-he died."



"Oh really now?"



"Blood loss," he said quickly.



"Hm, okay, take him," Kabuto ordered, waving his gun around.



This time Naruto didn't struggle as two brutes grabbed him harshly by the shoulders, one of them restraining his arms behind his back with a rope. He hissed when they tugged a bit too harshly, at which Kabuto gave them a deadly glare.



"Careful with the merchandise, if Orochimaru-sama sees a bruise on him he'll have your heads," he berated them.



They grunted and gave the blonde a light shove so that he would follow them out.



OoOoOoOoO



Sasuke stared at the receiver in his pale hands; the sound of the dial-tone was all that could be heard. Naruto had put the phone down, and he had, he had…



"Shit!" he cursed and quickly pressed redial. It took a few rings, but he heard a 'click' indicating that someone had picked up.



"B-boss…" came Juugo's raspy voice.



"Juugo, what happened?"



"I-I couldn't stop him boss, I failed…"



"I told you already you did the best you could do, so Orochimaru has him again?"



"I'm afraid so."



Sasuke cursed inwardly again, how was he meant to help Naruto now? While Juugo had been in Orochimaru's group he could keep an eye on the other man, but with the brunette's cover blown there was no way for him to figure out where his location was. Now that snake bastard had his hands on what was 'his', and only Kami knows what he would do to him.



"I don't think he will stay with Orochimaru, boss," Juugo whispered as if reading his mind.



This got Sasuke's attention. "What do you mean by that?" he asked.



"Kabuto called him 'merchandise'…"



"'Merchandise'? What do you-" and then it hit Sasuke like a ton of bricks, he knew exactly what that bastard was going to do Naruto.



Taiwan was infamous for this, he didn't think there where any Yakuza families that didn't know about the secret dealings that happened on the Island. Naruto was going to be sold on the black market to the highest bidder.



"Boss?" Juugo's worried voice snapped Sasuke out of his reverie.



"I'll call you back later, Juugo," he replied and put the phone down.



Fore a moment he stared down at the wood grain texture of his desk, deep in thought. Sasuke knew about the notorious 'Market' located somewhere deep in Taiwan's capital Taipei. However it was through invitation only that people could enter, much less find this elusive place. It was invitation that Sasuke didn't have; you have to have the right channels and connections to find it, but Sasuke never had any interests in these type of dealings so he never bothered with it. The best he could possibly do was simply go to Taiwan, get Juugo, and then rampage through the island in search of the blonde.



Sasuke abruptly stood up and left his office. Kakashi was already waiting for him outside, as always his head buried in his book. "Where to, boss?" he asked, not looking up from his book.



"Get my private jet set up, we are going to Taiwan," Sasuke replied, storming down the hallway.



"And Neji?"



After a brief pause, he replied. "Get him also on the plane, I may still have use for him. Where's Shikamaru?"



"Still in the tech room."



"Get him; also remember to bring Sai, Suigetsu, Lee, Haku and Zabuza…"



"Of course, does this mean you have found Naruto's location?"



"Sort of… he's in the 'Market'."



Kakashi shut his book at that answer; this had just gotten even more serious. He frowned and took out his blackberry so that he could start making the necessary arrangements. They'd almost reached the exit when they noticed the tall dark-haired man leaning against the wall, waiting for them. Itachi looked up, and gave Sasuke a freezing glare. Uchiha Itachi was not happy.



"Where are you going, little brother?" he asked.



"None of your business," he replied just as coldly, and tried to sidestep his brother, only for Itachi to stop him once again.



"Has it got anything to do with that little toy of yours?"



"He's not a toy, Itachi!" he shouted back, gritting his teeth together in frustration.



This statement raised a few eyebrows. "So you care for this man?" the older Uchiha asked.



"For goodness' sake, I think that's pretty obvious, now will you get out of my way, I can't waste any more time here!" he shouted and tried to push his brother away.



"Here," Itachi said in his monotones voice, and thrust a card into Sasuke's face. The raven raised an elegant eyebrow and looked at the card in front of him; he took the card off his older brother and looked at it. It was a plain white plastic card, with a simple barcode printed over the top. What the hell was this?



"It will get you where you want to go, Otouto."



Sasuke froze; he glanced from the card back to his brother. "How did you know?"



His brother just gave him a smirk. "I know everything about you, brother. Here…" he said, handing a paper to Sasuke. "This is the address, now be discreet little brother, or you'll be in a lot of trouble," and with that he walked away.



Sasuke just watched him go with an astounded look on his face; he opened the piece of paper and saw there was a set of GPS coordinates. He gave the paper to Kakashi, and with a small smile on his face went inside the waiting limo.



OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO



A black BMW drove through the busy streets of Taipei. Inside Orochimaru sat, swirling the glass of wine in his hand, watching the ruby liquid slosh in the crystal glass. He had just gotten the call from Kabuto that they had finally gotten his little fox back. He smirked and took a sip of his drink, enjoying the taste of the tangy liquid moving down his throat. Yes, finally he had the blonde fox, sadly however he would not be able to keep him, or even have a taste.



Virgins sold for such a higher price.



He smirked again and looked out of the tinted glass of window; they were driving out to the building where the 'Market' was located. Kabuto should already have driven ahead with their precious cargo to the destination, and getting everything set up. The auction would be later tonight, and he knew there would be a huge turnout of high-class people.



The car slowly came to a stop, and Orochimaru waited for the driver to open the door for him. He stepped out in the sunlight, moving a strand of long black hair behind his ear. His golden eyes flashed in amusement when he saw Kabuto standing in front of a plain-looking building. He thought it was funny seeing the silver-haired man with a set of bandages covering his head. It was funny how much damage his little kitten had done, not that he made a reamrk about it. It would only injure Kabuto's bruised pride. Orochimaru nodded towards his loyal subordinate as Kabuto opened the heavy doors for him so that he could step inside the bunker-like building.



A set of stairs led deep inside the building and slowly music reached his ears; he went downstairs and saw the most beautiful sight in front of him. Naruto was leaning against the wall, his arms chained above his head to the wall, a ball gag in his mouth and a blindfold hiding his ocean blue eyes. He was nude expect for a little skirt-like cloth tied around his waist to hide what little modesty the blonde had. They had showered and cleaned him up so that he would look a little bit more presentable for the sale



And what a pretty little sight he was.



"Glad you could come back to me little fox, and all tied up in a bow for me," he watched in glee how that smaller man flinched at the sound of his voice



"Do you want to know what will happen now, Naruto? You'll be sold in an auction to the highest bidder, and they're sure to love something as exotic as you," the older man purred, and Naruto shivered in disgust.



"In a couple of hours' time you are going to be moved to the upper level, a viewing area where some men are going to get a chance to have a good look at you so that they can make a bid. So look cute and make me a lot of money, little fox," and with that he left, leaving Naruto more scared than anything.



An eternity seemed to pass before he heard the sound of a door opening and some muffled shouting in a foreign tongue. Someone roughly grabbed his arm and undid the shackles before hauling him up into a standing position. Blindingly he stumbled along as the man roughly pushed him towards an unknown destination. The floor was cold, the texture more slippery with sharp edges like tiles. Strong arms gripped onto his shoulders and forcefully guided him down to what seemed like a set of soft cushions; his right hand was taken again and the sharp cold metal was slapped onto his wrist. A jingle of chains was heard and more shouting, then he felt someone tilting his head forward that person undid the bindings around his head so that the gag fell out of his mouth. Yet the blindfold was still around his eyes.



A creaking sound like that of rusting metal was heard, and then a clang as if a gate was shut. Now Naruto understood: he was in a cage of some sort, set out like some exotic pet. Hesitantly he reached up to the blindfold with his free hand and slowly tugged it off; he flinched away at the bright light hitting his eyes, and after moments of letting his eyesight adjust did he start surveying the new place he was being held in.



It was a huge hall, chandeliers hung from the ceiling, with white walls, classical music floated through the air probably trying to recreate a plesant atmospered (as if) but what scared him the most were the sets of similar cages set along the walls of the large room. In each were more people, all in a similar state to Naruto, tied up and kept in luxurious-looking cages lined with cushions and velvety drapes. There were so many young men here, all looking as scared and confused as he was.



Slowly people came in expensive black suits and champagne flutes; they all looked dangerous, like stereotypical mobsters. They looked at the cages, leering at the young men inside, making remarks in foreign tongues. These people were older men, powerful people from all over the world meeting here to buy a person as if they were just another commodity.



With fear he pressed himself against the back of the cage when some of the men started leering at him. But there was one person who was looking at him more than others. It was a man younger than the others with shocking crimson hair and teal green eyes. His face was pale and expressionless, and a red tattoo that looked like the Japanese kanji for love. For some reason, as intimidating as the other man was, there was something about him that told Naruto that he shouldn't be scared. He didn't really know why. Yet after Naruto blinked the man was gone, leaving the blonde perplexed as to what had just happened.