Being a Yazkuza's Bride

Chapter 16: Just a step behind



"Good evening gentlemen, I'm happy to see such a turn-out for our annual 'Market' event," came the auctioneer's voice from the loudspeakers. He was a small balding man with a handlebar moustache and tweed jacket. He pushed up his horn-rimmed spectacles as he surveyed the vast crowd in front of him.



Every major family ranging from the Mafia, the Chinese Triads, Vice Lords, and Yakuza were gathered in the large hall. The 'Market' was hidden in a converted basement of an abandoned factory. It was converted into a club-like feel, dim lighting from chandeliers and mood lights, and tables were littered around the area where the gangsters were sitting having expensive dinners and wine.



Generally it was a pleasant atmosphere, so far at least, usually there would be a brawl breaking out sometime or another as bidding wars got out of hand. Security was on hand though to help 'calm' things down. Not to mention that weapons were confiscated at the beginning of the auction.



"Without much further ado let us begin the auction! Our first lot is this wonderful specimen…"



Naruto didn't understand a word the man was saying, he was speaking English and Naruto never bothered learning it. Now he wished he had, then again knowing what that guy was saying would probably make the blonde even more nervous. He watched the other men around him; some of them could be no older than 16, if he had to guess. They were out of their cages now and held in a backstage area, their arms and legs still shackled together so that they wouldn't be able to run. Not that any of them could with all the security here as well.



He watched as one of the burly men dragged a kid out, he was a petite Asian boy, with shoulder length black hair and pointed features. They had even added make-up to his face to accentuate those features and make him appear more feminine. The boy was made to stand out on the centre of the stage, a spotlight aimed straight at him. The auctioneer said a few other words, banged his gavel, and numbers were instantly shouted out. It was frightening to see the amount of savagery amongst the buyers as they waved cards, spittle flying out of their mouths. It scared him…



'BAM', the gavel was brought down again and the man shouted 'Sold'. The young man was then taken away to another side of the stage and out of everyone's sight. This continued on; man after man was put on stand and all of them were sold, until it finally came down to Naruto's turn.



The blonde was pushed onto stage; he stumbled, and couldn't help but blush when he heard the amused chuckles coming from the buyers. Great, now he had caught their attention. Watching from behind the curtains of the backstage was one thing, but standing right under the spotlight was absolutely terrifying.



"Now here we have a very rare lot, a natural blonde-haired blue-eyed male, 22 years old, and as you can see a wonderful specimen we like to call 'The Fox'," the auctioneer drooled on.



This was it then, he was going to be sold. For a second he wondered if he should simply have run away when he had the chance. Of course it was wishful thinking, as if he could abandon the people who had even for a short time offered them shelter, and saved Juugo. It was better this way, rather him than Tsunami, or that kid… he hoped Juugo was okay, and Sasuke…



"Standing a good 5 foot 8, from what you see absolutely no body fat, although the slight blemishes on his features in my opinion define his vulpine features. He's more endearing this way, don't you agree?" the crowd nodded and cheered.



Maybe he's better off this way; he had caused Sasuke so many problems already. Kami, it seemed like he was always causing problems for the people he cared about…



Naruto looked up at the crowd in front of him and closed his eyes, resigning himself to his fate.



"And what is even more amazing is that this magnificent creature is still a virgin!" more cheering. They must have heard something they liked, Naruto thought.



"Okay let us start the auction, reserved prize is set at $100,000, do I hear $150,000?"



"$150,000!"



"$200,000!"



"$200,000, from Mr. Valent, do I hear more?"



"$350,000!"



"$350,000, from young Jurgen, do I by any chance hear $450,000?"



Naruto noticed Orochimaru right at the back, grinning with absolute glee; he flinched away in disgust.



"$700,000!" the auctioneer shouted. "Is that all, are there no more bids? I have $700,000, are there anymore bids? Going once, going twice-"



"$1.5 million…" came a booming voice that literally rendered the whole room silent.



Everyone looked up to the person who had made the high bid; Naruto's blue eyes widened when he recognized the man standing up. It was the same redhead; he was the only standing person amongst the seated crowd. He looked up at Naruto meeting the blonde's gaze impassively, ignoring all the stares he was getting. The redhead then reached under the table, everyone tensing at his action, and brought out a leather suitcase. He placed it on the clothed table, and opened it to show the auctioneer the pile of money inside.



"…in cash."



The balding auctioneer was stunned for a second before shaking his head to get his bearings back, then coughed. "Er… 1.5 mill, do I have any more than 1.5?" silence greeted him. "Then going once, going twice… SOLD to Shukaku Gaara, congratulations you may pick up your buy at the back."



The redhead, who he now guessed was named Gaara, simply grunted and closed his suitcase and followed a young pretty woman through a set of double doors.



Naruto gaped at him, not really even noticing how he was led away from the stage and out back. He was brought into a plain room, where this Gaara guy was standing in front of the woman who was counting through the stacks, obviously making sure that all the money was there. She nodded at the burly man behind the blonde, who instantly got a set of keys out, undoing the shackles tied around his ankles and wrists. Naruto sighed out in relief and started rubbing the skin, in hopes of scrubbing off the dirty feeling of the cold metal against his skin.



But when he felt like he was being watched, he forced himself to look up and meet Gaara's penetrating gaze.



"Name?" he asked, although by the tone of his voice it sounded like he could care less.



Naruto was shocked that this guy knew Japanese, he had spoken English before so fluently before. "U-Uzumaki Naruto," he managed to stutter out when he realized that the other man was waiting.



"Naruto…" he said slowly as if testing his name, letting the syllables roll off his tongue fluidly. "I'm Gaara," he replied and then turned around, walking towards another set of doors at the opposite side of the room. "Come, we have to go."



Naruto could only nod, and then followed the stranger.



OoOoOoOoOoOoO



The air was dry and starting to give the young man a headache, well just as you expect when you are sitting in a cabin of a jet. Not that the humming whistling sound of the engines helped.



Sasuke was in complete despair, even by taking the Jet it didn't look like he was going to make it on time. The auction would end no matter what at 4 a.m. and it was 3 a.m. right now. They had wasted a lot of time gathering the necessary people together, and now they were having trouble with Taiwanese authorities about landing permission. Shikamaru had already sorted their papers out, but because of the sudden influx of people who had reserved private space (meaning all the mafia members have taken them) they had no place for a safe enough landing.



"This is bullshit!" he cursed under his breath, wringing a piece of paper in his hands. He was going to kill Orochimaru when he got his hands on him.



Sasuke wanted to blame the long-haired man sitting behind him, this all seemed like the Hyuuga's fault. Even if Sakura had ordered the hit, Orochimaru's attack had been a crime of opportunity. It still didn't help that he wanted to kill that idiotic bastard.



"Why did you help that bitch, Hyuuga?"



"I had no choice, the Haruno's had something that I wanted."



"And what would that be? What could have been of so much worth that you would risk Naruto's life?"



"I needed information," the other man replied calmly.



"About what?"



"About who killed my father!" Neji shouted back.



Sasuke was silent, he didn't need an elaboration. He had heard about what had happened to Hyuuga's father. The family's heiress, Hyuuga Hinata, had been kidnapped when she was 3 years old, and for her return they asked for the head of the current head of the family Hyuuga Hiashi. But instead they had sent his twin brother Hizashi, Neji's father, instead. He was obviously killed. Sasuke thought what the man had done was incredibly heroic, and it was obvious that Neji was out for revenge.



"My family won't tell me a thing, so I left them in search of information. I've been using the Haruno's connections to help me; but it is difficult picking up a trail after 20 years…"



"Baka…" Sasuke whispered.



"What?" Neji asked, perplexed.



Sasuke turned around in his seat and fixed the other man with a harsh glare. "You were being led around by the nose, you idiot."



"How dare you-!"



"The clan's already been wiped out!"



"…huh?" he replied dumbly, did he just hear Sasuke right?



"Are you deaf now as well as on top of being an idiot? The clan was wiped out; your family already had their revenge for killing your father. But you probably didn't remember any of it."



"But-what…?"



"They were probably hoping to spare you the pain and give you some peace, but knowing you Hyuuga you didn't even bother to listen," Sasuke sighed out and sat back down in his seat. This was just too tiring. Neji didn't say anything back but instead he went into a contemplative mode.



"Boss we got permission, we're landing now!" Zabuza called out from somewhere in the front, well probably from the cockpit since Haku was flying. Sasuke tried to relax, but every muscle in his body was tense to the point of breaking; he was hyped up on adrenaline and the need, no, he was yearning to find his Naruto.



Sasuke leaned back in his seat, scowling at how his guts seemed to churn at the sudden turn of vertigo. He looked out of the small rectangular windows and at the night sky outside. The stars twinkled annoyingly, not at all reflecting his current mood.



Yet he was more than just irritated. Sasuke hadn't slept in over 48 hours, and that was possibly making him even more paranoid. The young Uchiha waited 'til the jet had landed and docked, then he undid his seatbelt and stood up to leave. Kakashi opened the reinforced doors for him and he stepped out of the air-conditioned jet into the humid air outside.



Just as arranged there was a car also waiting for him; without even looking back he opened the door and stepped inside, with Kakashi sitting beside him and Suigetsu taking the driver's seat. The rest of the team would be taking another car, going first to retrieve Juugo from wherever he was. Right now he couldn't waste time waiting for others. So they drove off to their destination, breaking who knows how many traffic laws.



Sasuke only hoped he would make it in time.



They reached the abandoned building in no time with Suigetsu's colourful driving; he waited for Kakashi open the door for him, glancing up at the derelict building in front of him. A typical setting really; he sighed and reached into his pocket to take out the card Itachi had handed to him. Slowly he went towards the rusted door and knocked on it. After a minute a partition of the door opened so he could see a young woman standing on the other side.



"How may I help you?" she asked in fluent English.



"I'd like to take part in the 'Market'," he replied.



"You invitation?" she asked, cocking her head to the side, trying to act cute.



He showed her the card with the bar-code side pointing to her; she took the card off him and the partition closed. For a second Sasuke wondered what he was meant to do now, he waited and then the door slowly creaked open, letting him in. This was the first time he got a good look at her, a pretty little thing, black hair tied up in a tight bun, a slanted cat-like face and plump red lips turned up in an overly used smile. She wore a tight black dress and heels, which complimented her frame.



"Welcome Uchiha Itachi-san, it has been a long time since you have visited us." So he had to pretend he was his brother now, did he? "I'm afraid to say that the bidding has already finished and the lots sold," she said.



He suppressed the growl making its way out. He was too late, Naruto had already been sold. What was he meant to do now? He guessed that they didn't provide information on the buyers, so how else was he going to get the information



But maybe… "Is Yuuchi Orochimaru still here?"



The woman blinked owlishly, "Everyone is still here," she said hesitantly."Please do come in, and as 'Market' policy dictates you will have to leave your weapons outside. Thank you."



Sasuke nodded and followed the woman down to the lower levels; the interior was expectedly more extravagant than the shabby outside. Classical music met his ears as he continued down the dimly lit corridor; he saw a bright light in the distance and they entered a huge, brightly lit hall. It was filled with gangsters from all over the world. Sasuke recognized most of then, not that he had ever had any personal dealings with them. The Uchiha was always simply aware of his contenders.



Since the auction had already finished, he guessed that most of them were simply here waiting for their money transactions to be confirmed. He scanned the room, walking elegantly through the room with Kakashi close behind him, all the while looking for the familiar face of that snake bastard. He spotted the man soon enough, laughing loudly with a group of men surrounding him.



"Who'd have thought that he would bring in such a haul," the man boasted.



"Yes, but he was such a rare creature Yuuchi-san, you wouldn't have another like him in your possession, would you?" a man with a distinctive Russian accent asked.



"Oho, my dear Adrik, I'm afraid that that blonde fox was one of a kind. I guess the best you could do would be to buy him second hand from that Shukaku fellow," he replied crudely.



'Blonde fox'? Was that meant to be Naruto, were they talking about him? So who was this Shukaku guy who had bought him?



The Russian grumbled a little. "I was surprised that he actually bought something, usually he only comes to these functions to make business with people."



"Well I guess even a cold-hearted man like him would fall for such a rare Vulpine."



Sasuke was more than angry, but once again he suppressed it.



Slowly Sasuke distanced himself from them, he had some research to do; at least now he knew where Orochimaru was. He couldn't detain the man now though, too many people, not to mention wall-to-wall security. So he turned to Kakashi and told the man to research this mysterious Shukaku guy. They would wait 'til later to get Orochimaru alone, and then it would be payback time.



OoOoOoOoOoOoO



Naruto stared wide-eyed at the large black Range Rover sport waiting for him to step into; he shivered, standing outside with the night air caressing his almost naked body (not that a little loin cloth-like skirt thing is going to help). He froze when he felt something warm covering his back; quickly he looked to his side and noticed Gaara placing his jacket over the blonde's shoulders. He then stepped silently away and towards the monster of a car, opening the back door for him.



Naruto nodded, not really knowing what else to do, and stepped inside the Range Rover, trying to make himself comfortable on the luxurious seat. That's when Naruto was reminded that didn't have any underwear on; he blushed and tried to rearrange his skirt. Gaara just looked at him, which made the blonde feel even more self-conscious.



"Hn… we'll get you some clothes later," he replied and closed the door.



He watched as the redhead walked around the car and into the passenger seat, ridding shotgun next to the driver. He said something to the driver in English; the man nodded and twisted the key, and the engine roared to life. Naruto felt the car moving first back as it was taken out of park, and they drove out on the silent roads. The slow rocking of the car was starting to get to Naruto; he realized then that he hadn't slept in a while, no wonder he was so tired. But he didn't think he could let himself fall sleep, not around these strange people, especially not the guy who had practically bought him.



He kept an eye one the roads in hopes of memorizing any particular landmarks; maybe if he did manage to escape he could navigate his way around? But he didn't think it was possible now, he was so tired, his eyelids already starting to droop, and before he knew it he was sleep.



The blonde was startled awake when the bed he was sleeping on jolted quite violently; he blinked his eyes open and then realized he was actually in a car. Then it all came crashing down, and the reality of the situation was once again brought to the forefront of Naruto's mind. It seemed like he never gets a break. Although so far this Gaara person hadn't done anything to him… so far…



Now to figure out why they had stopped; he looked around bewildered and realized that they were on a runway. Naruto noticed what looked a lot like one of those jets standing just a few meters in front of them.



The redhead then came round; in his hand was a plastic bag. He opened the car door and handed the bag to Naruto. "Here, for you," he said and closed the door again.



Naruto looked at the bag and opened it to peek inside, and gasped when he saw that there were clothes inside. They must have made a stop and bought them while Naruto had been asleep. He cried tears of happiness, thanking whatever deity that existed, and quickly he took off the jacket and pulled a light orange shirt over his head. Enjoying the fact that he was once again wearing a shirt, and one in his favourite colour at that.



He was about to pull the skirt down as well when he realized that people could possibly see him, especially that Gaara guy. So he hunkered down on the seat so that he was kneeling on the carpeted floor of the car, and with some acrobatic stretches managed to somehow put the slightly big jeans on. He then looked through the bag again and noticed that there was some footwear… sandals. Better than nothing.



As soon as he put the sandals on however, the door opened to reveal Gaara again."C'mon, we are leaving," he ordered impassively, gesturing Naruto towards the jet.



"Where are you taking me?" he asked, but Gaara didn't reply; instead he grabbed Naruto by his wrist and pulled him out of the Range Rover and dragged him towards the Jet.



Obviously as he was brought closer to the jet he got even more fearful, because now Naruto knew he was being taken even further away from home. Who knew what was going to happen to him, but at the same time he couldn't bring himself to struggle in Gaara's grip. Naruto had literally given up; he had lost everything by now. He would never see Iruka or his friends again, and Sasuke…



Before he even realized it however he was already on the jet and taken aback by the luxury of its interior. There were at least 8 chocolate brown seats, 4 on either side of the aisle, just like in a first class section of a plane. The floor was a plush carpet, windows actually surrounded by velvety drapes, and a creamy cabin interior. But behind those seats was a door; one of the many men in suits opened the door to what looked like a normal fully furnished modern room. Yet his terror rose when he saw the King-sized bed in the middle of the room.



What-What was going to happen to him? Gaara was going- he wasn't going to really do anything to him, was he?



Gaara seemed to notice how the blonde had frozen in the doorway; he followed Naruto's gaze towards the bed, and could instantly guess what had the blonde so terrified. He sighed and ran his fingers through his spiky red hair. "I'm not going to do anything to you, so don't worry about it. You're just going to be staying here until we land, I'm going to be in the main cabin," he reassured him, and was about to turn around and leave when Naruto grabbed his arm.



"What?" Gaara asked, giving the blonde a quizzical look.



The blonde blushed and looked down, embarrassed. "I just wanted to say thank you…"



"It's okay," he answered, but Naruto still didn't let him go, instead he fidgeted more.



"But I wanted to ask, where are we going?"



Gaara gave him a bemused look, and Naruto was surprised that the redhead could actually possess a different expression. "Las Vegas, Nevada," he answered.