Full Circle

Full Circle

chapter 17

Naruto was fluttering around, getting the last of his things packed. He'd been given only one day to get ready, which wasn't much time to get himself into a recording studio and lay down the tracks for his latest material, organize everything onto a CD and have a bunch of copies made. He had been completely unprepared for this, as he didn't expect that he would be going to this event.

"Really though," he thought to himself, "It should be ok. Raw recordings are better for distributing at random like this, for the purpose of selling the song itself." He would only bother with production if he had someone specific in mind that he wanted to appeal to. He looked down at the small pile of CDs he was about to toss in his bag and nearly squealed like a little girl with excitement.

"Ok, what am I forgetting?" he whispered to himself after a few calming breaths. He swept a look around the room, not really seeing it as he thought. "Ah, toothpaste!" He dashed into the bathroom returning with the toothpaste and his favorite shampoo. Shoving them into the bag, he zipped it closed and dragged it out into the hall, leaving it there by the door for the help to take to the car. Then bounded off to see if Sasuke was ready to go.

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Sasuke hummed to himself in concentration as he looked between the two shirts in his hands. Which one should he bring? Nope, there was no help for it. He was just going to have to pack them both. He carefully folded both shirts and laid them in the bag and then went back into his huge, walk-in closet to find the right sweater to go with his gray twill pants. It may be summer but the evenings might get a bit chilly.

He was in an excellent mood. In a few hours, he and Naruto would be alone together, far away from here, with no one around to interfere. Besides it had been a long time since he'd allowed himself to have a real vacation. He'd usually convinced himself that he didn't have the time to take a trip just for the fun of it but an incredible weight that he hadn't realized he was carrying, had been lifted from his shoulders, just as Naruto had predicted and he felt the urge to celebrate.

The talk with his father had been lengthy and serious, but it had come off with surprisingly little fuss. He had explained exactly where his interest lay and what he wanted to do and eventually Fugaku had conceded that he seemed to have thought it all through very carefully. Since he did at least have a direction in mind and didn't intend to become the typical rich, lazy, freeloading playboy, (all Uchiha's were meant to be achievers and that was that) there weren't very many valid objection that could be raised. Of course, he was disappointed, but when Naruto had mentioned afterward, all the notoriety and many accolades, that his son could acquire by excelling in a respected scientific field, he warmed up to the idea considerably.

Yes indeed, things were really starting to go his way. His spirits lifted even more as he came out of the closet, sweater in hand and caught the sound of Naruto's voice outside his open bedroom door. He seemed to have been caught by Mikoto.

"...running off together like this," Mikoto was saying. "It's so adorable! I just knew he would come to love you!" Sasuke thought he heard a little squeak from Naruto and smirked as he imagined the poor boy's face turning bright red. "You've actually managed to bring out the romantic in my son Naruto chan! You two make the cutest couple."

"Naruto, are you out there?" Sasuke called, taking pity on him. Sure enough Naruto came dashing in looking completely embarrassed.

"Uh, hey Sasuke. I was just coming to see if you were nearly ready," he said rubbing the back of his blond head and smiling almost nervously.

"Nearly," Sasuke answered with a knowing smirk.

"Knock Knock," Sasuke spun around in surprise at the familiar voice of Sai. Damn! He was out already. Sasuke had been hoping they could leave without ever seeing him.

"Oh! Hi Sai," said Naruto and the newcomer smiled winningly at him.

"I hear that you're leaving. I just wanted to wish you well on your trip. I just met Mrs. Uchiha in the hall and she directed me up here. She seems extremely pleased." Naruto's blush started to make a come-back. "Naruto kun, I must apologize for not meeting you the other day. Something came up and I can assure you that it was an emergency."

"Oh that's alright Sai. Sasuke was there to keep me company after all," said Naruto.

"Is that so?" Sai asked, tossing an unreadable look to the Uchiha.

"Yeah, he blew off the meeting with his dad. It was great! He put his foot down and took charge of his life, just like that! And everything worked out perfectly."

"That's good to hear. Congratulations Sasuke kun."

"Thank you Sai. I'm afraid we're on a tight schedule. I have to finish packing." Sasuke answered casually. "Naruto, do you think you could go find the camera for me?" Naruto quickly agreed and took off to look for it.

"That was a nasty little trick you pulled Sasuke kun," Sai commented lightly, once they were alone.

"Trick?" Sasuke feigned ignorance perfectly but it seemed that Sai wasn't convinced.

"Getting the police involved is seriously below the belt," he said, allowing his irritation to show now.

"The police?! What could you possibly have been doing to interest the police Sai?"

"Cut the crap Sasuke. You had me arrested."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Sasuke deadpanned. Sai scoffed, eyes narrowing.

"Of 'course' you don't."

"Well it seems that your stay was short in any case. Who exactly did you get to bail your ass out Sai?" Sai looked away, refusing to answer and Sasuke lifted a brow in surprise and interest, wondering what he could be hiding. Sai continued to stare off to the side and Sasuke gave a shrug and went back to the closet.

"Well if you have nothing else to talk about Sai, I suggest you take your leave now. I have to get ready to go."

"Sure thing Sasuke kun," Sai whispered. Keeping an eye on the closet door, he lifted the back of his shirt and pulled out an envelope that was tucked into the waistband of his pants. Still glancing warily to the closet, he pulled some pictures out of the envelope and slipped them into the side pocket of the bag that sat, nearly full, on the bed. Soundlessly, he left the room and sauntered off down the hall, the very picture of composure.

"Sasuke?" Naruto called as he came bouncing in a few moments later. He paused and looked around at the empty room.

"I'm right here," Sasuke's voice answered from the closet. Naruto rolled his eyes with a grin. "You pack like a girl, y'know that? I found the camera."

"Thanks. Just put it in the bag for me."

"Ok." Naruto walked to the bed, shaking his head at the size of the bag Sasuke was apparently attempting to fill to overflowing. Grabbing a strap, he hauled the thing closer to the edge. Something suddenly slipped out of an open side pocket and fluttered to the floor. As Naruto bent to pick them back up, he noticed that they were a bunch of photographs. Vaguely he wondered what Sasuke would be bringing photographs along for. Then he looked down at them while he shuffled them straight in his hand and stopped dead.

These were photographs of him! These were pictures of him in his 'room'!! Some of them were pictures of him getting changed!!! Sasuke was carrying around a bunch of creepy pictures of him that had been taken without his knowledge or permission! Naruto felt sick to his stomach.

"Naruto? What are you..."

"Uchiha Sasuke! What the HELL is THIS?!!" Sasuke was shocked at the outburst. He'd never seen Naruto so angry.

"Naruto, what... What is it?"

"What the hell are you doing with these pictures of me?! I'm afraid to even hear the answer!"

"What pictures?" Sasuke was truly confused now. Naruto just shoved the photos in his face. "Wha..?" Sasuke frowned in confusion, grabbing the pictures from the blond and pulling them back from his face so he could focus on them. His eyes widened at the sight of Naruto in the room in the pool-house, pulling a shirt off over his head.

"Wait, wait, I didn't take these!"

"So you're just holding them for safe-keeping?" Naruto asked with an uncharacteristic sarcasm that almost made Sasuke flinch.

"No! They're not mine! Sai must have put them there! He's the one who took them!" Sasuke exclaimed in a moment of indignant anger.

"Oh 'Sai' took them. And I don't suppose that might be because 'you told him to'!" Sasuke's jaw dropped. He certainly hadn't expected 'that' response.

"You know what? This it Sasuke! I can't take anymore of this bullshit! I don't know what the hell to think of you at all. You act like a cold jerk and then you're all nice and friendly. You completely ignore me for days and then you say you think 'I' haven't been spending enough time with 'you'. You encourage me to hang out with Sai, then you suddenly act jealous if I do. You tell me we can be friends and then... Aaaarrgh!... And now you're 'violating my privacy' like this?"

"..." Sasuke just stood there feeling guilty and lost because Naruto was mostly right, and he didn't know what could he possibly say to all of this right now.

"I've had it Sasuke! You can take all your stupid little games and shove them up your stupid ass! I've given you so much leeway and so many chances, because a lot of the time I 'really liked' you, but it stops here." He pointed to the pictures that Sasuke still held, his hand shaking with emotion. "This is... it's just... I'm not doing this!" And with that, he turned and stalked out of the room.

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Sasuke couldn't remember ever having felt so miserable. The trip had obviously been canceled and he had sluggishly unpacked his bag with a heavy heart, wondering what on earth he was going to do now. Naruto wasn't speaking to him and his mother had bothered him for hours, trying to get him to tell her what was going on. She kept bringing up how Naruto looked so upset, which only made Sasuke feel even worse.

He didn't even feel up to the task of plotting. Neither for revenge on Sai or ways to get back into Naruto's good graces. Part of him was still wallowing in all the accusations Naruto had thrown in his face regarding his behavior. He really had been playing games with the poor guy's feelings in a way. Was it even worth it to try and worm his way back into the blond's life? He should never have tried to manipulate his innocent fiance in the first place and he wasn't sure right now that he even 'deserved' forgiveness. If he didn't do 'something' soon though, he would miss whatever chance he had to make things right. Naruto would just go home and leave him behind forever.

Sitting heavily onto his bed, he slumped over and fisted his hands in his own hair, giving a harsh tug in his frustration. Before all of this had started, he was sure that he wanted to just spend the rest of his life alone. Now though, after just a few weeks with Naruto, he'd completely turned around. He didn't want Naruto to go... ever! But the blond was about to do just that, and suddenly, the rest of his life seemed like an 'awfully long' time. He could just 'see' all those days, weeks, 'years' of loneliness stretching drearily before him like some horrible curse, without Naruto to bring light and life and laughter to them.

Finally, he left his room to trudge his way down to the kitchen. Lunch was long over and he'd skipped breakfast that morning. As he walked, he found his feet moving in the wrong direction, seemingly of their own accord, and realized he was heading toward the back door. He stopped in his tracks and frowned, a moment later he made a move to turn around but stopped again. He glanced one way, and then the other, indecisively. Shit... He couldn't help it. He 'had' to go and just see if maybe Naruto was out there right now. Heaving a sigh, he straightened his shoulders and marched on through the house.

The march became slower and eventually turned into more of a 'sneak' the closer he got to the door. He paused to glance out the windows of the french doors but with the angle they were at and the artfully place shrubberies to the sides, he couldn't really see too much. So taking a deep breath, he carefully place a hand on the knob and turned. As soon as the door was opened, before he could even step through, he heard Sai's voice.

"I'm terribly sorry about all that's happened Naruto kun. I really mean that." Sai was saying. "If there's anything I could do for you..."

"Thank you Sai."

For a split second Sasuke just stood there, letting the rage wash through him at the speed of light. He could almost feel it burning his insides. Then something very important struck him, and his own pain and hopes for vengeance were pushed aside to make room for his panicking thought process. Sai had said that his goal was to seduce Naruto and marry him for his money! This wasn't just about ruining things for Sasuke. For Sai, it didn't 'end' with Sasuke's defeat. Now that Sasuke was out of the way, he had a more serious chance of following through!

What if he succeeded?! Naruto would be nothing more than a 'tool' to him. An amusing little plaything. It would be so painful and humiliating. After all, Sai had 'no' shame. He probably wouldn't even bother to 'pretend' to be the loving husband once he had what he wanted. Naruto would be absolutely 'crushed' when he realized! There was no way Sasuke could let that happen to Naruto! He had to warn him. But that would mean telling the truth.

He had begun to move without even realizing it, staring blankly, while his mind raced through imagined scenarios. Naruto, heart broken and trapped in a sham of a relationship, versus himself, penniless and struggling, alone. When he heard the door close behind him, he blinked back into the present and the first thing to meet his gaze was Sai hugging Naruto, comfortingly. Damn it!!

His choice was made as he stormed angrily over to the pair and yanked Sai away from the confused blond.

"Get the hell away from him!!" he growled before turning to Naruto. "Naruto, I know you're angry with me right now but you have to stay away from Sai. He's the biggest creep on the face of the God damn Earth!" Naruto was just blinking at him in shock, so he continued, trying to explain and convince him. "I'm serious Naruto. He's an evil son of a bitch. He 'told' me, point blank, that he wanted to seduce you and marry you for your money!" The blond was frowning in a confused way and shaking his head now. Frustrated, Sasuke tried to prove his accusations in the only way he could.

"I 'know' what kind of a person he is. He was never my friend. I met him the day before I met you and asked him to try to win you over so that you'd dump me. He didn't even have to 'think' about it Naruto! He 'jumped' at the chance."

"You did WHAT!!!!" Sasuke had honestly expected those words to come from Naruto... That's why it was such a shock to hear them coming from behind him in a deep baritone voice, while Naruto's mouth hung open idly. He flinched at the sheer volume and very slowly turned around to face his father. It seemed that in his haste, he had failed to realize that his parents were out here too.

"Uchiha Sasuke!" his mother exclaimed. "How could you do such a thing?!" He looked away, unable to stand the look of pained reproach and utter disappointment in her eyes.

"That is 'despicable'! It's disgraceful ! How 'dare' you bring such shame upon the Uchiha name. I told you specifically not to offend the Uzumakis! In fact, I believe I told you in no uncertain terms that if you did anything stupid to upset this engagement, I would be revoking your trust fund. You deliberately disobeyed me, and don't you think for a second that I won't be following through on my threat. I've half a mind to disown you and be done with it!"

"Fugaku!" Mikoto gasped. "Wait! Where are you going?" she called as he fairly charged off into the house.

"To call the bank, my broker and our lawyer!" he roared. Mikoto hurriedly rushed after him.

"You have to calm down..."

"I'll do no such thing! Why the very idea of trying hand off that poor boy to some 'miscreant'..." Sasuke sagged noticeably as his parents disappeared into the house, the door slamming behind them. Every muscle in his body felt weak. It was exactly as Sai had predicted when he was taunting him. He'd lost his fiance and his financial security all in one day. Strangely, it was that last line of his father's that had stung the worst. More than the talk of brokers and lawyers, the reminder of the terrible nature of his crime weighed down upon him.

"Sai? Could you please leave for now?" Naruto asked quietly. Sai nodded and left without a word. There was a long pause and then Naruto finally let out a long sigh. "So 'that's' why you did it this way." Sasuke's head came up and turned to him in confusion. "You were forbidden to do it more directly, on pain of poverty."

"What are you..."

"Sasuke, I already knew about your deal with Sai."

"What?!"

"He's not quite as slick as he'd have you believe," Naruto said with a wry grin. "The night before Neji came, when he took me to meet the 'orphans' he mentors... yeah, they totally gave it away." Sasuke just blinked stupidly for a moment.

"That's why you started acting different. But why didn't you call me on it then?"

"I liked you Sasuke and I thought that... it seemed like you 'might' be coming to like me. I thought that maybe you just needed a little time. I wanted to give you a chance to fix things on your own. I didn't want to be the one to get you into trouble and have you resent 'me' for it either. When things caught up to you, I wanted to be sure that you had no one to blame for it but yourself."

"...I would never have blamed you anyway," Sasuke murmured. "You have every right to be angry with me. I know whose fault all of this is. I want you to know though, that I 'do' like you.

"I'm glad that you cared enough to try and save me from Sai. (Though I would never have ended up with him in a million years anyway) But it hurts me that you let it come all the way to this before you tried to put a stop to it."

"What? But I did! I was feeling desperate before and I made that stupid plan before I met you. Once I got to know you, I felt horrible about it."

"Sasuke, when I caught Sai I told him to carry on as normal, until 'you' told him to stop. He never did stop. You were really just going to keep on going with your plan right to the bitter end," the blond said sadly. "I couldn't figure you out at all. You'd act like you liked me, even like you wanted me, but you still kept Sai around so I knew that couldn't be true. It was so confusing. It's still confusing! You let me walk away! You 'drove' me to it, but now here you are and..."

"Hold on a second. So you're saying that Sai had no chance with you and he knew it? And you told him to pretend to keep it up until I called it off myself?" Sasuke questioned with a frown. "And this was the night before Hyuuga visited?" Naruto nodded. "I called it off the next day!! He refused to back off! Hell, I even offered to pay him 'double' just to get lost, and he 'still' refused!! That. EVIL. Sonofa BITCH!!!"

"Seriously? You told him to stop the next day?"

"YES! I don't know what that 'little shit' thought he was playing at, telling me he was going to marry you and then he wouldn't need my money. And I've been running around freaking out and trying so hard to get you to choose me over him while that damn jerk was probably laughing his ass off at me." His rant was cut off abruptly by a pair of slim, tanned arms wrapping around him. Big sparkling blue eyes looked up at him with fond humor.

"You were honestly worried that I might dump you for him?"

"Well I thought if you fell for him then, he'd break your heart... and, I... didn't want you to leave me," Sasuke murmured. A brilliant smile spread over Naruto's face.

"My hero," he chuckled. "I suppose that since you've given up your fortune for the sake of my happiness, I have an 'obligation' to take you in." Sasuke's arms came up to wrap around his shoulders, returning the embrace as he leaned down unconsciously to meet the blond's upturned lips.

"It would be rude of me to turn down such an offer," he whispered, just before they touched. He breathed in sharply at the gentle pressure of those soft lips against is own.

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"Well that actually seems to have worked out," said Sai as he gazed down at the embracing pair from an upstairs window. He turned around and looked over the office to the huge oak desk, cocking a brow at the man sitting serenely behind it. "I think you're very lucky that Naruto kun turned out to be as understanding and forgiving as you thought."

"Naruto is a very strong person and that insightful nature of his is one of the main reasons that he is perfect for someone like Sasuke, who won't open his mouth and just say what needs to be said. I know exactly how much trouble that trait can cause. I also know that if Sasuke hadn't been forced to fight for Naruto and contemplate the possibility of losing him, he would never have come to appreciate him fully as he should. It is infinitely better to get that part out of the way now. Their marriage will be stronger for it."

"I don't know whether I should say that your brother is blessed or cursed to have you looking out for him Itachi san," Sai observed with a smirk. Itachi gave a little smirk himself but didn't respond otherwise.

He finished filling out the check and signed his name with a familiar flourish before offering it to Sai.

"You've done an excellent job, I must admit. You'll note however, that I deducted the price of your bail from the originally agreed payment."

"It was my pleasure, I assure you. It was so very entertaining to push your brother's buttons. I've never stumbled upon a more lucrative situation before either," Sai said smugly, thinking of all the money he'd collected between Sasuke himself, Naruto 'and' Itachi as he accepted the check. He gave the Uchiha a saucy salute before taking his leave.

Itachi watched him walk out at his usual sauntering gait. Sai may have proven himself useful, but he couldn't really say that he was sorry to see him go. Something told him that wherever that man was, there was sure to be no peace. He sat back down at his desk and glanced over at the phone. Perhaps he could give that nice Hyuuga boy a call and 'ease his mind'...

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Sai wandered along the hall of the Uchiha mansion, in the general direction of the front door. He was contemplating the events of the past several weeks; the fun he'd had, the money he'd made. It was hard to imagine any greater good fortune. Suddenly he sighed aloud.

"I wonder now if this means that I've already reached the pinnacle of my career," he pondered.

"Not bloody likely," came a gruff voice. He looked up ahead to see Sasuke standing before him.

"Ah Sasuke kun!" Sai greeted cheerfully. "I'd thought you would still be glued to your Naruto kun."

"I convinced him to take the trip with me after all. I was on my way to repack. You know I should 'destroy' you Sai... but your little comment about your career has just given me a better idea. I'm going to send you away from here... on assignment." Sai's black eyes twinkled in intrigue.

"Assignment, you say?"

"That's right. I actually think there's someone out there who truly 'deserves' you Sai. Do you happen to know of the name Haruno Sakura?"

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Sasuke walked leisurely along through the bustling market place lit mainly by paper lanterns, with an arm around his bubbly fiance. Naruto's ice-cream was melting all over his hand while he chattered obliviously on to Sasuke.

"It was sooo great! They actually picked my song to critique and they loved it! It was kind of embarrassing of course, with everyone listening to 'my' voice in the recording. I was afraid I might be stuck in a permanent blush for the rest of my life for awhile there. But I met so many nice people! And some of them were just so amazingly talented. I even met a few people who were interested in maybe collaborating with me on a project. Oh, oh and the best part is, I found someone who really wants to sing my song! He was really nice too and he has 'such' a perfect voice for it. I just know it's going to sound wonderful. I'm so excited!!" he squealed. Sasuke chuckled softly.

"I'm glad that everything went so well for you Naru chan," he said in a low voice, giving the blond an oddly mischievous look, "but you seem to be making a mess of yourself." He took the soggy cone from Naruto, calling his attention to the ice-cream dribbled all over his hand. Tossing the cone into a nearby trash can, Sasuke took Naruto's sticky wrist and drew the tanned hand up to his lips. With a little smirk to the wide eyed blond, flicked out his tongue and licked off a little trail of ice-cream.

"It would be a shame to waste it," he explained huskily, with another swipe of his tongue. Naruto's cheeks were turning bright red and he appeared to be at a loss for words. He glanced around quickly, at all the people going to and fro in the narrow street. No one seemed to have noticed them yet. The feeling of one of his fingers being sucked into Sasuke's mouth drew his attention back, and held it firmly, as a wicked tongue circled the tip and then the rest of the digit disappeared into the wet heat. Sasuke's soft lips wrapped around it snuggly, adding more suction as he drew the finger back out, tongue caressing once more along the way. Naruto's breathing was growing irregular as Sasuke moved on to give the next finger the same treatment."

"Sasuke!" he gasped quietly.

"It's been a long day Naru chan," Sasuke purred. "We should go back to the hotel and relax, don't you think?" He sucked in another finger and inwardly cheered as Naruto slumped against him for support.

"O-okay," the little blond agreed absently with a shudder. Sasuke licked up the final drops of ice-cream and began a similar treatment of his fiance's ear while he started to guide him toward the hotel.

"I could finish cleaning you all up," he whispered as he nibbled a tender lobe. "... and 'then' we could try out the bathtub."

"Eh?!"




(A/N; Awww yeeeah baby! All neatly packaged up, just like that. (snaps fingers) Told you I was nearly done. I was considering an epilogue but it's iffy, y'know? Sometimes they can be cool and sometimes they're just a pile of cheese tacked onto an otherwise decent story. What do you guys think? Do you want an epilogue? I'll wait for a response or lack thereof before I put up the 'complete' sign.

Meanwhile, I would love to thank all my wonderful readers as usual, especially the ones who took the time to drop me a review. On this fic, the encouragement was extra helpful. I don't really know why but for quite some time there, I just wasn't feelin' it. You guys helped keep me going anyway and I really appreciate it.

lexjamandme, a good chunk of the reviews for that last triple update came from you, and I loved 'For the Love of his Son' so much that that only could have made me happy enough to continue on. So don't worry darlin' you're not an idiot. Just slightly unobservant at an inopportune moment. LOL

And Zee_Kay, that was the longest review I've had in ages. (she says as though she's actually been doing this shit for years instead of just half a year) Just when I'm starting to feel a little down, you come along and WHAM! Heheh That was also the most interestingly laid out review I've ever had. So organized... in a strange way. Yes your heartfelt monologue was very encouraging. Thank you so much!

And to all the rest of you who've been following along faithfully, chapter after chapter, dagget loves you!! (so you can remember that on cold nights and rainy days ^.^) So if you guys do decide you'd like to see an epilogue, I'll make it extra cute to show my appreciation.)