Loyalty

Title: Loyalty

Author: Telpei

Pairing: SasuNaru

Disclaimer: It’s not mine, sadly. T_T

Summary: In failing to kill Itachi, Sasuke has finally been captured and brought back to Konoha. Now the council will pass judgment, but what deception do they have planned? Is Naruto’s life in danger?

OoooooooO

Deception

OoooooooO

Tsunade and Jiraiya had returned to the Hokage’s office after being dismissed from the council hearing. The two sannin found Naruto pacing back and forth in front of Tsunade’s abused desk, practically wearing a hole in the floorboards. He was eighteen now, nearly a full grown man, but Tsunade had a hard time thinking of him as anything but the twelve-year old to whom she had given a very precious necklace.

“Why are you back so soon?” Naruto instantly demanded, his eyes narrowing in concern and residual annoyance from being left out of the meeting. “Where’s the bastard?”

Jiraiya rolled his eyes. “Calm down, kid, Sasuke is still with the council. They wanted to exert their control by having a secret meeting. I’m sure we’ll be called back in a little while so they can announce the verdict.”

The blond frowned, placing his hands on his hips. He was wearing his ANBU uniform, and his cat-like mask with a devious grin was resting atop his head. “Why are they having a secret meeting? What if Sasuke tries to escape? What if they decide to kill him and that bastard just accepts his fate and does the job for them?! How could you leave him alone!?”

Tsunade sighed and ignored the blond’s rising temper in favour of reaching behind her desk for a bottle of sake. Jiraiya’s face lit up and he stepped towards the voluptuous woman, intent on mooching some of the alcohol for himself.

However, Naruto was not one to be ignored. “Oi! Ero-sennin! Answer me, damnit!”

“I’m sure Sasuke won’t commit suicide until Itachi is dead,” Jiraiya replied, hoping to shut the boy up.

“Eh!?” Naruto cried out. “You think he’d do it after Itachi is dead? Why would he want to kill himself after completing his life goal!? Not that I think it’s a good goal, it’s just that, well, he’s been going after it for so long and I just don’t think that –”

“That’s enough, brat,” Tsunade cut in, frowning. “You’re giving me a headache.”

Naruto pouted, which really had a negative effect on the intimidating appearance of his ANBU uniform. “But baa-chan,” he protested, turning large, ‘innocent’, blue eyes on the Hokage. Tsunade just laughed, and Naruto couldn’t help but smile as well. However, his expression quickly turned sober as he remembered the circumstances, and he frowned while turning to look out the window overlooking the village.

“I’m just worried, I guess,” he admitted. Sasuke had returned to Konoha a little over four weeks ago, but Naruto had barely seen the bastard in that time period. The Uchiha had been confined to the hospital for the first two weeks, but he had then been subjected to questioning by Morino Ibiki and he had been transferred to the high security prison with no visiting rights. Naruto knew it was all necessary so that Sasuke didn’t run off again, and technically he was an S-class missing nin, but he still worried about his friend – if they were still friends. Naruto knew that when they had been genin, he had been the closest person to Sasuke, but there had still been a huge gap between them; one fostered by their rivalry. Would Sasuke still consider him a friend? They had yet to have a chance to speak to each other in private, and now Naruto didn’t know if they would ever get a chance. What would happen if the council decided that Sasuke’s crimes were too great and that they couldn’t be forgiven? What would happen then?

“Well, quit worrying, gaki,” Tsunade’s voice cut through Naruto’s worrisome thoughts. “The council is too greedy to do anything rash before they secure a hold on Sasuke’s sharingan.”

“Oh yeah, that’s comforting,” Naruto complained, shooting a glare at the village leader. He was about to continue ranting at Tsunade, but a knock on the door cut him off. He quickly slid his mask and his hood back into place before Tsunade called out for the intruder to enter.

A messenger from the council entered and knelt on one knee, bowing his head in respect for Tsunade. “Hokage-sama,” he greeted. “The council has reached a decision. They request your presence, as well as that of Uzumaki Naruto.”

Tsunade’s green eyes widened a fraction, and the masked ANBU standing to her right stiffened perceptibly, eyes flashing behind his disguise. “Very well. I will summon the boy and we will meet with the council when he arrives,” the hokage replied finally, sharing a questioning glance with Jiraiya. “You are dismissed.”

The messenger nodded and left the room, and as soon as the door slid shut behind him Naruto turned to the village leader, the question already forming on his lips. However, Tsunade held up a hand to silence him and, surprisingly, he obeyed. “I don’t know why they want you there, brat,” she cut him off. “Go home and get changed. By the time you get back here I want you calmed down, alright? The council doesn’t need to witness your short temper first-hand, got it?” She glared at him, but the blond was already turning towards the window and hopping easily onto the ledge.

“They’re gonna have to get used to it,” he stated, his expression hidden by the mask that he wore, but Tsunade could picture the determined set of his jaw and the hard light in his eyes. “After all, when I’m hokage they’re not going to get away with their regular bullshit.”

Before Tsunade could speak and put Naruto in his place he was gone, his image merely a blur as he leapt down into the village rooftops and made for his apartment. “That brat!” she exclaimed, a hard fist landing on her desktop and splitting the wood straight down the middle. “No respect!”

Jiraiya chortled from beside her, and Tsunade glowered as she realized that during the messenger’s report and her short discussion with Naruto, the white-haired sannin had polished off her sake. “And you!” she growled, advancing on the hapless writer. “You’re to blame for this!”

“Now, now,” Jiraiya protested, backing away slowly with a grin on his face and his eyes alight with amusement. “Just because I was his teacher for a little while…”

Outside in the hall, Tsunade’s sentry guards stood, alert and tense, just outside her office door. A resounding crash reverberated through the floor and they both visibly winced, turning to look at each other with a worried glance.

“That sounded like the desk again.”

“Ah. Is that the twentieth this month?”

“I’m afraid so. I was sure that this was supposed to be a relaxing time of year! She’s never broken twenty during this season before.”

“Tough luck. All the same, I believe I just won our bet.”

OoO

The hair bristled on the back of Sasuke’s neck as he felt a familiar presence enter the room. The man’s footsteps were light, nearly soundless, his chakra silenced, and his mouth – surprisingly – shut. The raven-haired shinobi barely recognized him but for the sudden tension in the air between them, a certain sense of danger, and his definitive scent. Sasuke suddenly felt nauseous, recalling the feel of warm blood dripping from his fingers and the lifeless look of pale features. He pushed the feelings aside, however, and schooled his features into a practiced, expressionless mask. An Uchiha did not feel remorse, nor did an Uchiha feel regret, and Sasuke was very much an Uchiha.

“Uzumaki Naruto” a councilman spoke, his chair scraping against the wooden floor and signifying to Sasuke that the man had risen to his feet. “The council has decided to charge you, a certified jounin, with the task of guarding Uchiha Sasuke. There is a great responsibility linked with this mission, since you will be held accountable for all of his actions. However, the council believes that you are the best equipped for this position. In the past you have expressed great concern for your comrade. Your compassion for your fellow shinobi and the villagers of Konoha may even rival that of the previous Hokages of this village.”

Sasuke frowned minutely as he listened to the old man’s ramblings. It really was quite cruel for them to play on Naruto’s dream of someday becoming the leader of the village. They were maliciously getting the boy’s hopes up for nothing, leading him along like a plaything that amused them.

The raven haired man could tell that Naruto had stopped listening to the elderly man, since he could feel all of the blond’s attention on himself. Hands were suddenly in his hair, fumbling with the tight knot that held his blindfold in place and then pulling the cloth away from his eyes. The godaime hokage was yelling, and the council members were speaking loudly, betraying their agitation. No doubt they had wanted him out of the room before his greatest weapon was revealed. However, they were all surprised when dark, onyx eyes blinked open to stare into Naruto’s cool blue impassively. All occupants of the room fell silent as the air sparked between the two shinobi.

“Well, come on then, bastard,” the blond spoke. His lips told one story, stretched into a grin and falling back into their old routine, but his eyes spoke a different tale, fierce and hard as ice.

“Naruto,” Tsunade spoke, voice both worried and warning at the same time, and Sasuke glanced warily at the blonde with his same impassive expression. Would the hokage be an obstacle for his mission? The woman seemed overly protective of Naruto. He would have to factor this observation into his carefully calculated plans if he was to succeed and escape from this village.

“What?” the fox container replied, grinning and raising a hand to scratch the back of his neck. “There’s no need to worry, you old hag. I can take perfect care of myself and you know it!”

The village leader growled, but the council quickly put a stop to any fights that may have ensued. Since they were essentially done exerting their control and putting their plans into motion, it wasn’t long before Sasuke found himself being jerked to his feet by a rough hand on his shoulder. He smirked a bit as he turned to follow Naruto out of the room, aware that all eyes were on them. Apparently the idiot had been the only one to notice that Sasuke had long ago escaped the bonds that had tied him to his chair and secured his wrists together. The two departed from the council chambers, leaving a stunned silence in their wake as everyone came to the same realization.

Uchiha Sasuke had never been under their control.

Tsunade frowned, ignoring the council as she turned and stormed from the room, Jiraiya following close behind. She headed back to the confines of her office and contemplated her next move. What was the council thinking? Naruto was horrible at genjutsu, everyone knew it, and Uchiha Sasuke was practically a master of the blond’s greatest weakness. Why had they left Naruto in charge? Why had Sasuke complied so willingly? What were they up to? She exchanged a worried glance with Jiraiya, and while reaching for more sake she sent a messenger to collect Hyuuga Neji. The white-eyed shinobi wasn’t fond of surveillance missions, but there was no way she was leaving Naruto alone with that traitor, especially since the council was involved.

OoO

Channeling chakra into his feet was nearly second nature now. Naruto did it automatically with ease, despite the time and effort it had taken to learn the technique in the first place. He employed it now as he and Sasuke leapt across the rooftops of Konoha soundlessly, heading in the direction of the blond’s small apartment. No doubt the raven-haired shinobi would want to move back into the Uchiha complex, but the sun was already beginning to set and there simply wasn’t time to organize a change in location. Naruto didn’t trust Sasuke not to run away again, simply because he knew nothing of the circumstances surrounding the Uchiha’s return. Tsunade had been closed-lipped, and the only time Naruto had been able to see his ex-teammate since Sasuke’s return, he had been unconscious in the hospital and unable to explain. In any case, for their first night together he wanted to be somewhere where he knew the surroundings; somewhere where he could be comfortable and where he could keep his senses focused on the rogue nin for the entire night.

Reaching his building, Naruto alighted on the railing of his balcony on all fours and then slid down onto the patio with a soundless grace not many believed he possessed. Sasuke was close behind him, an unnerving, silent presence that made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. Opening the sliding back door to his apartment, the blond stepped inside and flicked on the lights, heading into the kitchen to put on a pot of tea. He kept an eye on Sasuke as the other shinobi walked around his small living space and inspected the décor, pictures hanging on the walls, and the scrolls stuffed into the bookcase. As soon as the water boiled, Naruto prepared the hot beverage and then poured it into two small green cups.

“You’ve moved,” Sasuke announced as he joined the blond at the table. Naruto set the mugs down across from one another and then looked up to meet the Uchiha’s dark eyes.

“A lot of things have happened, since you left,” he replied finally before sitting down himself and taking a slow sip of his hot drink. Sasuke took a seat as well and tasted his tea, murmuring a soft sound of gratitude to which Naruto nodded.

They sat in silence for a long time, even after both cups were empty. Naruto stared out the window adjacent to the table with a pensive look on his face, while Sasuke stared at Naruto.

When the silence was finally broken after an indeterminable amount of time, it was Naruto’s doing.

“Why?”

Ooo TBC ooO

Thanks to all my reviewers so far! You guys rock.

On a side note, I'm looking for a beta... anyone interested please email me! setoassassinplushie_tm@yahoo.ca Thanks! ^_^