Deception, Love, and Assassination

A/N: Ok, time to put in some more plot, so this chapter might be kind of slow, but tis all necessary. Enjoy.

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Naruto stared into the equally wide eyes of the man above him. Sasuke knelt on the bed, his right knee brushing Naruto’s right hip through the silk sheet; the only barrier other than his pants between the skin of their lower bodies. His upper body hovered above the prince.

Naruto thanked his trained reflexes that had blocked Sasuke’s descending arm and redirected the attack to the side. So it was that the blade embedded into the mattress having sliced into the tanned upper arm of the blond on its way down.

The pain his body felt had not yet registered to his mind as confusion and disbelief were all that he could feel.

“Sasuke?”

The dark haired man could hear all of Naruto’s questions simply in the way he spoke his name.

“I’m sorry,” was all he could say to the lover he had betrayed. The shame of failing his family would come soon enough. Right now, he was too relieved to feel much of anything else.

Before Naruto could verbalize his questions, the guards from the hallway had entered the room having been alerted by the unintentional yells of both men.

Suddenly, Ssuke was being pulled away by the guards amid shouts of accusation. The knife and blood had been spotted.

Naruto heard calls for the physician, Tsunade. He also heard another guard from the hall being sent to notify his father and prepare the executioner. Finally, he was shaken from his stupor.

Abruptly, he sat up and called out, “Wait!” stopping the guards who were dragging an unresisting Sasuke from his room. “Let him go.”

His personal guards, Izumo and Kotetsu, exchanged shocked and curious glances. They were unsure of how to deal with the distraught prince. Sasuke would not even look at him.

Kotetsu bowed his head and apologized. “Your highness, I’m sorry, but we cannot do that. We know that he was in your favor, but he tried to harm you. We have to take him to the dungeon to await interrogation. We have to follow the Emperor’s laws.” He did not like speaking against his prince, but if he didn’t, he might find himself in front of the executioner.

What nobody said – but was understood by all – was that after any captured assassin was questioned they were always put to death. Naruto knew that. It was the best way to handle such threats. He wasn’t naive, he knew that people in positions of power were always targets. He needed to find a way to delay them.

“Take him to this room and stay with him. Do not give him a chance to suicide.” He noticed Sasuke flinch at that and wondered if that had been part of his plan. “I want to question him myself before Ibiki gets a hold of him.”

His men did not argue with him this time. It was obvious their beloved prince needed some answers and they would do what they could to help.

As Tsunade entered the room looking as though she had been dragged from her bed – which she had – Izumo and Kotetsu escorted Sasuke to his own chamber which was connected via an anteroom to Naruto’s own. It was The Favorite’s room. The rest of the harem, if one existed, was located further down the hall.

The blonde woman immediately went to Naruto with her medical kit. She saw the shock on his face and correctly assumed that he hadn’t even noticed the blood sliding down his arm and staining the covers that had pooled in his lap. Not commenting on the sex she could clearly smell in the room, she got to work cleaning his wound and putting pressure to try to stop the bleeding. It didn’t look deep enough to need more than stitches.

“Naruto.” Getting no response, she tried again. “Naruto,” gently she turned him by the chin so she could look into his eyes. It hurt her to see how glazed his eyes were. “I need you to tell me what happened. Can you do that?”

Finally, murky blue focused on her own amber eyes. She gave him a smile, happy to see him coming back to her.

Naruto blinked and looked around taking in their lack of audience before focusing back on the palace physician whom he loved and had always considered family. Taking in a deep breath he answered her as best he could.

“I don’t know why he did it. We, um, well, we were here,” he cursed himself for blushing under the circumstances, “and then I fell asleep. When I woke up, there was Sasuke with a knife and I tried to block it. Next thing I know, the guys were dragging Sasuke away and you’re here.” His eyes were still darting around; his mind was busy analyzing every moment of the last few hours because he didn’t want to believe the conclusion he had already reached.

“I have to put stitches on this cut. Hold still for me.” Now, Naruto looked down and noticed the amount of blood on his body and finally felt the pain his arm was in. Grimacing, he allowed Tsunade to care for his injury. It wasn’t the first time he had been injured and this one was relatively minor. It wasn’t long before Tsunade was wrapping a bandage over his stitched wound.

“At least it was your left arm. You know you need to be careful while you heal, I don’t want you to rip your stitches. If you do, you can sew yourself back up.” She looked sternly down at her prince whom she had known since she helped his mother give birth.

Naruto smiled up at her where she was standing over him. He appreciated that she wasn’t asking about Sasuke. He could see that she was holding herself back from embracing him as if he was still a child. He felt the temptation to let her, to allow her to protect him from the pain, to not take responsibility for what had happened this night.

But he couldn’t hide. He would not.

“Sorry for waking you up.” Tsunade recognized both the thanks and the dismissal in his statement. She left him and closed the door behind her. Replacement guards were stationed outside both entrances to his chamber; from the hallway and from his anteroom.

Finally alone, he stood from his bed allowing the sheet to fall from his soiled body. Wetting a cloth from the ewer in the room for quick washing, he cleaned the blood and semen left over from their lovemaking.

He scoffed as he felt the discomfort in his arm. 'Lovemaking...right.'

Feeling water splash to the floor directed his attention to his fist that was squeezing the life out of the moist cloth. Releasing his victim, he stepped away from the mess and went to his closet to dress.

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Clad in black baggy pants and a sleeveless overcoat, he stood in front of the door to Sasuke's chamber. His silver hued under-tunic provided a lovely contrast with the otherwise black apparel. The dagger used less than an hour ago to attack him was now back in its sheath at his belt.

Shoulders straight and head high, he entered the room like the prince he was. His personal guards bowed their heads to him and indicated Sasuke who was sitting with his head down across the room.

"I want to talk to him alone."

"Your highness, we cannot leave you with him unbound." Izumo was getting worried. He wasn't following procedure and he was afraid he'd later regret it.

"I assume you've checked the room for weapons." The guards nodded. Thus assured that there was no danger, Naruto ordered, "Then leave us. I'll be fine."

A cold glare from icy blue eyes stopped any further protest. With twin bows his guards left the room and stood sentinel outside the chamber providing privacy for the prince and his lover.

His attacker.


TBC