Questionable Loyalty

A/N: Ghyaaa, took me a whole week to write this and the next chapter. I was determined to finish the flashback part of the plot up to the 50th chapter and I succeeded, I hope you like it! :D



CHAPTER 49







Nagato did take to heart his lover’s words and for the next couple of days, he thought about them long and hard, even if he refused to discuss the matter with Kakashi any further. At one point, he locked himself up in the library and spent hours on end researching information about the other Nations, utilizing his growing skills in reading and writing. He wasn’t particularly good yet, but he knew enough to understand a simple historical or an ethnographic text. At some point it occurred to him how much he had missed through all the years he hadn’t been able to read the books in the library, and how his decisions had been influences by that lack of comprehensive information. He should’ve gotten a teacher earlier, much earlier, for both himself and Konan, but his pride and ego hadn’t allowed him to tell anyone about his little problem, which now turned to be a big problem.



After a careful consideration, Nagato decided that Kakashi had been right when he had warned him about the other Villages. It had been a very unpleasant realization, for various reasons, the most unpleasant one being the doubt it planted in his mind regarding all the other decisions he had made over the years. Were they all like this one – uninformed, biased, wrong? Had he led his people and his organization to the brink of disaster? Of course, he hadn’t been the one actually leading Akatsuki, he was but a figure-head, the mask behind which Madara hid himself. And it was Madara’s plan, ultimately, to create the Bijuu weapon, he had been the one who had manipulated him to use it against the Ninja Villages. Unlike him, Madara was very well-aware how their targets worked and what made them tick – so he should’ve known about this second scenario, only he had refused to address it. Had he done it deliberately in order to manipulate him, or he just hadn’t cared enough, sure in the power he had over Nagato? Either possibility was equally unpleasant. It was time he talked with Madara and told him of his decision.



He found the man deep underground, in the very bowels of the tower that he inhabited – it was the place where Deidara had chosen as his quarters, wishing to stay as far away as possible from the other members. Having been forced into the organization, the blonde didn’t miss an occasion to show his disdain for Akatsuki or its leader, maintaining only basic courtesy when it came to taking orders from him. “Tobi” had followed his senior partner to the underground floors, content to play the clutzy, immature side-kick for the moment.



When Pein found them, Deidara was behind a work-table in one of the large test-halls, working on yet another of his explosive little surprises, focused on modeling the pale clay in what appeared to be a stylized praying mantis. When he heart Nagato’s footsteps he looked up with annoyance.



“Tobi, I told you… Oh, it’s you.”



Nagato gave him a hard look.



“Pein-sama.” The blonde added sourly. Nagato nodded with satisfaction:



“Where’s Tobi?”



“In one of the backrooms.” Deidara said. “Pein-sama.” He added again, but it didn’t sound at all polite.



Nagato ignored him and turned around to go to Madara, when the blonde said:



“I heard we had a new member. The same dude who ripped off my arm.”



Nagato nodded.



“I expect you to behave, Deidara. No little surprises of the exploding insect kind.” He pointed to the mantis. Deidara grinned. “Or of any kind, for that matter. If you try, there’ll be very serious repercussions, and I’ll allow Itachi to be the one delivering your punishment. Do you understand?”



The smile on the blonde’s face twisted into an ugly sneer, but he managed to nod.



“Good. Best to stay away from him. He’ll be leaving for his mission soon, there’s no need for conflicts while he’s here.”



Deidara nodded again, then began to tinker with his creation again, firmly ignoring Nagato’s presence. Under normal circumstances he would’ve made him pay for such blatant disregard of his authority, but today he was pleased with his small victory regarding Kakashi’s safety.



Madara was, indeed, in one of the backrooms, pouring over a map of the Fire Country, the orange mask flashing dully in the weak, flickering light of the candles. He deliberately refused to look up when Nagato entered, making him wait for his presence to be acknowledged. Nagato though, had no inclination to put up with such a performance. He walked up to the table, leaned forward and put his hands over the map.



“You and I need to talk.” He said calmly.



Slowly, Madara looked up until he was facing the red-head, his Sharingan spinning lazily behind the opening of his mask.



“I am busy. What do you want?”



Nagato wasn’t in the mood to beat around the bush.



“I have changed my mind regarding the attack.” He said.



“Changed your mind?” Madara said carefully, but Nagato sensed the tension in his voice. “Since when do you make the decisions here, Nagato?” he asked mockingly.



“Since I am the Leader of this Organization, Madara.” Nagato answered in the same tone



The Sharingan eye narrowed threateningly.



“Leader? I believe that only a few weeks ago you and I had a conversation about this. I am the Leader, and you’re to do what you are told.”



“No.” Nagato said flatly. “This does not suit me anymore. This Organization is MINE, Madara. It was founded by my friends and myself, and while I do acknowledge your input in it, you do not own me, or the Organization, or Amegakure.”



“This place was in shambles when I came here!” Madara hissed. “And you were a catatonic ruin clinging to the corpse of the friend you had killed! I am the one who put the pieces back together, Nagato. And I can shatter them if I wanted to.”



“You are welcome to try, if you want to.” Nagato said calmly, with none of the anger that had driven him for all these years. He was bluffing – he wasn’t sure if he could win a duel against Madara, but he was quite convinced that Madara wasn’t sure either that he could win against him.



“Is that so? And what about your pretty friend? How will he react, when you are forced to reveal the real you?”



Nagato actually smiled at him, showing his teeth in a grimace that reminded more of a snarl rather than a smile.



“Please, do tell him. You won’t tell him anything new – I informed him about everything on my own a while ago. You have nothing to hold over my head, Madara. Accept that.”



“Be careful, boy.” Madara said quietly, his voice a sinister hiss.



“No, you be careful, old man!” Nagato exclaimed. “You have been manipulating me from the start! If it wasn’t for Kakashi, I would’ve remained illiterate, I would’ve remained convinced that the type of attack that your propose is the best. Only now I know better. I don’t know why you aimed for the civilian target, but it does not serve the purposes you say you, that we, have.”



“And pray tell, what do you propose that we done, once we get our hands the weapon?”



“Once I have the possession of all the Bijuu, the attack would be against a military base, as it should’ve been from the start.” Nagato said triumphantly. “You can stay and assist me on our mission, or you can leave now. It’s your choice, Madara.”



There was a long, pregnant silence, and then finally the Uchiha conceded:



“Very well. I will allow you to take the lead.” Madara said, his tone frosty. The “for now” remained unsaid, but it hung in the air between them like a noose.



Nagato nodded, turned on his heel and left.



Madara looked at the closed door for a few minutes afterwards, his hands rhythmically closing into firsts and relaxing as he tried to reign in his rage. An open confrontation with that brat was unwise, he knew that. And yet, some Konohan whore had come and had ruined years of work, years of manipulation and plans. He had thought that he had gotten rid of all outside influences on Nagato when he had poisoned the girl when she became too obstinate in her distrust of him, but this was a much bigger problem. The slut stood in his path and was trying to ruin his plans for Konoha. He had waited decades to see that village razed with the ground, he had spun his nets for generations to bring his plans to fruition. One day, Konoha would be no more, and the whole world would be his, and some little Jounin wasn’t going to stop him.



He put the map away and began to draw a summoning sign on top of the table. He needed to call Zetsu. He needed his assistance if he was to get rid of Kakashi’s influence over his puppet.



Nagato was an incredibly powerful individual, when it came to his warrior abilities, but as a person, he was weak. Madara knew that. He wasn’t a leader, he needed a strong hand to guide him, to show him the way, to take care of him even. Once, that had been that man, Jiraiya, who had taken the boy under his wing and had become the closest thing to a father he had had. The man had left after a while, all on his own – there had been no need for Madara to interfere. Afterwards, once they grew up, the other boy became Nagato’s lover – beautiful, willful Yahiko, who believed in a world without violence, whom Nagato worshipped and loved with all of his heart, whom he would’ve followed to the gates of Hell. His influence had been contrary to what Madara wanted of his puppet, and he had pulled all the strings available to him to have the other young man killed. The way things had developed couldn’t have been better – even he hadn’t anticipated that Yahiko would kill himself on Nagato’s blade.



Afterwards, the young man had been ripe for the picking - a broken doll, mentally and physically, overwhelmed by grief and guilt. Madara had swept in then and had sunk his claws deep into him, had turned his grief into rage and his guilt into hate. If only that damn girl hadn’t too gotten in his way, if she hadn’t tried to influence Nagato to calm down, to think rationally… she had to be eliminated as well. Madara. Afterwards, there were supposed to be no obstacles to using Nagato achieve his goals – only Kakashi had appeared. That cheap, whorish brat had appeared in his puppet’s life and had almost ruined Madara’s plans. The whole thing was becoming tedious and he was tired of eliminating all these obstacles. But the Uchiha was old, and crafty, and patient, and he knew how to deal with annoyances likes the Jounin. A direct attack wasn’t a wise choice – Nagato would know immediately who was behind it. That wasn’t, however, the only way to get someone out of your way. Madara had lived a long life full of vicious, violent games, and he was a master at it.



When Nagato arrived in his office, he found Kakashi sitting on his desk, reading a letter with a frown on his handsome face.



“Are you supposed to be reading documents off my desk without me present?” Nagato ask, a small smile playing on his lips. Kakashi looked up, but didn’t smile. The look on his face sad and resigned.



“This arrived about an hour ago – from your associates in Iwa. They are expecting me to be there in a week’s time. Which means that I have to leave tomorrow.”



Nagato walked up to him and took the letter from his hands, then skimmed over the lines. Indeed, what Kakashi had said was correct – he had to leave tomorrow, or he wasn’t going to make it till the deadline. Their time together was suddenly cut so short. A cold hand clenched around his heart and he closed his eyes in bitterness. He should’ve expected it, he had known that it was inevitable. And yet, for the year Kakashi had spent in Amegakure, the two of them had overcome their differences, they had grown incredibly close together. And he was in love with the Jounin, he had no doubts about that. While the feelings he had for both Kisame and Itachi were deeply affectionate, they had little to do with romantic love, and now the thought that he had to be parted with Kakashi was pure torture.



Gentle, Kunai-callused fingers wrapped around the hand that still held the letter, soft lips brushed against his temple and kissed the delicate skin there.



“It’s not permanent. When it’s done, you and I will be together again. I promise.” Kakashi whispered in his ear. Nagato turned and took those lips in a kiss – harsh, possessive, almost painful in its intensity.



“Every day spent without you would be a torture.” He said afterwards, both of them still winded and panting. Kakashi’s arms wrapped around him and the Jounin pulled him closer, their bodies pressing together, the heat between them rising. He said nothing, just kissed the red-head again in the same desperate, harsh way, fingers clutching at his shirt.



“I wanted to tell you of my decision.” Nagato said in between kisses.



“Yes?”



“No civilian targets attack.” He said.



The next kiss was gentle and slow, as at the touches transformed from harsh clutching to tender, careful petting.



“I am doing this because I realized that it is the most prudent way of action, but I am also doing it for you. I trust you, Kakashi. I trust you as much as I’ve ever trusted anyone in my life.”



Which Kakashi easily translated in his mind as “I trust you as much as I trusted Yahiko.”



Kakashi’s fingers brushed over reddened, pierced lips.



“Thank you.”



He lay his head on Nagato’s chest and closed his eyes, listening to his heartbeat, still awed that there was life in this body when Nagato controlled it. A large hand came to tangle in his hair and pet him like a kitten, he let out a small, contented sigh.



“Kisame and Itachi would probably want to say goodbye too.” Nagato said softly, kissing the top of his head.



It occurred to Kakashi that this might be the last time he’d see the younger Uchiha. His heart clenched in grief.



“I know.” He said.



“I’ll ask them to come over to my apartment in the evening.” Nagato murmured. “We’ll have a dinner together. Do you want to?”



Kakashi nodded and buried himself deeper in Nagato’s embrace.