Inbred

Chapter 54
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“HONEY, I’M HOME,” Naruto yelled at the top of his lungs after bursting through the front door and kicking his shoes off his feet to let them fly haphazardly in the genkan.

“Must you do that every time we get home, usuratonkachi?” Sasuke complained while popping his ears and becoming increasingly tired of this new ritual.

Naruto pretended to think about his answer before turning to his friend and giving him a terse ‘Yes!’ then: “HINATA-CHAAAN, BIG DADDY’S HERE!”

“Big Daddy?” Sasuke echoed with scorn. “She doesn’t really call you that does she?”

Naruto sighed almost sadly before saying: “No.” He really wished she would though, but he’d have to ask her first and that was something even he didn’t have the guts to do, but he supposed it would be more hilarious, than erotic, to hear timid, little Hinata refer to him in such a way.

He left his bag at the door again, another habit Sasuke couldn’t get him to break, and went thundering up the stairs to look for his little ‘pretend wife’.

Sasuke dropped his car keys on a glass end-table. He was feeling confident enough to drive again and hated to keep inconveniencing Deidara by asking him to be his chauffer, besides, there was no reason for him to be afraid of driving. The accident came about as an attempt on Neji’s life and he was not a reckless driver so the odds of him becoming involved in a real car accident would be pretty slim, after all, lightning never struck the same place twice.

“Hey, Sasuke,” Naruto called to him from atop the staircase just as he was making his way to the second floor bedrooms. “Have you seen the girls?”

Sasuke paused mid-step and furrowed his brow as he contemplated Naruto’s query. “What do you mean ‘seen the girls’?” he asked carefully. Of course he hadn’t seen either Hinata or Neji, he just got in the house, same as him.

“Well I just checked my room and Hinata wasn’t there, actually, now that I think about it,” and he tapped his finger against his chin. “Usually, she’s downstairs waiting for me when I get home.”

That was true. Hinata knew they usually returned around this time of the evening and would sit patiently in the living-room until his arrival. She was always the first person they saw when they got home. If she wasn’t downstairs then she would be in either boy’s room with her cousin, talking or brushing each other’s hair.

“Did you check my room?” he asked, not able to contain the sudden anxiety that swelled in his chest when the blond nodded his head. Sasuke closed his eyes and tried to calm himself. There was no way Hyuuga or his men could have set foot on his premises and kidnapped the two without Deidara or his men noticing and even if they had trespassed on, or around, the grounds, then Deidara would have immediately alerted him.

His logic could not pacify him and his hand tightened on the banister before he rushed up the stairs and started flinging open doors and yelling for both Hyuuga females.

What if they had been successful, just this once? What if they’d actually managed to slip through Akatsuki’s security nets? What if they’d really taken both girls away?

Naruto helped him look but his search was no where near as frantic as the Uchiha’s and he couldn’t help but get the feeling that Sasuke was a little too concerned that they were missing. Oh, he was concerned too but he assumed that they were probably in the garden or in another wing of the house, maybe even downstairs in the guest rooms chatting with the other bodyguards but the way Sasuke was turning his house upside down made Naruto believe he was looking for their dead bodies…and that thought scared him.

“What’s going on up here, huh?” Deidara asked about all the noise Uchiha-sama was making.

“Hinata and Neji, they’re gone,” he replied breathlessly and the despair on his face made Naruto even more afraid.

“Oh, I know,” he replied, as if it were some ‘by-the-way’ matter.

“ ‘You know'?” Sasuke yelled with incredulity and his friend flinched at the anger in his voice. “What the fuck do you mean ‘you know’? Where the hell are they Deidara?”

The team leader wasn’t at all perturbed by the Uchiha’s, seemingly, unnecessary tantrum and he held up both hands and told him to calm down. “They were bored so they went for a little walk,” he began his explanation. “They hadn’t even left the main gates before they turned back and told me that they were going shopping and should be back in a bit.”

Naruto sighed with relief, although he couldn’t say why he was glad to hear that. “See Sasuke, they just went to do some girly stuff, they’ll be back soon,” but his dark-haired friend was not placated by the news and his anger boiled and he dug his fingernails into his palm to stop himself from punching a hole in the wall and Naruto noticed that he was still pent up. He assumed that the Uchiha was worried that someone from their college would recognize Neji, who was supposed to be bed-ridden, and inform the faculty he was being delinquent but that was not what Sasuke was so upset about.

He knew Neji was smart enough to avoid going to a shopping district where most of the students hung out after school so he could never cite him as being irresponsible in that respect, but he couldn’t cite his irresponsibility at all because Neji did not know that his life was in danger and the only person Sasuke could blame was himself.

He wanted to tell him but he just didn’t know how. Neji had suffered so much because of him and to have him constantly looking over his shoulder to avoid the wrath of his Uncle was not the kind of life Sasuke wanted for him. He wanted Neji to be carefree, he loved it whenever he was being playful and to watch him smile and listen to him laugh would always make Sasuke feel that life could never get any better and if he told Neji that Hiashi wanted him dead, then that side of Neji would be lost to him forever.

But he had no choice, he had to tell him, because if Neji was innocently killed because he didn’t know to be on the lookout for his Uncle’s men then Sasuke would never be able to live with himself for never warning him.

“How long ago did they leave?” Sasuke asked in a tight voice.

Deidara checked his watch. “Oh…about three hours now.”

“Three hours,” he raged. ‘Back in a bit’ did not mean three hours, not to Sasuke at least. “Deidara, how could you let them leave on their own like that?” but he was only shifting blame. True, they were guests in his house but Sasuke had never implicitly left instructions for Akatsuki to protect them too. Their job was to guard the last, remaining Uchiha heir and Sasuke had never contracted with them to add his friends as their principles.

“But they’re not alone, Uchiha-sama,” he replied with a smile, always staying one step ahead. Sasuke felt an enormous weight lifted off his shoulders, but when Deidara told him who he’d sent to tail them it came crashing back down, and he stood there, dumb-struck, with his eyes open wide.

“TOBI!” Naruto and Sasuke screeched at the same time.

The other man nodded, letting them know that he’d spoken correctly. “Yeah. I know it may seem as if he’d lose his own head if it wasn’t properly attached, but Tobi’s never lost a target before. He’s very reliable in that aspect and he has this innate ability to stay out of sight so they won’t even know they’re being followed.” It was an ability that suited him well, because whenever Deidara had particularly difficult chores for the lazy boy, he was never anywhere to be found.

Deidara’s recommendation still didn’t appease the brunette and the older man sighed then placed his hand on his shoulder and gazed into his eyes with naked sincerity. “Uchiha-sama, I have great faith in the job that he is doing but I am prepared to take full responsibility on Tobi’s behalf if anything should happen to those two girls.”

Sasuke was silent for a long moment before nodding his head in agreement and Deidara smiled then and suggested contacting Tobi to see where they were but when he called the boy on his cell phone it was Sasori who answered instead and when Deidara asked him what he was doing with Tobi’s cell he calmly explained that the baka forgot to take it with him…again.

Sasuke’s worries returned tenfold but Deidara was more angry than concerned and the boy on the other line was forced to listen to his tirade that should have been reserved for his egg-headed team-mate.

Deidara excused himself, then went downstairs to meet Sasori in the guest rooms to confiscate the phone, because he knew that Tobi was going to come looking for it, and when he did he was going to have to deal with him.

Sasuke tried not to think too much about it, after all, Deidara said Tobi was competent at his job or else he wouldn’t even be an Akatsuki member and Deidara would never have agreed to accept any responsibility for Tobi’s bunglings if he didn’t think he was capable of protecting the Hyuugas should the need arise.

“Sasuke?” Naruto asked with concern for his friend when he saw deep lines of apprehension on his face.

The Uchiha snapped himself out of it. There was no need to worry the other boy as well and Naruto was so emotional that he couldn’t let him know that Neji’s, and possibly even Hinata’s, lives could be in danger. He gave his friend a brave smile but his eyes did not mirror the sentiment. They remained bleak and Naruto noticed.

“Hey man, chilllax,” he droned in that ‘surfer-dude’ accent that usually pissed the other boy off. “I’m sure they’re just caught in a long line somewhere.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” Sasuke replied with a forced laugh but he didn’t believe that for one minute.

Naruto frowned then his eyes lit up as an idea came to him. “Why don’t you try calling Neji on his cellphone?”

It was a brilliant idea and he wondered why he didn’t think of that before. Sasuke quick dialed the number from his SIM card’s directory and what little ray of hope he had vanished when it went straight to the automated voice mail. “There’s no answer,” he rasped.

“Umm…maybe he turned it off?” Naruto was grasping at straws now and ready to say anything to put his friend at ease but what he really wanted to do was ask him why he was so disturbed about Neji and Hinata’s absence. “Sasuke…now I may just be paranoid but I’m starting to get the feeling that there’s something goin’ on…something that you’re not telling me.”

Shit! The same thing he didn’t want to happen was happening and he put on the most innocent face he could and shrugged as he replied with: “There’s nothing going on.”

“Bullshit, Uchiha,” he spat and crossed his arms over his chest to give his best friend the third degree. “I know you’ve become a little more protective of Neji ever since the accident and if it was Hinata I wouldn’t want to let her out of my sight but you’re acting as if you expect them to just disappear even though Deidara said they just went for a walk.”

Sasuke laughed to himself. The dobe was just a little too observant sometimes.

“Naruto, the truth is,” he sighed and looked into the simplicity of that boy’s face. He just couldn’t tell him. Sasuke ran a hand through his hair and tried to think up a lie quick. “The truth is, I guess, I’m suffering from separation anxiety,” and he grimaced at the lame excuse, sounding like a child who couldn’t bear to be apart from its mother. “I just miss him when he’s not around.”

His fib fooled the other boy and Naruto smiled his understanding. He missed having Hinata around too but he didn’t have it as bad as Sasuke. “I know exactly what you mean, but it’s best if you don’t dwell on it. Watching the clock is only going to make you more anxious so you should find something to occupy your time. Just remember that Neji needs his space too and you guys can’t be together twenty-four-seven,” and he laughed. “Distance makes the heart grow fonder you know.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” and he flashed him a lopsided smirk. “I guess I’ll get started on my class assignment then.”

“That’s the spirit,” his friend cheered with a pat on his back and while Sasuke departed to his room, Naruto headed back downstairs, but the Uchiha couldn’t concentrate on his work and he couldn’t stop gazing at the bedside clock and when half an hour passed and his page remained blank and Neji still hadn’t walked into the bedroom he decided to seek out his friend to help entertain him.

He found him downstairs, on the living-room couch, already entertaining himself with Sasori, who was cleaning his gun.

“So, everyone in your team’s got one?” he asked for the second time, surprised that someone his age was allowed to even possess a licensed firearm.

“That is correct,” the red-head answered and put his magazine on the coffee table with the rest of the disassembled parts so he could now empty the chamber of soot with a pipe cleaner.

“Even Tobi?” he asked in disbelief and reached out to take the clip, but the death-glare the other boy shot him made him yank back his hand as if he’d just been burned.

“Everyone,” he reiterated but Naruto did not pick up in his tone of voice that he wanted to be left alone, or maybe, he just ignored it.

“So, if I joined Akatsuki, do I get a gun too?”

“Depends. Deidara decides who’s responsible enough to have one.”

“Che! If Tobi’s got one then I wouldn’t have any problem getting one.”

Sasori scoffed loudly before saying: “Highly unlikely.”

The two were quiet for a long moment and Naruto dared to inch closer so he could ask in a confidential voice, “So…have you ever…y’know…shot somebody?”

“Yes!” he replied without skipping a beat and began putting his weapon back together now that his chore was finished.

Naruto gulped and watched as he skillfully pieced the metal object back together and tossed the dirty rag in a waste basin next to him.

“Umm…who did you shoot?” and his voice croaked as the boy next to him slammed the magazine clip into place with great force.

“Tobi,” came his flat, one-word answer.

Naruto blinked twice then wrinkled his brow in consternation. “Why?”

Sasori turned to face him then and smiled, and to Naruto, he looked like a psychopathic doll come to life. “He asked me if I ever shot anyone, and when I told him ‘Yes’ he then asked me what it felt like,” and the young bodyguard yanked on the slide and released it so it clicked back into place before continuing. “So I shot him…and told him that it felt great.”

They sat there for an indeterminable period of time, both staring at each other; one trying to intimidate the other but the other too paralyzed to move.

“Sasori! Threatening Uchiha-sama’s guests is unacceptable,” Deidara said to him just as he conveniently just happened to be passing through.

The boy grumbled and cleared the table of his gun-cleaning equipment and Sasuke took the space on the couch he’d vacated.

“Hey,” Naruto smiled but he frowned when he saw the troubled look on the other boy’s face. “You finish your homework?”

“Yeah,” he lied. He didn’t want Naruto to know that he’d spent all that time wondering where Neji and Hinata were.

The blonde raised his arms high over his head and stretched as he said, “I guess I better get started on mine then,” but he didn’t get up from his place at all. Naruto knew Sasuke was still distressed about the girl’s absence, he could hear it in his voice, but he also knew that it would be better to keep his mind off of it by occupying it with something else. “Wanna watch TV?” he suggested, knowing how fast time usually flew when he was engrossed in a really good show.

Sasuke shook his head, then changed his mind. He’d watch one or two programmes with him and if they didn’t return by the time they were finished he’d go out looking for them, but before Sasuke even got the chance to rise from the sofa to retrieve the remote, he heard the front door open and Tobi’s loud voice declare to his sempai that they had returned.

Sasuke’s heart jumped in his chest and a myriad of emotions bubbled within him. He was relieved and immeasurably ecstatic that they had returned safely but he was also angry and felt psychotic enough to snap Neji’s neck for worrying him like this.

Both boys flew up out of the sofa and hurried into the kitchen area. Apparently, Naruto had been just as anxious for the return of his loved one as his friend was.

“Don’t yell in the house,” Deidara screamed at Tobi from around the corridor.

“Hinata-chan!” Naruto exclaimed happily and threw his arms around her in a warm embrace.

“Where the hell have you been?” Sasuke demanded of Neji, his anger winning out over his relief.

“Fuck you!” Neji snapped at him and it was only then that he noticed that the Hyuuga looked incredibly pissed off and he stomped through the crowd in ire before disappearing up the stairs.

Sasuke wanted to chase after him but Hinata grabbed his arm and when his head snapped around to face her, she shrunk back at the fury drawn there and released him immediately.

“U-Uchiha-sama,” she stammered, cowering behind her boyfriend and clutching at his shirt as if that would give her the strength to say what she had to say. “Please…please don’t be upset with nii-chan. Neji nii-chan didn’t want to do it.”

One of his dark eyes twitched as he stared at the girl who was trying to avoid his gaze. He knew his anger was unsound and he had no reason to be now that they had returned safely but something told him that the girl wasn’t talking about their little shopping-trip. “Didn’t want to do what?” he asked in a clipped voice.

The girl mumbled something and before Sasuke had the chance to ask her to repeat herself she darted from the room.

“Don’t take your anger out on Hinata,” Naruto roared and for the first time, in a long time, felt like punching Sasuke’s lights out.

“What’s going on?” Deidara asked, making his appearance after almost being run over by, first Neji and then his cousin.

“That’s what I would like to know,” Sauske replied, wanting to beat the answer out of his mate.

“Tobi? Why did you-” and Deidara caught himself before asking the rest of that question and instead demanded to know where they had gone.

“Neji-san took Hinata-chan to get her ears pierced because she wanted to look pretty for Naruto-kun,” he said rather excitedly, bouncing up and down on his heels. “Hinata-chan looks so cute in them,” and he sighed and clasped his hands under his chin. “I wish Hinata-chan was my girlfriend.”

“Hey! Watch it!” the burly blond frowned and made a note to keep an eye on Tobi from now on. He wondered why he hadn’t noticed them just now though, but they must have been covered by that long hair of hers and he turned to leave but stopped just as Sasuke asked the next question.

“But that doesn’t explain why you were gone so long, or why Neji’s in such a foul mood.”

Tobi kicked off his shoes and shook his head, just as puzzled about the Hyuuga’s sudden change in behaviour. “I don’t know why he’s like that. They were fine before they went into the jewelry store, but when I showed up he started acting all flustered.”

“Maybe he’s upset that you were following them,” Naruto deduced with an intellectual nod of his head. Deidara swore by this boy’s skill and Naruto was a little disappointed that he didn’t meet up to the hype.

“I’ll talk to you later, Tobi,” his employer said in a low tone and dismissed him with a wave of his hand after handing him his cell phone and the perceptive blond wondered why he didn’t give the boy the chewing out he’d promised for leaving it behind. “Sorry, Tobi ruined your friends’ outing,” the man apologized. “I’ll have someone else trail them from now on whenever they leave the premises,” and with a brief nod he excused himself and went into the guest rooms.

Naruto was glad that they’d finally solved that mystery but Sasuke had a few more questions he wanted to ask Neji and Naruto followed him up the stairs and they parted to make way to their respective rooms but Naruto was surprised to find his room empty and Sasuke was surprised to find his locked.

“Open this door, Hyuuga,” he roared, banging his fists against it.

“NO!” Neji yelled back stubbornly from the other side.

“What the fuck do you mean ‘No’? This is my room, Hyuuga now open up.”

There was a pause from the other end and the door was flung open, almost causing Sasuke to tumble inside and he was brought face to face with a livid Neji who was glaring up at him as if he were the worst person on the planet. “Fine,” Neji spat and marched out of the room with his little cousin gripped firmly by the elbow and she took many tiny steps to try to keep up with his long strides. The older Hyuuga shoved Naruto out of the way and went into the room just across the hall then slammed the door in both of their faces.

Both boys exchanged a glance before congregating in front of the door.

“Neji, what the hell is wrong with you?” Sasuke demanded of him while jiggling the newly locked doorknob.

“Go away!” he yelled from the other side and from the clarity of his voice, Sasuke could tell that he was probably leaning with his back against the door.

“This is my room, Neji,” Naruto said to him, trying the same tactic Sasuke used just moments ago. “Hinata and I sleep in there.”

“Hinata and I will be sleeping in here from now on.”

“And where am I supposed to sleep?”

“You can sleep with Sasuke.”

Neither boy liked that suggestion and showed each other their distaste by making faces at one another.

“You’re not pissed that Hinata pierced her ears for Naruto? Is this what this is about, Hyuuga?” Sasuke asked. “I thought you were over this shit. Just let it rest already.”

“Shut up! This has nothing to do with that.”

“Then what the hell is your problem? Is this some kind of acid-tripped PMS? Dammit Neji just open the fucking door.”

“LEAVE.ME.ALONE!” Neji screamed loudly and Sasuke was sure he heard a light sob from the other end before it was followed by Hinata’s soft and slightly muffled voice.

“Naruto-kun, it’s okay. I want to sleep with nii-chan. Please spend the night with Uchiha-sama and I will show you my ear-rings tomorrow, but nii-chan and I are very tired so we’re going to bed now.”

Naruto looked over at his friend and he felt a sense of deja-vu as he watched Sasuke glare at the door. It reminded him of the first day he arrived in Japan and saw him staring at Neji’s dorm room. “Okay Hinata-chan,” he said with a smile but it didn’t quite reach his voice which came out a little strained. “Sleep tight and don’t let the bed bugs bite.”

She wished him a good night as well and Naruto had to drag the Uchiha, who was three seconds away from kicking the door down, into the room they would be sharing. Sasuke didn’t speak a word for the remaining hours of the evening and just sat on the bed with a venomous scowl on his face. Naruto went downstairs to retrieve his book bag to do his homework but found it too hard to concentrate on what he was doing and after making his sixth mistake in just five minutes he closed his book and returned it to the bag, then left it at the door before going to prepare for bed.

He had to borrow one of Sasuke’s lounge pants and brush his teeth with his fingers because his belongings were still in the other room and there was no way he was going to bother asking Neji to let him in to collect them because he knew it would have been a waste of time.

It was a little awkward having to share a bed with each other but Sasuke chose to sleep without covers while Naruto opted to bundle up so there was no possibility of their skin touching during the course of the night.

Naruto found it hard to sleep, but not because he missed having Hinata next to him, but because he was disturbed by this evening’s events and Sasuke was too but he refused to let it bother him, or at least, he tried not to let it bother him.

If Neji wanted to act like a bitch then fine. He didn’t care, he didn’t give a damn about Hyuuga anymore, but he knew he really didn’t mean that, he was only telling himself that out of spite.

“Sasuke?”

“Hmm?”

“You awake?”

He ground his teeth together before replying with a terse “No.”

“I can’t sleep,” Naruto whined and kicked his feet out of the sheets so they could get cool.

“Then count sheep,” he suggested in an icy tone of voice, hoping that that would be the end of it.

“That never works,” he muttered on a sigh. “Usually Hinata-chan gives me a kiss before bed.”

“Oh really?” the other boy smirked and turned to look Naruto square in the eyes when he said. “Usually Neji let’s me fuck him before bed.”

The young teen’s face fell flat and he was quiet for a second before wishing Sasuke a good night and turning to face the other direction, pulling the sheets up to his ears and it was only another hour or two before they both drifted off to sleep.

***

Deidara closed and locked the door behind him, not wanting anyone to hear his conversation with his subordinate, but the commotion upstairs let him know that that wasn’t going to be a problem.

“What’s your report, Tobi?” he asked and crossed his arms over his chest and the boy’s usually cheery voice fell into a serious mask.

“It’s just like you warned me, sempai. There were people looking for them,” he disclosed and Deidara assumed that much.

Tobi’s job was to be the eyes of Akatsuki while their employers went about their daily routine. He was smaller than the others and had a near limitless amount of energy so he could always find a remote location to hide and follow his target all day long if he had to. His main purpose was to watch for any suspicious activity both on the principal’s and the stalker’s part and under no circumstances was he to make himself known to his target unless their lives were in danger and the fact that he ended up walking home with Neji and Hinata confirmed that.

“How many did you see?”

“Five,” he said after counting them off on his fingers and holding up his hand. “The first one noticed them when they were walking to the city and he made a call at a payphone just as they passed right by him, but he didn’t make a move. Two others showed up when they went into the jewelry store but neither went in, they just kinda loitered outside,” and he furrowed his brow, finding their behavior just as peculiar as Deidara did but assumed they didn’t want to draw any attention to themselves since it was still day and the places were fairly crowded. “By the time Hinata-chan and Neji-san came out of the store they had a car waiting by the sidewalk and both men got out and started walking towards them and the other three approached from behind. That was when I revealed myself, sempai because I suspected they were going to try to escort them and when they saw me make contact with them, all five aborted.”

“Neither target noticed their stalkers?” Deidara asked and when Tobi shook his head he closed his eyes and seemed to sigh deeply. “You did a good job, Tobi. I’m proud of you,” and he smiled at the boy and Tobi’s chest puffed out with pride.

“I coulda taken them all on, sempai. You know I could. I wouldn’t have let them harm Hinata-chan. Neji-san can take care of himself though…he has a scary face sometimes,” and Tobi shuddered when he remembered the way he yelled at Uchiha-sam just a few moments ago.

Deidara laughed and dismissed the boy, but told him that he was a hundred years too early if he thought he could take on five guys all by himself and when Tobi exited the room his frown immediately returned and he closed and locked the door again before using his cell to make a phone call.