The Demilitarized Zone

Disclaimer: Not mine. Bummer.
Summary: Itachi Uchiha has always had a sadistic streak when it came to his little brother. Now the perfect opportunity has presented itself and he just can’t let it go by. He does love him after all. (SasuNaru)

Author’s Note: First, I lied. I try not to do that. Every time you lie, a piece of your soul dies, you know. But, regardless of my soul’s status, I lied and I’m sorry. I said this would be out last night and here it is the next day’s afternoon. Shame on me. I hope you can forgive me and enjoy it!
Second, thank you, thank you, thank you for the wonderful reviews. I love you guys.
And lastly, a personal note to Kuronue… you have been an amazingly faithful and enjoyable reviewer. As a show of my thanks, I would like to respond to your ‘numerous’ requests for an Itachi-centric fic. Here’s the problem… writing him is a joy, but I can’t even begin to imagine who I would pair him with. You provide that and I will attempt to write it… deal?


The Demilitarized Zone
Chapter 8

Sasuke continued to look at the guards across the hall as he nodded his head, “I see. And Mr. Umino?”

Morino looked at the dark haired man. He was definitely an Uchiha. His black eyes took in everything and even with a blonde man lying in his lap, drool trailing down his chin, Morino could see how Sasuke Uchiha could be an intimidating man. Not to him, of course, but to someone.

“Both will be moved to a private room on the fourth floor. Move security, less access.”

Again the dark head nodded and finally black eyes moved from the guards to the detective standing before him. “You believe the car accident was actually an attempt on their lives.” Morino nodded, “And the medication mix-up? The nurse?”

Morino smirked. Uchiha indeed. “We will be asking you for a description.”

“Hn.” This time the detective scowled. Damn Uchihas.

Clearing his face, Morino leaned against the wall. His eyes took in pale fingers as they unconsciously played with golden spikes, “How long have you known Mr. Uzumaki?”

The hand stilled and black eyes met dark brown, “A little over six months.”

Morino couldn’t help but think having Uchiha in an interrogation room would be a lesson in frustration. They had total control of their responses and emotions at all times. Ibiki wondered if anything or anyone could make them lose that control.

His thoughts were interrupted when Naruto sneezed. Sasuke attention was immediately focused on the blonde and he quietly hushed the young man, his fingers resuming their gentle caresses.

Morino smiled. Had Sasuke been looking, even he would have shivered. That was… interesting.

“Funny, I haven’t read anything in the newspapers about your relationship. Especially your engagement.” Morino drawled regaining the Uchiha’s attention.

“It’s a fairly new development.” Sasuke bit out. If the man only knew… “Who would want a pair of teachers dead?” Sasuke asked once more meeting Morino’s eyes.

“Well, we have some theories.” Morino looked at his finger nails, obviously having little inclination to continue. Naruto whined when Sasuke’s fingers clenched into a fist.

“Such as?” Sasuke said but before the detective could respond Sasuke’s cell phone rang in his pocket. It had been such a long time since he had heard the shrill ring tone he almost started. Fishing the phone out of his pocket, he checked the caller ID.

“Excuse me.” He said to the detective, who nodded against the wall.

“Hello.”

“Sasuke, it’s your father.”

“Yes, of course.” Did his parents not understand the concept of caller ID?

“Where are you?” Sasuke raised an elegant eyebrow. He had never heard his father sound so… concerned.

“I am at the hospital with…”

“Is the Uzumaki boy with you?” Sasuke nearly swallowed his tongue. Had his father just interrupted him? How rude. What would his mother say?

“Yes, sir.”

The detective cleared his throat.

“Father, I am talking to a detective right now, can I…”

“Who?”

Sasuke blinked owlishly. Naruto’s voice rang clearly in his mind, ‘Hey teme, do you think you can smell Armageddon?’

“Detective Ibiki Morino.” Sasuke said stoically watching as said detective raised on eyebrow at him, his face devoid of emotion.

“Please hand the phone to him.” His father’s voice brought him back into the conversation.

“What?”

“Sasuke,” His father’s voice was clipped and impatient, a tone Sasuke hadn’t heard since he was in high school, “Hand the phone to Detective Morino.”

Sasuke pulled the phone from his ear and looked at it before turning dark eyes to the waiting detective.

“It’s for you,” Sasuke drawled before holding out the black device. Morino smirked and held the phone to his ear.

“Detective Morino.”

Sasuke watched the man walk off with his phone while talking to his father. Shaking his head he looked across the way at the two guards who stood immobile in front of Hatake’s room. Finally, he looked down at Naruto.

Sasuke could do more than smell Armageddon at this point. He could hear, see and taste it as well.

“Time to wake the hell up, dobe.” He smirked at the pun.

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Fugaku had assured him that living in Minato’s house would be okay, but Kakashi found after the first night that he wouldn’t be able to live there. He couldn’t stand looking in the kitchen and seeing Minato swirling Kushina across the tile floors, only to blink and have them vanish. He couldn’t sit on the couch where Minato had held him down as Kushina tickled his feet and he most assuredly couldn’t enter the nursery where he and Minato had slaved away one weekend to surprise a laughing Kushina who had promptly burst into tears much to their horror.

With this in mind, two weeks later found the new family living in Kakashi’s one room apartment just off of campus. In that time, Kakashi had seen and done things no man should ever have to see or do.

Do. Now that’s a horrible word in relation to small babies.

Looking across the living room, Kakashi saw Iruka holding and feeding Naruto with one hand while the other hand held ‘Child Psychology’ on his lap. He was chewing on a yellow highlighter he used every now and then to mark in his book.

Iruka had appeared at Minato’s house just hours after Kakashi and the baby had arrived to find Kakashi sitting in a corner, with Naruto against his chest, crying. Iruka had ran to the man, offering comfort and love and eventually driving him back to his own apartment. Iruka also made the call to Mr. Uchiha telling him to sell the house and everything in it.

Since then, Iruka had pretty much moved in. The two young men tag teamed raising Kakashi’s new ward and the silver haired man had no idea how he would survive without him. The professors at the college had been amazingly understanding of his new position and Kakashi thanked god that he was a genius, able to understand new material with little or no outside help. But, even with that, Naruto required nearly twenty four hour attention.

The blonde chibi wasn’t a bad baby by any means. He was sweet and often times could be found sitting in his swing watching the two men for hours with barely a peep. Kakashi noticed that the small boy would whimper when left alone in a room and he wondered if he was missing his parents. However, he was a baby and when he wanted something he demanded it in a high pitched wail.

Kakashi was dragged from his thoughts when Iruka shifted and Naruto gave a gentle squawk at being disturbed, his newly scarred cheeks puffing out.

“Hold on, chibi,” Iruka muttered staring intently at the text book, “Just a few more sentences.”

Kakashi stood and walked across the room, “Here, let me take him.” Iruka looked up startled and stared when Kakashi took the baby from his arms.

“Oh, thanks. I just want to finish this.” Iruka’s attention was back on the book and his tan hand rubbed the back of his neck as he sighed.

Kakashi grabbed a burping cloth, shaking his head that he even knew what that was or how very, very important it could be, and began gently patting the gurgling baby’s back. He watched Iruka closely, taking in the dark circles under tired eyes as the man tried to work the tension and stress out of his shoulders.

Kakashi’s eyes widened when he realized that he had done that to Iruka. This crazy, fucked up situation had made the once smiling man tired, stressed and… grownup. College students shouldn’t be able to warm a bottle much less be able to feed a baby and complete their homework at the same time.

And Naruto wasn’t going away. Kakashi understood that and at night when he lay in bed listening to the baby’s gentle breathing, he knew that he had made the right decision. Naruto was his now. They were a unit, a family, but was it fair to ask Iruka to join him? Did the brunette really understand what he was giving up staying with Kakashi? Had he even wanted children? They had never had that conversation and Kakashi almost laughed aloud when he realized that before the accident, he would have gave a resounding ‘no’ to the question and instead doted on his godson for the rest of his life. Funny how things had a way of changing without a moment’s notice.

Iruka yawned, his arms lifting high above his head revealing a sliver of toned skin before the dark blue t-shirt fell back down.

“I’m done.” He said, smiling up at Kakashi, “Thank goodness. Do you need me to take him again? Were you able to finish?”

“Iruka, I think maybe you should find someone else.”

The brown haired man, who had started pushing himself up off the couch, fell back against the cushions, blinking in confusion. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”

“When we met you had no idea that you would end up like this. This isn’t what you signed up for. You’re nineteen years old. It’s Friday night and instead of being out partying or just being with friends, you finished your homework and fed a baby.”

“Oh, I see.” Iruka said, “And if Minato and Kushina hadn’t died,” he noticed that Kakashi winced at their names, but pressed on, “What would we be doing then, do you think?”

Kakashi shrugged and looked at the floor.

“We would be at their house. Not some damn party. When the hell did we ever go to any parties? And chances are I would have fed Naruto and you would have burped him when I finished. Show me the difference.”

“Damn Iruka, stopped being obtuse. You know what I’m getting at. The difference is we would have gone home, leaving Naruto behind. They would have changed him, rocked him and gotten up with him twice a night. We would have been home and asleep after I ravaged you into exhaustion. Shit, wouldn’t you like to be with someone who can guarantee uninterrupted sex at least once a week?”

Iruka stood up and started pacing, “What I would like is to be with someone who recognizes that I can make my own decisions based on deep contemplation about what is best for me and those I care about, taking all factors into account. And I have to ask? What exactly do you think I ‘signed up for’ when we got together?” Iruka’s voice was dangerously low and Kakashi ignored it.

“How the hell would I know? But I’m damn sure it didn’t include playing house with me!”

Iruka’s eyes widened and he shook his head. Kakashi watched as the young brunette walked slowly toward him and reached up removing the now sleeping baby from his arms. Iruka gently laid the baby on the couch and turned to face Kakashi. The silver haired man eyed him warily. He’d never seen such a blank look on the young man’s normally expressive face.

Iruka walked back over to the taller man and sighed. Kakashi reached a hand out of touch the man, offer him comfort, when Iruka pulled back his right fist and punched Kakashi squarely in his face sending the shocked man tumbling backward.

“Kakashi Hatake, I love you and I recognize that you might be a little overwhelmed about our current situation but if you ever… EVER say something like that to me again, I will not be held responsible for my actions.”

Kakashi sat up slowly, blinking. Suddenly, Iruka was above him holding Naruto in his arms.

“And since we are ‘playing house’, asshole, you get the couch.”

Iruka strolled to the bedroom and slammed the door.

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“Dobe.” Naruto’s face pulled into a pout and he stirred briefly before falling still.

He tried again, “Idiot.”

“S’uke. Shhhh…” The blonde man said sleepily and nuzzled against Sasuke’s thigh. Parts of Sasuke’s body that he hadn’t thought about since the forest came roaring to the forefront of his mind and his pants. He dark head fell back against the wall and he thought of Gai-sensei naked.

And just like that, the situation was under control.

“Dobe, get up!” More nuzzling and gentle purring. Sasuke did not have time for this. Looking down the hall he saw Detective Morino still talking on the phone, a serious look crossing his scarred features. Across the hall, two guards stood quietly and then there was the discussion with his father…

Armageddon was upon them, dammit, and so Sasuke shoved the sleeping man off his lap.

Naruto blinked sleepy blue eyes up at the ceiling trying to remember where he was. Suddenly Sasuke’s smirking face was above him.

“What the hell, teme?” He said pushing himself up slowly. Sasuke extended his hand helping the blonde to his feet. Naruto ran a hand over his sleepy face and then looked around, the day’s events slowly coming back to him until he felt he might fall down once more. He opened his mouth to ask about his parents when he noticed Kiba asleep in an uncomfortable chair and the two men in front of his dad’s door. His face must have given away his confusion because Sasuke touched his shoulder to get his attention.

“Dobe.”

“How long was I asleep? What happened with Kakashi and Iruka? When did he get here? Who the hell are they?” Naruto gushed while wildly pointing his finger at all the things around him.

“Sit down, idiot.”

“I hate you.” Sasuke smirked. The blonde hadn’t hated him two minutes ago.

“Just sit down and I will bring you up to speed.”

Naruto nodded and took a seat next to Sasuke.

“Your parents are both alive.” Sasuke saw Naruto give a relieved sigh, the smallest of smiles curling his lips and Sasuke wished he could just stop right there. “But, Naruto, they are both in a coma. The doctors are not sure when, if or what will happen if they wake up.”

Naruto let his own head fall against the back of the couch. “I- well, okay.” Lids fell over blue eyes and Sasuke felt he had been plunged into darkness. He wondered how one man could hold that much emotion… sadness, happiness, anger and love. But more importantly, he wondered when seeing those emotions swirling in sky blue recesses had become an addiction for him.

“Dobe, there’s more.” Naruto rolled his head to the side, his eyes opening once more to take in the man next to him. Before Sasuke could continue, Naruto’s eyes widened when he heard his name on the lips of a tall, dark suited man down the hallway on the phone.

“Teme.” Naruto said warily. Even he understood that when a bastard he couldn’t be in the same room with just two days ago was his only source of information, his lifeline in the current situation, things had gotten bad.

Sasuke nodded, recognizing the cue to continue.

“Your little friend showed up about two hours ago.” Sasuke’s eyes narrowed, “He didn’t seem happy to see you in my lap.”

Naruto didn’t look at him, his eyes on the man down the hall, “Yeah, well, would Sakura have gotten all gooshy about it had the situation been reversed?”

“Hn.” Sasuke blinked. What? That didn’t give him anything. Didn’t answer anything. Was that an admission of shared feelings? Of simple friendship? And just what the hell did the dobe mean about Sakura? Because eww… just eww.

“Bastard! Why is it that sometimes when I talk to you, you just stare into space?”

Sasuke smirked, “It’s simple. My brain automatically filters out stupidity. You were saying?”

“Bastard!!” Naruto hissed.

“Ah, yes. That’s more like it.” Sasuke and Naruto turned to see Kiba stretch in his chair, “Everything is once again right in the world.” Naruto huffed and Sasuke glared. Kiba just shrugged his shoulders.

“What did I miss?”

“Dad and Papa are both in comas.” Naruto said quietly, blue eyes meeting concerned brown.

“Oh shit. Sunshine, I’m sorry.” Kiba was up in a minute and drew Naruto into his arms.

Sasuke watched the interaction with cool detachment. Naruto leaned into the taller man’s body, resting his head against the tie covered chest. Who the fuck wore dog ties? Where did one even get a dog tie? And holy hell in a hand basket, just how long did they need to touch each other? At what point does a hug become a lover’s embrace? Shit. This was a bloody hospital. PDA’s were probably frowned upon with the comatose patient ten feet away.

So yeah, Sasuke watched with cool detachment.

“Dobe, if you are quite done, there are other developments you should be aware of.” His voice was like ice, hard, cold and the perfect untraceable murder weapon.

Kiba’s eyes widened and he stepped back immediately. Naruto, however, turned to face the bastard slowly and stepped into his space. “It may be that you and I need to talk. You seem… tense, teme.” Naruto reached up and ran his free hand down Sasuke’s chest, seemingly straightening the man’s wrinkled shirt. “Don’t you think?”

Sasuke’s face remained exactly the same, not a muscle moved and his hard, cold eyes bored into the blonde in front of him.

Naruto still smirked, “Yeah, I thought so.”

Kiba just stared trying to decide if he needed to get his hearing checked. It seemed that Naruto and Sasuke had an entire conversation and Kiba hadn’t heard or understood a single word. “What are these other developments, Uchiha?”

Sasuke ignored the shaggy haired man and addressed the man who was still inches away from him, invading his space, “The police don’t think it was an accident, dobe.”

Naruto blinked and tilted his head to the side, golden spikes, still rumpled from sleep, falling limply across his forehead.

“Not an accident.”

“Yes, Mr. Uzumaki,” the deep voice made Naruto turn around and the imposing man in front of him made him step back, right into Sasuke’s chest, pale hands steadying his shoulders. Ibiki smirked while Sasuke glared over Naruto’s blonde head. “We have evidence that shows that someone planned to kill Mr. Hatake and Mr. Umino.”

“But who? Why?”

The detective stared straight at him and Naruto knew he wasn’t going to like the answer.

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It was the knocking that woke Kakashi up. It was rolling off the couch and landing on his face that made him start cursing. But it was the closed door to his bedroom, the bedroom that held Iruka and Naruto, that made him rip the front door open with anger and frustration.

“What!”

A man in a cherry red track suit stood before him, “Are you Kakashi Hatake?”

“Yes.” The silver haired man bit out, “Again, what the hell do you want?”

The man held out a bundle of papers and Kakashi instinctively took them.

“You have been served. Have a nice day.” The man turned and started walking toward the staircase.

“Wait. What is this?” Kakashi said trying to skim the legal documents with his still sleep fogged mind.

“I don’t know. I just deliver them.” The man started to move forward again, but stopped looking at the young kid standing in his doorway in nothing but sleep pants, a frown on his face as he read the documents. “But, kid.” Kakashi’s head snapped up, “I’d get a good lawyer.”

With that the man was gone and Kakashi shut the door quietly.

Iruka was just stepping out of the bedroom with Naruto in his arms when the door shut, “Who was that? Kinda early for visitors.” He moved toward the kitchen, setting Naruto in his swing and moving to prepare the baby a bottle. He turned on the coffee maker and started slicing bagels in halves when he realized that Kakashi hadn’t replied. Iruka silently swore. If he was still on the whole ‘playing house’ thing, Iruka’s hand tightened around the breadknife.

“Kakashi, I…” Iruka stopped because Kakashi had slid down the door and was sitting on the floor, his knees brought up as he read something in his hands, his head moving back and forth, denying what he was reading.

Iruka approached the man slowly, kneeling in front of him, “Hey, what is that?” Iruka said, “What’s the matter?”

Dark gray eyes looked up and Iruka gasped, the normally carefree and sparkling eyes were sad, bleak, and hopeless. “Minato’s uncle is contesting the will and suing me for custody of Naruto.”

For a moment Iruka’s mouth fell open and he just blinked stupidly at the devastated man in front of him.

“I don’t know what… I don’t want to lose him.” Kakashi choked out and Iruka snapped out of his daze and gathered his boyfriend into his arms.

“Shh… you won’t. We won’t. I’ll call Mr. Uchiha. He’ll help us.”

Kakashi nodded, his eyes still closed while Iruka whispered quietly into his ear.

Naruto sat in his swing, sucking several fingers into his mouth, completely unaware that life, as he knew it, was once again in jeopardy.

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“The driver of the vehicle that hit your parents fled the scene.” The detective began and he motioned for everyone to have a seat. Naruto started to take the chair next to Kiba’s, but found that impossible when Sasuke’s grip on his elbow forced him back onto the couch. He sent the taller man an annoyed glare, but black eyes held the detective’s.

“A lot of people flee accident scenes.” Sasuke said coolly and Naruto wondered what he had missed between the two men.

“Yes, Mr. Uchiha, they do. But not many leave duffle bags full of money and pictures of the people they just plowed into with their reinforced SUV.” Naruto couldn’t help but think that Sasuke looked like a kitten compared to this man. A small shiver ran up his spine and he unconsciously scooted closer to the glaring Uchiha.

“So, a hitman?” Sasuke smirked, “I certainly hope they didn’t pay him much. Not exactly professional behavior. Leaving the mark alive and then leaving behind such damning evidence.”

Naruto shifted until he was looking at the black haired man, “The mark? Hitman? Damn, Uchiha. Were you sad when Soprano’s ended? Did you cry?”

“Hn. Do you have a cousin moonlighting as a hired killer, dobe? Stupidity of this magnitude could only come from your family.” Sasuke smirked when Naruto’s face took on a red hue.

“Bastard!” Naruto yelled and moved to jump the man when he was interrupted by Kiba discretely clearing his throat.

“Gentlemen,” Morino began, “If we could leave this lov…”

“Please continue!” Sasuke interrupted, ‘Sorry, Mother,’ and silently prayed the scarred man would leave the sentence unfinished.

“We also have reason to believe that our suspect might be a woman.”

“The nurse.” Sasuke said, nodding his head. That made since.

“The nurse?” Kiba asked looking between the Sasuke and the detective.

“She tried to kill my dad because she didn’t manage it the first time.” Naruto concluded.

“That is one theory. It is also possible that they were two different attempts by two different killers.”

Naruto fisted his hands in his hair and let out a loud sigh, “Okay, so someone wants them dead. Who?”

Morino opened his mouth to answer when the door to Kakashi’s room opened and they watched as the nurses pushed his bed out into the hallway.

“Where are you taking him?” Naruto asked as he stood up to be near his father. Once again, Naruto run gentle fingers through silver hair, “Hey, Dad.”

“He is being moved to a room with Iruka, dobe.” Sasuke smirked at the detective, “More security, less access.”

Naruto closed his eyes, “Do you know who did this?” He whispered.

Morino stepped forward and placed a hand on Naruto’s shoulder, “Truthfully, no, we don’t. Recently however, I was given a potential and promising lead.” Sasuke’s eyes widened, “Go with your parents, son. I’ll update you personally as soon as I know more.”

Naruto nodded and the detective walked over to the guards. After a quick conversation with one of them, he headed down the hall. Naruto looked at Sasuke and Kiba.

“So.”

“Shit, Naruto.” Kiba said coming up and wrapping an arm around the small man’s shoulders.

“Who would do this, Kiba? What could they want? Dad and Papa never hurt anyone.” Naruto said. A nurse interrupted to give Naruto the room information and they watched as the doors of the elevator shut taking Kakashi to his new room.

“You don’t think it has anything to do with…” Naruto said.

“No. That is over.” Kiba immediately responded.

Sasuke’s expression became darker and darker. What the fuck was going on? His father knew something. Dog-boy knew something. The detective knew something. He needed answers.

“Dobe.” He said. Naruto turned around, pulling out of Kiba’s arms before walking toward Sasuke.

“Teme.” Naruto said and came to a stop before the taller man.

“I need to go back to the office.” Sasuke’s black eyes met Kiba’s in the background and the shaggy haired man turned around, walking further down the hall. Sasuke pulled Naruto’s chin up until he could look into blue eyes. “Will you be alright?”

Naruto reached up and grabbed the pale hand, pulling it away from his face, but still held it between them. “This is uncharacteristic of you, Uchiha. I can almost see your feelings showing. Uchihas don’t show those to anyone, you know.”

“Dobe. Some might argue that it is not uncharacteristic when it comes to you.” Sasuke’s thumb drew tender circles on Naruto’s palm.

“No,” Naruto said and closed his eyes, humming contently he said, “I suppose not.”

Sasuke leaned in until his mouth was near Naruto’s ear, “Will you be alright?”

Naruto nodded and felt Sasuke press the smallest, gentlest kiss he could imagine on his temple and then he was gone.

“Come on, Naruto. I’ll take you upstairs. Then I have to head back, too.” Kiba said leading Naruto to the elevator. “Uchiha, the Eldest, has us working our asses off to ensure everything is under control while you’re gone.”

Naruto leaned back against the wall of the elevator and as the doors slid shut he could be heard to say, “Right. Tell me, how is my Dark Master doing?”

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Text Message

To Itachi
From Sasuke

Clear your schedule. I will be there in 30 minutes.

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Text Message

To Sasuke
From Itachi

You aren’t the boss of me. In fact, it’s quite the contrary.

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“Deidara, clear my schedule.”

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Two months had passed and Kakashi couldn’t remember a time when he had felt in control of his own life. The case had been placed on the front burner of the courts with a speed unheard of and the media was back. It really shouldn’t have surprised him. Naruto was Minato Namikaze’s son and since the accident, the human interest alone in the story of a college junior, who became father overnight, spurred the hype to the level of a feeding frenzy. And then there was the fact that Orochimaru Sannin was the plaintiff…

True to his word, Iruka had tucked Kakashi and Naruto back into bed with coffee and a bottle, respectively, and made the call to Fugaku Uchiha. The man had been livid. Iruka was looking into therapy to deal with his horrific memories of the explosion he had witnessed.

The black haired man and a high priced contingency of lawyers had arrived at their door later that afternoon. Orochimaru was contesting nearly the entire will, the distribution of assets, naming of conservatorship and most importantly the guardianship of Minato’s heir. They assured the young men that there was absolutely nothing to worry about but both had their doubts.

Kakashi and Iruka had never met Minato’s uncle. That had mostly been because Minato never talked about him and when he did his face twisted with hatred that frightened everyone who knew the normally bright and carefree man. They knew that Orochimaru had two other living siblings, Jiraiya and Tsunade, but they specialized in being difficult to locate and that was the first thing that Fugaku felt needed to happen. If anyone could stand up to Orochimaru and assure the courts that Minato’s final decisions for his business and child were sound, it would be his aunt and uncle.

The problem was that two months had passed and no one could find them.

After the first month of being in court nearly every day, Kakashi dropped his school schedule. He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t concentrate on learning and homework when he had spent most of the day in the courtroom and nearly the whole night holding Naruto to his chest because he didn’t know if tomorrow would be the day that pale, menacing fingers ripped the baby from his arms.

Iruka felt miserable and useless and it wasn’t long before he too dropped his workload. Kakashi had been livid. He didn’t dare question the brunette’s motives for staying with him, but he did question his decision in regards to his schooling and Iruka spent more than a couple of nights on the couch when he refused to back down to Kakashi’s demands.

Orochimaru’s legal team attacked everything about Minato, his life and his decisions and when they were done with that, they turned their vulture like eyes onto Kakashi. The twenty year old was made to defend his friendship with Minato, his childhood, his sexual orientation and his ability as an effective guardian to an infant.

When he was sitting on the witness stand while lawyer after lawyer asked personal and demeaning question after question, the silver haired young man would curse Minato in his mind. How dare him! How dare he do this to Kakashi. Fuck him for leaving him his son. Fuck him for leaving him this mess. Fuck him for leaving him…

“Mr. Hatake? Are you listening?”

Gray eyes blinked, “I’m sorry, could you please repeat the question?”

“I asked how you plan to ensure that your ward…”

“My son.” Kakashi whispered and gray eyes widened. It was the first time he had thought it, said it… meant it.

“I’m sorry, what did you say?”

“I said,” Kakashi looked up and glared at the pale man sitting to Kakashi’s left, “He is my son! Not my ward, not Minato’s heir. He is my son!”

The court erupted into loud whispers and Kakashi closed his eyes and imagined Naruto in his arms and felt himself relax almost immediately. The baby had finally learned to smile and Kakashi thought he looked like a ray of sunshine. His Sunshine. It was going to be okay because Kakashi wouldn’t allow anyone to take the baby away from him. He was Naruto’s father and Naruto was Minato’s gift, a priceless miracle… Kakashi’s son.

Kakashi’s eyes snapped open and the room fell silent when the heavy, oak doors were thrown open to allow a blonde haired woman and a white haired man to enter.

“Hello, brother.” The woman sneered tossing her long hair behind her shoulder.

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Sasuke entered the building and took the elevator to the fourteenth floor. He strolled directly down the middle of the DMZ and smirked as people stared at him open mouthed. He’d have to leave more often if this was what the ‘triumphant return’ would be like.

“Uchiha.”

Sasuke turned to see Neji standing to his left. The man wore a dark gray suit with nearly invisible black pin stripes. The red tie made Sasuke’s eyebrow lift in question. “So, is this like one of those damn ribbons people wear to support different causes?” Neji’s face remained blank, so Sasuke continued, “And what could yours symbolize, I wonder.”

Sasuke started walking again and Neji fell into step beside him. “Talk to me.”

Neji filled Sasuke in on the developments on both sides of the DMZ by the time he reached the far elevator that would take him to his brother. He stepped into the box and turned to look at Neji.

“Perhaps the red tie stands for friendship. You seem oddly knowledgeable on both sides. But I wonder… who, oh dear, I mean ‘what’ could the red stand for?”

Sasuke smirked and pressed the button to close the doors. He saw Neji’s eyes widen before the door slid closed.

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Kakashi and the rest of the courtroom could hear Orochimaru’s growl at seeing his ‘dear’ siblings.

Jiraiya met Kakashi’s eyes and gave him a bright smile, “Hey, kid. We would have been here sooner, but would you believe that with every turn we took something seemed to prevent us from coming or contacting you in anyway.” Jiraiya turned to Orochimaru, the smile still present on his face, but his voice was the temperature of ice, “Odd coincidence I would say.”

Orochimaru’s face twisted into a smile, a newbie reporter nearly had to excuse herself to the bathroom, “All that matters, brother, is that you are here now.”

“Excuse me?!”

All eyes turned to the presiding judge, “I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind allowing this court to continue with the case at hand? Perhaps you can continue this touching family reunion on your own time?”

“Of course, your honor. Please forgive us.”

One of Kakashi’s lawyers asked for a recess so that they could collect the new witnesses’ depositions. The judge agreed and Kakashi found himself in a back room with his head pressed against Tsunade’s ample bosom.

“Let the boy go, Tsunade.” Jiraiya said flinging himself into a leather backed chair. “Kid, we are so sorry we couldn’t get here sooner. He received the news of Minato and Kushina’s death and tried to get here for the funeral, but, like I said in the courtroom, somehow it wasn’t nearly as simple as jumping the next plane. We had… visitors… that prevented direct travel.”

Kakashi nodded, honestly, he didn’t care. They were here now and the lawyers began firing questions. The young man laid his head against the table and listened with half an ear until the door swung open and Fugaku and Mikoto Uchiha came into the room. The older man was pushing a stroller and Kakashi was shocked when he noticed not one, but two babies in the basket.

“Iruka thought you could use a visit. We had to do something to trick the media, plus, that snake bastard,” Mikoto blushed, “Sorry, Mr. Sannin, shouldn’t know Naruto is here.”

Kakashi stood up and walked toward the stroller. Looking in he saw his Sunshine cuddled up to a dark haired baby who had his pale hand lying against Naruto’s scarred cheek. Both babies were asleep and had the slightest smiles on their tiny mouths.

“I don’t want to wake them,” Kakashi whispered, trailing a finger over Naruto’s golden whisps of hair before doing the same to Sasuke’s thick midnight tresses. “They are so different.”

“Aren’t they?!” Mikoto exclaimed standing next to the young man, one of her hands rubbing his back in comfort. “Like the sun and the moon. At first, I don’t think they liked each other much. Naruto gooed happily and Sasuke just stared at him. But then Itachi stole Naruto’s pacifier and Sasuke hasn’t let me take Naruto from his side since. They can hardly move and yet they seem to be next to each other every time I turn my back.” Mikoto giggled, “I took pictures!”

“Kakashi.” He forced his eyes from the sleeping babies and saw that the room’s occupants had stood, “It’s time.”

With one last brush against Naruto’s face, Kakashi stood and left the room.

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Itachi was at his desk when Sasuke entered his office. Sasuke nodded and instead of taking a seat walked directly to the small bar located in the corner. Grabbing a shallow glass he turned and held it up to his brother in silent question.

“Hn.”

Sasuke smirked and filled a second glass. Making his way toward his brother, he placed Itachi’s glass on the desk and made himself comfortable.

“So,” Itachi drawled, “How was camp?”

“So,” Sasuke smirked, “Fuck you.”

“I do so enjoy these chats of ours.” Itachi laughed. Itachi watched as Sasuke smiled into his glass before his eyes grew cold and by the time they reconnected, the Uchiha mask was firmly in place. Itachi internally wondered if he was proud or disappointed. Such was the curse of the Uchihas.

“I need your help,” Sasuke said making Itachi’s eyes widen. “What do you know about Uzumaki? How does Father know him? Why does Father care? Itachi, the man called me this morning and I got the strangest feeling that he,” Another hefty sip of golden liquid, “Cared.”

Itachi couldn’t deny that a shiver ran up his back. “I see.”

“Someone tried to kill Naruto’s parents this morning. Hatake twice. A detective was there and Father demanded that I hand the phone to him. Later the detective let slip that he had received a potential tip. I think that tip came from Father. Fuck, Itachi. What the hell is going on?”

Sasuke ran a hand through his hair. Itachi looked at his brother for a long time before leaning forward, picking up his own drink. “Is there more to this, little brother?”

“In what way, big brother?”

Itachi shrugged, “You seem awfully concerned.”

“Of course I’m concerned. He is a vice president for this company. We need him here, doing his job.” Even to Sasuke it sounded weak, “And why the hell aren’t you concerned? He is one of your minions, is he not?”

“Yes. He is. And because of that, I am concerned. That still doesn’t explain your feelings,” Sasuke made to interrupt but Itachi held up a pale hand, “But for now, I am going to let that pass.”

Itachi opened his middle desk door and pulled out a file, not oblivious to the déjà vu he was feeling. He tossed it across the desk and Sasuke immediately opened it.

“Fuck, don’t let the dobe see this. We’ll never see him again.”

Another file slid across the desk and Sasuke opened it as well, “What is this? Why would you do this?”

Itachi locked eyes with his brother, “I didn’t. Father did.”

“Father collected information on Uzumaki and myself… and you?” Itachi nodded.

“Yes, but I didn’t inherit my own. Just those two.”

Setting his own file aside, he flipped through Naruto’s. Pictures of a blonde baby with his biological parents, of a bandaged Naruto in a hospital and playing in the park with two men he knew to be his guardians, filled the first several pages. Typed information told everything about the boy. Weight, height, allergies. Pale fingers stopped when he came across a picture of a three children. The oldest he knew to be his brother. The five year old was smirking down at two babies. The black haired baby was him. He lay on his small tummy, propped up on his little elbows looking down on a smaller, nearly bald baby with soft scatterings of blonde hair dusting his crown and a small smile curving scarred cheeks.

“I don’t understand.” Sasuke mumbled.

“Father and Minato Namikaze were best friends since their freshman year at college. In fact, Minato was my honorary godfather.”

Sasuke’s eyes held his brothers, “Then why didn’t we know Naruto?” Sasuke flipped through the folder looking for more pictures of himself in Naruto’s life.

“You won’t find any.” Itachi said standing. The dark haired man walked over to the bar and retrieved the entire decanter of alcohol. “I don’t know what happened. Naruto was involved in a custody battle when he was three months old and after that our family moved and we never saw him again.” He refilled both of their glasses, “But Father kept close watch on Naruto. You’ll see that he also provided financial assistance as well. Did you know that my light haired minion played the cello?”

Sasuke nodded absently while continuing to flip through the pages, desperately trying to fit this piece of radical information into the puzzle.

Itachi sat in his chair and twirled it until he was looking out the glass windows. “Imagine, Sasuke. Imagine having the resources of the Uchiha name without the burden of the name itself.”

Sasuke froze and considered the comment. Yes, the dobe was lucky… without thought, Sasuke flipped to a page that held the death announcement of Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki and on the opposite page held the smiling faces of the only parents Naruto remembered, two men currently hanging to life by a thread. No, his luck had come at a heavy price. One no one should have to pay.

Itachi turned again and looked at Sasuke. “Father documented everything. Your file covers everyday of your life. Every hurt, triumph and mundane detail. Naruto’s does as well. Except for a month and a half when he was five. In that time, there’s nothing.”

Sasuke listened intently while his brother continued, “After the ‘break’ in information, Father liquidated everything that Namikaze owned and Hatake and Umino moved with Naruto here, although they never made contact with us.”

“What happened?”

Itachi shrugged, but held his hand out for the file. Sasuke passed it willingly and Itachi flipped through looking for something.

“This is the family before the ‘break’,” A picture of Naruto and his parents smiled up at him. Naruto was… adorable. He held on to Hatake and waved at the camera. Umino sat beside them, his hand upon Naruto’s head. “And this is after the break.” This picture still held the small family, but the brown haired man looked haunted. Naruto’s silver haired father held tightly onto the boy in his arms, almost desperately. And Naruto… Sasuke’s breath caught. The light was gone.

Sasuke opened his mouth but a knock sounded on the door and Deidara stuck his head in the door, “Please forgive my interruption, but there is a situation in the DMZ.”

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Tsunade and Jiraiya had been questioned and cross-examined several times before the prosecution closed their case. Kakashi sat in the courtroom waiting for the judge to come back with the verdict. Iruka was in the courtroom today and although he couldn’t see him, Kakashi could feel him and breathed easier for it.

“All rise for the Honorable Judge Watanabe.”

The judge entered the room and asked for everyone to sit down. Kakashi tried to listen to what the man was saying about families and dying wishes and whatever the hell else the bespectacled man waned on about, but he couldn’t focus. He just wanted the end. The verdict. He just wanted his son.

“… rule in favor of the defendant, Kakashi Hatake.”

The courtroom erupted around him and he felt his hand being shook and saw people smile at him, but it wasn’t until Iruka’s arms wrapped around his middle that sound came back to him. He looked down into watery, brown eyes, “Let’s go home to our son, ‘Kashi.”

Kakashi took his first satisfying breath in over two months and nodded, pulling Iruka behind him toward the doors.

“This isn’t over.” The words were hissed in his ear and Kakashi turned quickly, only to see the long, black hair swished behind him as Orochimaru walked away.

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Naruto sat in a chair between both of his fathers. Iruka’s face was almost unrecognizable. The doctors had explained that he had been on the side that the SUV hit and that the bruising would fade in no time. Naruto smirked sadly. They could tell him when his Papa would look better but not when he would be better… awake and god willing, normal.

He ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t understand what’s going on, guys.” His voice almost echoed in the quiet room, but Naruto needed to break the silence.

“I don’t know who would do this to you. Or why.” Naruto laughed, “And all that aside. Can you believe that I’m pushing aside the attempt on your lives… I’m having some… issues. Tequila Sunrise type issues. Damn teme. Who’s going to help me with that?” Naruto didn’t even know it was coming until the sob escaped his throat. “I can’t do this alone. I don’t want to. I need you. Please, Dad… Papa, please don’t let me be alone. I can’t be alone!”

Naruto stood and walked to the window, taking deep breaths to control himself. When he felt that control, he walked toward the two beds and placed kisses on his fathers’ foreheads. “Hey, I need to go for a little walk. I’ll be back. I love you.”

Naruto exited the room and headed toward the stairwell. He didn’t notice when one of the guards silently followed him.

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The elevator doors opened and Itachi and Sasuke stepped onto the fourteenth floor. They could hear raised voices and followed them until they saw several workers and all the duckies standing in a circle.

“What is going on?” Sasuke snapped. He still had so many questions… someone had better be dead!

“Why hello, boss.” Sakura said and several people back away a bit at her sugary tone that could only denoted disaster, “The funniest thing just happened.”

“Hn.” The circle opened and Itachi and Sasuke saw Sasuke’s secretary passed out on the floor.

“Yes, Uchiha,” Gaara said, face blank as he stared at the woman, “It seems the hospital called. They are concerned about your fiancé and request that you come and get him.”

“Apparently, the news of your engagement was too much for her to handle. Troublesome, really.”

No one spoke and Sasuke had stopped breathing.

“Now, little brother, this is exactly what I was referring to when I asked if there was anything ‘more’ you would like to share.”

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