A/N: Hey guys. I'm really sorry for this epically late update. School takes up the majority of my time so I've been writing a little here and there whenever I get the chance. I'm somewhat of perfectionist (even though I never seem to get it perfect lol) so as much as I wrote, it did not seem right to me and I had to rewrite to ensure that dialogue matched characters and the atmosphere of the setting. To be honest, I'm never fully happy with each chapter I finish. I always want to add more or wonder if I over exaggerated certain things. I can confidently say though that this story is very close to its climax and has two or three more chapters left. Surely, I'll finish it before Christmas so that I'll put your guys out of the torturous waiting. xD Thanks for the wait and hope you enjoy this chapter. And I greatly appreciate all the reviews! Love you guys :*

WARNING: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS EXPLICIT LANGUAGE AND TRIGGERING TOPICS SUCH AS VIOLENCE, TORTURE AND GORE. PLEASE DON'T CONTINUE READING IF YOU ARE SENSITIVE TO SUCH THINGS.

Chapter Thirteen

The aura surrounding Sasuke crackled and rolled with uncontrolled murderous intent. Though he hid it well behind a wall of blank nothingness. Those who did not know him well would never know that he was just one tiny step from putting a hole into anything that moved. He was wound up tighter than a coiled snake and the intense emotions flowing through him did not quite fully register. Through all that though, he had one -only one- goal in mind and even if he had to kill every single person in Japan, it would be accomplished. Obligations, duties, plans – all that meant jack shit to him now. What he needed now was to see blood. He had been going about this the wrong way from the start. It was time to throw away what little humanity he had left.

Ignoring the pathetic police officer which attempted to stop him, he barged into the office of the Police Commissioner. Although he was not in his right mind, he had enough sense to only bring Jurou with him and leave his firearms in the car. The hefty man was startled out of shoving a donut down his throat as he looked up to find his worst nightmare at his office door. His round face began to turn red in indignation.

"Get out!" Mu shouted at the police officer who stuttered excuses for failing to do his job. He was probably going to get fired.

As soon as the door closed behind the two of them, Mu stood to his feet, shoving his chair back before stalking towards them.

"How dare you come into my office like this? In front of everyone! How am I supposed to explain this to the top brass when they come asking?" the man exclaimed.

Uchiha's face was well known so it was a bit hard to cover this up for what it really was- a yakuza paying a friendly visit to a law enforcer.

"You figure something out. I want Hidan," the raven said stonily, his eyes frigid. He had given him up into police custody but now he needed him back. He needed certain answers without any doubts. At this point, he could not handle it.

The pudgy man shifted his gaze to Jurou before quickly bring it back to Uchiha with an empty chuckle. "He's joking, right?"

The stare which landed on him was heavy and shook him to the bone. He took a step back in fear.

"Do I look like I'm joking?" His deep voice was monotonous. His patience was wearing thin.

"Uchiha, do you know what you are doing? Hidan's already been booked into the system. We already made a report to the public that we had captured an Akatsuki member. We can't just give him to you. More importantly, the operation is fucking tomorrow. Just what the fuck are you doing?" the aged man hissed.

"We can do this the easy way but I'm more inclined to the hard way. Say your next words carefully." Sasuke said threateningly, his eyes going somewhat unfocused.

"Uchiha, you have threatened my position by coming here. Now you're threatening me? You've fucking lost you mind. Get out before I have you ar-"

His words were cut off when Jurou rushed forward, grabbing him by his neck and swinging him unto the table. Papers scattered to the floor as a tense silence descended. The man's eyes open widely as he watched the yakuza sub-head casually put on his gloves. Full-blown fright choked his lungs as he finally took a good look at the other. He had not noticed it before but the suit that the raven wore was crumpled, his hair dishevelled as if he had ran his hands through his hair one too many times. He had also mistaken the look in those obsidian eyes for passive emotionlessness. Those eyes danced with a half-crazed gleam he had never seen before and it was downright frightening.

"Arrest me? Mr. Commissioner, you don't seem to understand your position very well. It seems a reminder is in order," he murmured softly and dangerously as he took a step forward.

"Wait, wait!" The man squealed out through his limited air supply. "I'll give him to you!" A man with absolutely no backbone.

A minute lapsed where no one moved or breathed. Uchiha took on a mildly contemplative look then he made a slight gesture to Jurou. The bodyguard released him, straightening out his suit as he walked back to his boss' side.

"Good. You can have one of your men bring him to me or you can do it yourself. I'll be waiting with a car in the alley."

The man slowly sat up, clutching at his sweaty neck. "You do realize that you have just attacked me. You have just jeopardized the entire mission. I'll report you to Kimikaze, you crazy son of a bitch. Then, I'll have you arrested. When you are behind bars, I would like to see how much arrogance is left."

He was just like a dog, barking and never learning from past mistakes.

"Mr. Police Commissioner, it seems you don't realize the position you are in. You are corrupt and rolling in dirty money. One word to the right person is all it would take to kick you out of office and discredit your integrity. All you need to do is keep your head low and bark when we tell you to. Your place is way down in the food chain; it would do you well to remember your place. If I killed you now, with a few calls, it would be swept under the rug. That's the funny thing about power. It makes one untouchable and you," Uchiha passed a contemptible eye over the other, "are far from that. You have five minutes."

He exited the office with the silent words of death echoing behind him.

Hidan was brought to him, handcuffed and severely limping by the Commissioner himself. Obviously, he was trying to salvage what little he could from this situation. However, Uchiha suspected that half the police force probably knew he was dirty. Mu continued to mutter about how he had sabotaged him and what he was supposed to do when their only suspect was gone. Frankly, Uchiha could not give two fucks outside his agenda. Besides, if he followed through with what he was going to do, the man did not have to worry about the Akatsuki anymore. The downside might have been that all of the members would be handed to him in body bags.

Not in the mood to deal with the Akatsuki member's bullshit, he immediately slammed his head against the car, knocking him out, then shoved him in the trunk. Soon, Jurou was on his way to a random remote location in Kyoto. Secrecy was not important at this point. In fact, nothing else really mattered after he got that fucking phone call from one of his men. He felt disappointed at their incompetence which led him into the state he was now. He did not think himself cold for not caring that Mira was in critical condition in the hospital or that two of his men were dead. They had all let him down. They had one job to do and they had failed. His dobe was now in their hands. The only men he trusted himself to be around now were his trusted few which included Jurou, Masashi, Ichiro and a few others. It would look bad if he began shooting his own men, wouldn't it?

He did not have the luxury to stop and regret what happened. He needed to think and act. Akatsuki was a ruthless group and he had no idea what they would do to the man he claimed as his own. No, he could not think about it or he felt as if he might breakdown. He squashed the stifling emotions down and calculated his moves step by step. That was the only way he was going to get through this; the only way he would solve this problem with his mind intact. Ignoring the tenth call from Ryuu, he forcibly emptied his mind. He was stepping fully into this dog fight against Akatsuki. Two could play dirty at this game.

XOXO XOXO

Chains clattered around noisily around his feet as he adjusted his tied up position on the ground, adding to the excruciating pain in his head. The blonde had woken up moments ago, agony permeating every inch of his body; but it mostly concentrated in his head and legs, his left in particular. This was a state he was finding himself in quite frequently in recent times and it did not set him into a panic as it would have done months ago. The darkness and silence around him stole his sense of time and reality. However, he did not allow the pseudo peace to lull him into a sense of security. Naruto knew he was as deep in shit as he would ever be. He'd been kidnapped by Akatsuki, a group filled with ruthless, insane killers with no logical purpose.

With a huff, he tested the strength of the rope immobilizing his arms behind his back for the umpteenth time. A useless action, he knew, but he did it to keep his mind out of treading into hopeless thoughts even as the chain around his ankles and the dark, most likely secure room told him the blatant truth. He rolled unto his stomach when his arm started cramping from lying on his side too long. Several times he wondered about his fate but then blanked his mind. There was really no need to think about it because he knew. He goddamn knew…

Time, an abstract concept, slipped by as he blankly stared into the darkness. Sometimes he slipped into a restless doze when he felt the pain in head became too much to tough through. A sound of movement startled him out of his daze-like trance into alertness. A tiny sensation of fear slithered into the recess of his calm mind. A suffocating feeling filled his throat and he forced himself into a state of tranquillity. It did not make much sense to freak out before anything really began to happen. He huffed out a heavy breath and stared blindly ahead of him.

Akatsuki had kidnapped him to get leverage on Uchiha. God, he hoped nothing happened to the raven. His heart clenched to think that he would be the reason any harm came to the man. He'd come to love him so much that he would choose his life over his own any day. Naruto only hoped that emotions would not cause the yakuza to act stupidly. A soft chuckle escaped him. Of course that would not happen. No matter how much rage consumed Sasuke, his intelligence would not allow him to make foolish mistakes that would add regret unto his dark record. That was one thing they had in common. No regrets. Well, damn, he was going to break that now, wasn't he? Of course, it was not by any fault of his.

Against his wishes, the things he wanted to do before his life came to an end flashed across his mind. They were not grand wishes like travelling to Paris or acquiring a humble house close to the sea or even having a child of his own. It was the simple things that he had taken for granted. He had not made up with Shikamaru for running off without telling him shit, like usual. He realized how he treated his friends like strangers even when he contrarily told them that they were family. Oh how he wished he had a little more time to tell them how much he appreciated them. His dad was another person he had neglected even though he loved him to pieces. The blond could not recall the last time he had a family night out and actually spent time with the old man. He regretted not telling Sasuke seriously how much he had fucking fallen head over heels for him; words would not have been enough, he had to show it to him for him to understand that his heart was no longer his. Suddenly that one night where they had joined several times was not enough.

His eyes burned as a painful lump formed at the base of his throat. What the fuck had he been doing with his life? He wished he had caressed his lover's ivory skin a little more; he wished he had not been so indecisive so they would have gotten to spend more time in each other's company. He wished he had not been so afraid of himself to whisper that the hazy lustful spell he was under in the beginning was so much different now, so much more gratifying than he ever thought it would be. His only comforting thought was that at least his seemingly last words to the bastard were his real feelings even if they were not said with the feeling and passion he really felt.

Naruto chuckled wryly. He'd miss his bastard of a boss too. Clenching his fist together, he ground his forehead to the dusty ground. He squeezed his eyes shut, not allowing one tear to escape. He would show no weakness to the monsters who snuffed the life away from his good friend and threatened to continue to do the same to the people dearest to him. He would meet them with steady eyes and if he got the chance, he would take another one of the fuckers to hell with him. He held no illusions that he might be rescued. It was not that he did not think that Sasuke was searching for him. He probably was wreaking havoc through the streets of Japan. However, just like he believed in Uchiha's wrath and dangerous persistence, he also believed in Akatsuki's ruthlessness and madness. After every action, lives were lost. He seriously doubted that he would be an exception. He hoped that when Sasuke found him, his would be one of the last lives given up in vain for a mad man's whims.

Suddenly a metal door swung open, creaking loudly with age and rust. It cut through his thoughts and increased the steady thumping in his head. Bright light flooded into the room and it took minutes for his squinting eyes to adjust to the differing light setting.

"Hello, blondie!" a voice cheerful called. "I hope you're awake. It's time for playtime. I hope you don't mind. We want you to join us."

Naruto refused to release a groan as his headache intensified with the noise. In fact, he refused to satisfy them with a response of any kind. He laid on the ground limply and closed his eyes, hoping they had not seen it open.

"Oh no, Sasori. Do you think he still might be asleep?" the familiar voice continued. He recognized it as blond man that had kidnapped him personally.

Footsteps started towards him. In the next minute, pain shot through his left leg as someone stomped on it. Naruto jerked and released a pained grunt through his clenched teeth.

"Seems not, Deidara," a new voice said so coldly that it sent involuntary shivers down his spine. The man closest to him added pressure to his leg by putting his full weight unto the damaged limb.

Naruto allowed heavy breaths to escape his lips as he tried to regulate how he reacted to the odd but excruciating sensation of his abused leg. Yep, his leg was definitely broken. Squinting up at his torturer, he recognized the short redhead with the patch over his left eye as the man who had accompanied the blond and had beaten up Mira. He jerked his leg with another laboured grunt from under the man's shoe and shifted his body swiftly to sink his teeth into his attacker's right leg, biting down hard. It was his intention to separate some flesh but he had little hope in doing so with the protection of the soft pants. However, it satisfied him immensely when he heard a hiss of pain before a kick sent him reeling backwards and his consciousness fizzing out.

The next time he regained awareness, he was lying flat on his back on a cold metal surface, his hands strapped immovably at his sides just like his legs. The agony in his head made it impossible for him to open his eyes. Shaking his head slightly did nothing to relieve the disorienting feeling he had. Another blow to his head just might put him out of this nightmare for good.

"Seems like the little fucker is awake," his abuser, he believed his name was Sasori, said nonchalantly over to the side somewhere.

A giggle followed his voice. "Blondie is quite rabid like a dog. Bad luck that you weren't doped up on the drugs, huh." This was most likely Deidara.

"Tch."

"Well, it is playtime so you'll get to pay back the little blondie. Leader gave us free rein for an hour." A squeal sounded and hands clapped together lightly. The glee behind that action was terrifying.

Naruto swallowed the rising bile. He cleared his throat twice before he tried to speak. He might as well try to sort of understand the crazy fucks before he was no longer in his right mind.

"What was the point of kidnapping me?"

There was a tiny moment of silence that seemed as loud as it was long.

"Uh, I believe it was done so that the Leader could get his hands on the Uchiha bastard," Deidara said uncertainly.

"What do you want with him so badly?" Naruto questioned again. He was finding it hard to draw a connection between the leader of Akatsuki trying to get Sasuke to declaring war against the Kimikaze group and killing innocent people. Yeah, it seemed pointless to try to rationalize the actions of insane people but he needed some semblance of logic so it will keep his bubbling terror under control.

"Not us. The Leader wants to fuck him," the other voice said crudely.

Blond eyebrows scrunched together over his closed eyes. What?

"Yeah, don't know what the boss sees in that prick but he wants him badly. He's upset because the Kimikaze's head laid hands on what was his and now you," the blonde companion added, clicking around and resting what sounded like tools on another metal surface.

Sasuke had been sleeping with the head of the clan? Wait. That was not important. The past was the past. He believed in the bastard to know that he would not fuck around while he was with him. What shocked him was that this entire mess and chaos was because of a man wanting to get his hands on another man. Lives were lost senselessly because a man did not understand he could not always get everything in life. The pointlessness of it all almost made him burst out in laughter. He hoped with every fibre of his being that the sick leader of this terrorist group would never get to lay his disgusting hands on his lover. Someone like that needed to die a slow painful death which lasted over a period of at least a year.

Wheels creaked noisily as a cart filled with clanking instruments was pushed to his side. Naruto clenched his hands into fists. He did not bother to open his eyes. There was no need to actually view his surroundings to know what was coming.

"Okay, so I'm ready!" The blonde said eagerly with a little giggle. "Sasori, are you ready?"

"Hn."

"Little blondie, are you ready?"

His nails bit into his skin of his palm.

"Now, now. Don't be a spoil sport. You have to answer. It takes two to play a game," Deidara chided lightly, swatting his shoulder playfully.

Naruto felt sick all over again. He purposefully blanked his mind.

"Aww, Sasori, he wouldn't play along. Even after we answered his questions and all." If Naruto's eyes were open, he knew he would have seen a pout on the other blonde's face.

"Why does it matter? What do you want to start with first?" the monotonous voice said.

"Hmmm, let's start with the most delicious part set out right in front of us," the other cooed, running a finger down the captive's chest.

"I agree," Sasori said, some kind of emotion slipping into his voice that the young secretary was not sure he wanted to identify.

Suddenly, he felt the material of his shirt being shredded and torn off him. He steeled himself as a blast of cold air hit his now exposed torso.

"Oh, he's perfect. He's not overly muscled but just right. Look at his golden stomach. It looks so perfect to do some art upon, right?"

Naruto no longer kept track of who said what. He tensed as he felt a cold metal lightly dragged over his stomach. Just as the pressure increased slightly, one of then told the other to wait.

"Just like sex, we need foreplay." The statement was said in earnest as if it was a life motto that had to be upheld at any cost.

"Oh-hohoho, I almost forgot."

A moment of quietness passed through the room before something was being stuck to different parts of his chest and upper stomach. He heard the flip of a switch seconds before his body jerked upwards and cramped painfully as courses of electricity ran through him. The skin beneath whatever they had stuck on him felt hot and soon it as if it was burning through his skin. He involuntary thrashed against the hard surface in pain as shock after shock coursed through him. His restrained limbs only made his movements more agonizing. He felt his toes and fingers clench so tightly, it hurt. He forced himself not to say a thing as his jaw clenched shut. Just as he felt his heart start to ache in his chest, the electricity ceased. He jerked with the aftereffects of the shock. Tremors ran through his body along with a deep seeping pain. He tasted the familiar metallic taste of blood in his mouth. He had bitten down on his tongue during the process. Heavily breathing in air to compensate for his loss of oxygen, he pulled in the disgusting scent of burnt flesh.

Within his chest, he felt his heart spasm so erratically for a few more seconds that he thought it would give out. He almost hoped that it did.

"Oh ho, not bad." A voice said above him, impressed.

The pounding in his head threatened to knock him out but it was a fucking tease.

Another voice squealed in delight. "Now we can start!"

Naruto did not even have time to catch his breath before a hot blade pierced into his right side. Burning flesh filled the air. Choking down his scream, the bounded blonde clenched his hands tighter yet, digging into his already abused flesh.

"Hmm, I have the perfect words to describe our blondie here!"

More agony flooded his senses when a sharp instrument was dragged deeply across his stomach in what he was certain were letters. He ground his head down against the surface of metal table as his limbs spasmed with the effort to free themselves to remove the things that were causing him gut-wrenching pain.

"Seeing you try so hard not to scream only makes me feel more motivated. I really want to take out my anger on your man whore for fucking up my eye, but you'll do just fine," a hot breath whispered against his ears. Naruto could not quite stop the shudder of disgust that ran through him.

"Okay, time to really get you singing like a lark." A cheery chuckle sounded.

Something whirred ominously to his right.

"Open your eyes if you don't want me to slice off your eyelids. It would be a shame too."

Naruto was still disoriented from the excruciating sensation summating to form an ungodly sensation that he did not think a human was meant to live through. Why could he not fall unconscious? When will this stop? Surely, an hour had passed.

"Open your fucking eyes!" Sasori's voice shouted, shocking him into following his command.

Bright light assaulted his eyes as his breath came out in shuddering gasps. Everything hurt.

"Oh, look what you did to your hands! Poor baby. Sasori, we should do something." Deidara said sympathetically said at his left side as he tried to straighten his fingers curled into a fist.

Cerulean eyes widened slightly as he watched in well-hidden horror as the redhead rested a drill back unto a tray before walking to his partner's side.

A glance was spared at his closed limbs before he murmured an, "I agree."

An ominously large serrated knife was picked up and Naruto felt fear and sickness thick on his tongue as he shifted uselessly on the table. Deidara was still trying to get him to open his hands.

"Open your hand," came the short man's order.

With a bravado that Naruto did not know he still possessed, he stared at him defiantly.

"Open your hands otherwise I will cut off your whole hand. It doesn't bother me either way."

Those dead chocolate eyes spoke the volumes of violence barely contained within his small body.

His breathing increased twofold, jolting the injuries on his stomach and sending waves of renewed pain through his system. Trembling, he slowly laid his hands flat against the surface.

"See that was not hard?" Deidara cooed running his fingers through his hair as if he were soothing a child. The supine man resisted the urge to hauck up as much phlegm as he could just to aim it at the offender. "For your good behaviour we will only do one so you'll learn your lesson not to inflict damage unto yourself, alright?"

The blonde at his head looked expectantly at the redhead. Naruto's heart sank as the blade was lined up with his pinkie finger. The breath rushed out of him in quick, short spurts. He raised his eyes to the ceiling as he felt the blade sawing over his finger, breaking the skin. He groaned in pain as heighted anguish registered in his brain. He felt the blade reach his bone and all he could do to prevent himself from screaming outright was to clench his teeth together in a way he was certain would chip some of the enamel.

"Sasori, you're not doing it right. Do it one fell swoop."

"Tch."

Naruto watched as the blade was raised and sharply brought down. It was then impossible for Naruto to contain his vocal outburst of pain. He thrashed wildly against the metal table as intense agony ran up his left hand at what was now definitely missing.

"Oops…" Sasori said emotionlessly.

Tears flowed from his eyes and into hair as he tried not to sputter incoherently, pathetically at his mutilated hand, two fingers absent. He closed his mouth to muffle his screams, trying to control his breathing. His heart thumped loudly in his ears as he felt what was surely blood pool under his hand and soak his jeans.

"Sasori," the other scolded lightly.

The shorter man probably shrugged. "At least we got him to scream."

"True, what would be another good place to cut off?"

Sasori smiled uncharacteristically. Things were getting even more exciting. He walked back over to his side, picking up his drill.

"We better hurry. We only have ten more minutes."

XOXO XOXO

Sasuke wiped the blood from off his hands with a hand towel handed to him before he carelessly flung it to the floor in disgust. The moon hung full in the darkened sky as he stepped out of the dilapidated building. It was maybe an hour past midnight. The cool air was refreshing after a night saturated with the scent of blood, piss and shit. It had taken too fucking long to break the silver-haired son of a bitch. But nothing could stop someone like him who was on the verge of madness and hungry for blood. The unfamiliar screams in his ears near the ending of their impersonal session was like music to his ears. He had gotten the information he had wanted. Hidan had sung quite beautifully about all their group's secrets after he had sawed off a few appendages and some. Well, the blade halfway through his dick was really what did it but he liked to think that all his efforts in other aspects had contributed to his overall success.

After he had spilled his guts about the leader, fucking Orochimaru, their main hideout where the fucker was sure to be and their sponsors, he had completely lopped off the offending body part just for the heck of it. Dispassionately, he watched as the man curled in on himself, sputtering nonsensical words. Gone was his masochistic inappropriate humour. He had never felt such sadistic delight as he did then. He left him then, knowing that he only had an hour at most with the rate he was bleeding.

His phone rang again. As per usual, he ignored it. His hands twitched with the need to kill. It was time to get his dobe back. Before that, he needed to inlist the help of someone who owed him a favour. Just as he was about to slide into the backseat of his car, wheels echoed over the pitch as a familiar silver car pulled up to his. As much as he wanted to, he could not ignore the person which stepped out of the vehicle.

With a blank face and matching tone, he greeted the unwelcomed guest. "Hatake."

"What the fuck is going on?" All pleasantries were thrown out the window. The older man was pissed. Not that Sasuke had enough sense of give a shit.

"I'm cleaning up the fucking streets once and for all. Don't get in my way." The raven made to resume his task of entering the car.

The grey-haired man power walked up to him and slipped past Jurou with minimal effort. "Your actions have been putting the mission at jeopardy. Mu is kicking up a fuss and wants to back out of the operation. No one in the Kimikaze group knows of your whereabouts and Danzo himself in on the verge of sending out troops to scourge the streets to find you. You are messing up the entire mission that is supposed to happen today. I deserve an explanation. We all do. Taking down Akatsuki is the priority here. Why did you take Hidan from police custody? Fuck, Sasuke. Do you realize the chaos your actions have created?" The older man dragged his hand through his hair roughly.

"The hell I give a fuck. The priority is still the same. However, I'm going after the head. Killing small fry is not going to sate me. I'll fucking burn this entire country down if I have to. Foster father or not, if you stand in my way, I'll gut you down without a twitch of hesitation. Things are now personal. Back the fuck off and go home, Hatake. Your assistance is no longer required."

Kakashi took an involuntary step backwards at the blatant threat directed towards himself. Sasuke's eyes were icily dead. There was no hiding the bloodlust rolling off him in waves. The raven had never directed those eyes at him before. It set off alarm bells in his head. The young man was about to do something stupidly dangerous and there was no one that had the means to stop him. In this state, he doubted that he would even listen to Danzo's orders. What really happened?

Sasuke sat in the car seat and waited for Jurou to close the door.

"Sasuke, whatever you are going to do, please rethink it. Contact Kimikaze. You're going about this wrong. What will Naruto do if some-"Kakashi's voice died off as something clicked in his mind.

The obsidian eyes became colder if that was even possible.

"Jurou," Sasuke murmured, the silent order clear.

The elder man once more prevented the other from leaving. "What happened to Naruto?" His voice was sharp and unforgiving.

The look thrown his way was all he needed to know. He felt as if a breath was knocked out of him, leaving him winded. Uchiha's sudden madness now made sense.

"When?" he asked quietly.

When he was met with silence, he repeated his question with a raised voice. He was livid. There was always a possibility that Naruto would have been dragged into this mess the moment he got involved with Sasuke but he had thought, had trusted, that his son would keep his cute employee safe at all costs. The blonde had been through enough.

"Yesterday evening."

"Jesus fucking Christ," Kakashi breathed out.

"Go home, Hatake. I'll take care of it."

"Like hell you will. You already fucked up. I'm not sitting this one out. Put on your big boy panties and fucking suck it up. Right now you have no right to stop me."

Irritation travelled across the yakuza's face. Things were not exactly going as planned. Though, things usually never did when the man with gravity-defying hair was involved.

"Where are you headed next?"

A long pause of contemplation was given before he responded quietly. There was little to no options on his course of action now. He was rather good at barking ominously at his father-figure. "I'm going to recruit Jinchuuriki. Time to call in what they owe."

Kakashi shook his head with a grim expression. He had suggested it before but now that it actually was going to happen, he felt slightly nervous. Enlisting the help of the darkest group in the underworld was a daunting task. Not many outsiders walked away from an encounter with them unscathed. Wasn't he a lucky fellow that he'd finally be able to put faces to names which he only knew from rumours.

"Let's get a fucking move on it then. Time is not a luxury." Kakashi turned to walk to his car with the intention of following the raven but paused. "Oh Uchiha, the next time you threaten me, I'll acquaint your tongue with my car's lighter."

XOXO XOXO

The car door slammed shut with a loud bang. As Kakashi looked warily at the huge warehouse before him which seemed unoccupied and lifeless, he took out his Browning and swiftly checked his magazine to see that everything was okay should they need any harsh counter-measures. The yakuza, who had just stepped out of his own vehicle, threw a dispassionate glance in his direction then turned to take a handful of meaningful strides towards the entrance of the building.

The building was a plain one, nothing significant set it apart from any other warehouse. The outer walls were a dull grey, splattered with mould and peeling paint here and there. The roof was also a grey that showed much signs of rusting. The only thing that looked partially presentable was the door that seemed heavy set and was made of a high quality metal. There were huge bolts holding the door in place with padlocks and locks as big as a man's fist. There was no doubt in the two men's mind that any other entrances were treated with any less security.

"You will not need that," Uchiha said dryly referring to Hatake's armed hand. Jurou faithfully shuffled to his side even though there was no real threat present. Jinchuuriki had definitely ensured that security was airtight.

Kakashi didn't even bother to glance at his son. "I will be the judge of that."

The men reached the door in only a few seconds but those seconds were overflowing with tension and caution. Well, at least on Kakashi's part. With one hand casually in pocket, the raven gave two swift knocks on the door. There was a series of knocks in reply to which Sasuke answered with a patterned series himself. The gray-haired man raised an eyebrow indicating how unimpressed he was by the 'secret code'. The other gave a soft grunt of irritation and focused on the door that was opening with a low rumbling heaviness. Protection at its highest. Standing in the doorway was a huge strapping man with white hair braided in cornrows down the back of his head. Shades obscured his eyes from view, hiding anything that indicated a sliver of danger. He was dark skinned and stood intimidating for anyone other than the pair in front of him.

A gruff voice ground out a greeting, "Yo, Uchiha. I see you've finally found your ass here. Sabaku is waiting in the back. Yugito will escort you."

Without even a look at the brunette woman beside the man, Sasuke proceeded to follow through with the instructions.

However, the guard-like man spoke once more. "Hey Uchiha, if I were you I would tell your companion to put away his gun. All of us here are on friendly terms… for now. It just seems a bad idea to have his gun out. The type of people here, with low tempers and very much trigger happy, will jump at anything they deem as antagonism just for the fun of having something to kill. Although Sabaku tries to keep everyone on a leash, accidents sometimes happen." A grin broke out on the man's face that held anything but innocence. It was a sign of the bloodlust inside of him. He too was one of the people who begged for an opportunity of have something to kill. They were just like rabid dogs.

Before the tension could manifest into something out of hand, the woman called Yugito spoke, "Killer B, pipe down, will you. Don't start anything that you would regret later. We owe Uchiha-san a favour. Should any harm come to him or his companions while in our care, it is sure to warrant Sabaku having our heads. Behave. Uchiha-san please follow me."

Uchiha gave Kakashi a jaded look. He did not have time to deal with this bullshit. It took four minutes of petulant staring before the older man finally holstered his gun. Ignoring the almost disappointed look on Killer B's face, the trio followed the brunette as she led them through corridors that all looked the same, black tiled floors and off-white walls. The door they stopped in front of was held no distinguishing features from the rest. Perhaps, this was another type of security. The woman stood in front of the door for a few moments then she opened the door as if by a silent command. After allowing them to enter, Yugito re-closed the door, enveloping the men in a blanket of darkness. The woman had remained outside.

With clear impatience, Sasuke drawled testily, "Isn't this a bit too much?"

A grunting sound was heard before the room was flooded with light. The room was lightly furnished. No, that was an understatement. The room only had a grand desk and a chair behind it which was occupied by the man who they were to deal with. There was not even a plant to take away from the bleakness and plain dark colours of the space. Typical.

"You really haven't changed much. The least you could have done was put chairs for guests to sit in while conversing with you." Sasuke took to leaning languidly on the nearby wall.

The red-head looked at him blankly, giving none of his thoughts away. When he spoke, his voice was as deep as it was monotone. His eyes was the only thing that gave away how deadly and dangerous he was when he was silent. "This is a unique situation. You know that most of my business transactions are done outside of this office and requires a little more than pens and papers." There was a slight crinkling around his darkly circled eyes indicating his amusement at his underlying implication.

"True. But it is the thought and courtesy that counts."

"Besides trying to indoctrinate me, shouldn't we be discussing the means by which we are to return your favour?" Sabaku leant forward a bit, resting his elbows on his desk.

"I've already sent you the information on Akatsukiso you should know all about their activities since introducing themselves a while back." There was a nod of affirmation. "The reason I want your help is because I need skilled men that could put an end to this mess swiftly and as quietly as possible. Akatsuki's bullshit has gone on long enough." Sasuke paused darkly as he tightly reined in his slipping mask.

"Their actions have truly begun to affect our businesses as well. For once, our interests align. What's the plan? Whatever it is I'll go along with it as long as I get to spill as much blood as I can." His sea-green took on an intense quality.

"It's simple. We hit their main base in Okinawa then slaughter everyone. Their boss should be there too. That's the only fucker I call dibs on. I want to mutilate that unfortunate son of a bitch myself."

Teal eyes sat contemplatively upon him for a minute. "Hmm. Okinawa? How did you find out?"

"Got it from one of the members pretty high up in the group. With the methods I used, the info is quite reliable."

"I see." Another round of silence floated through the bare room.

"Do you find any fault in the plan?"

"No. It sounds quite straight forward. We need to straighten out a few details but that's almost inconsequential. We can go through it quickly while you prepare whoever else is going with you… if there are going to be more people, that is." His gaze ran over the other two in the room. Nothing revealed what the redhead was thinking.

"Do we leave from here?" The raven asked in a tone that was almost bored.

"That will be ideal, Uchiha." Gaara drawled in return. "Let's aim for no more than twenty men. More might draw more attention than necessary. We'll leave here in three hours after we've all gathered then head to Osaka. Okinawa is fucking far so we'll have to take our plane." A slender finger tapped the surface of the desk and he mentally worked through the details. "We should be in the fuckers' territory by next nightfall."

The raven nodded. He quite liked the sound of that. He turned to Jurou and quietly ordered him to call his personal team and direct them to this location. He also gave him a list of ammunition he needed to pick up for them. With a respectful bow, his bodyguard agilely stepped out of the room to get started on his tasks.

Kakashi blew out a heavy breath. There were some things he needed to prepare too if he was going to be walking into what was surely to be a warzone. He told Sasuke as such and briskly exited the room while simultaneously fishing his phone from his pocket.

"Don't you dare leave without me, Uchiha." The silver haired man threw over his shoulder.

The yakuza stared after him, expertly keeping the frown that desperately wanted to form off his face. He would really prefer if the old man sat this one out. When everything went to shit, it would be each man for themselves. He had hoped that Hatake would die of old age rather than an untimely gun fight that really had nothing to do with him. He knew the other would say otherwise though. Truly, he felt as if he were years older; closer to Kakashi's age than his own.

"So are you going to tell me the real reason you've come to me rather than rally up your own men for this attack?"

A dark eyebrow raised in feigned ignorance.

"Don't fuck with me, Uchiha. Your mask has been slipping since you entered this room."

"It's none of your business."

"So you'd rather we all go in blind without the real objective I'm certain you have?"

The raven shifted against the wall, studying the person in front of him. Sabaku was not the person one personally gave up one's weakness to.

"It's something that I'll handle myself…" was all he was willing to give.

"Hoh?" Teal eyes drifted along his desk in front of his intertwined fingers. "It would not have to do with the blond young man you've become involved with recently, would it?"

Sasuke tensed immediately, suddenly wishing he had followed Kakashi's lead in bringing his Exterminator. He slackened his posture and casually glanced around the office for potential weapons should things really start going south.

"Relax, Uchiha." Gaara released a small breathy sound that might have been a laugh. "Don't start thinking of ways to kill me just yet. It was a harmless statement and a fact that just about anyone with influence in the underworld knows. Come on, your relationship is hardly a secret. Seeing as how we're allied now and neutral at worst during other times, we present no harm to your lover. I just want to know the entirety of the situation."

When all the yakuza did was continue his eerily disquieting observation, he continued, "By your silence then, I can assume that this is as much of a rescue mission as it is one of annihilation."

The conversation continued its one-sidedness once more. Just when the Jinchuuriki leader had given up getting something substantial from the raven, the latter spoke.

"I can't look at my men properly without wanting to put a bullet in their heads for a failure that, if I could think straight, was not their fault at all. I just feel half-crazed with rage, I'm barely thinking logically. But I feel the most anger towards myself." Uchiha slowly crouched down to the floor. Resting an elbow on his knee, he shielded his eyes as he allowed his innermost emotions that conflicted him since yesterday to manifest in the way his brows frowned deeply and his jaw clenched together harshly.

"I let him get taken," he ground out. "Fuck."

Sabaku kept his gaze downwards. He did not think the proud man's momentary lapse in emotions was anything but private and deserved his discretion. It was a moment he could indulge in without the constant gaze of the men who followed him.

A few minutes lapsed before Gaara added in an unusually soft tone which he hoped would lessen the blow of his frank words. "As time continues to pass, I have to say, the chances of your lover being alive lessens drastically. If you do succeed, you will not get him back the same way you last saw him."

The yakuza's hand fell from his face to hang limply over his knee. His eyes wandered blindly, wearily along the opal smooth floor. "I know… I only need him to be alive."

Please tell me what you thought about the chapter if you can :D