Chapter Eight
Part One
Kakashi was staring at them with complete incredulity, Sasuke silent beside him but he could almost sense his detective’s apprehension. He didn’t speak for a long time, still taken by the panorama before him. “It’s not possible,” he murmured at last, at which Sasuke produced a small stack of papers.
“Further evidence,” he confirmed. “Criminal records as a child. It was hell finding them because they’re under the name of Sabaku Gaara, not Uzumaki, which was his name before he was adopted by Naruto’s father. He was a kid born to Naruto’s mother of another guy and Naruto’s father was kind enough to take him in.”
Kakashi took them almost numbly, skimming through the documentation, his disbelief growing. At one point he shook his head, and finally put them down. “I’m impressed,” he said at last. “I would’ve never...”
“Yeah.” Sasuke smiled incongruously. “I know, Captain, I know, I just feel like such a heel for getting myself into this situation.” He gestured at himself, still in the hospital bed, with barely concealed bitterness.
“Yes,” Kakashi hastened to assure him, “But you’ll be out of here tomorrow, remember?” At the recollection of Kakashi’s words, a light entered Sasuke’s eyes and he nodded. It was over a week since he’d been attacked by Gaara. Since then, he’d worked hard on regaining his strength and clearing Naruto’s name and, with hope, it looked like Naruto’s release was going to be very soon.
His gaze shifted to the projection on the whitewashed wall of the starchy hospital, showing a grainy picture of Gaara, the body of the woman behind him, as he moved around Sasuke. It was a good thing, he thought, he’d brought his little camera phone along and had the intuition to use it, because now he had proof of Naruto’s brother. In addition he had requested criminal records of one Sabaku Gaara at what Naruto had told him; his hunch had been correct. Gaara, as a fourteen-year-old, had stabbed his father in cold blood and laughed as his father died. He was uncontrollable in the institution he’d been placed in for three years and had an unmanageable anger problem. More than often he spent his years there in a drugged stupor. He was released on exceptionally good behavior, the courts having declared him as ‘sane’ enough to present himself back into society as a normal human being.
That was where it stopped - the institution, who regularly checked up on their patients, had lost track of him and his brother, and that was that. Nothing else. How long had Gaara been murdering people? Sasuke knew that Gaara would never be convicted for every crime he’d commited. Some of them would probably not even be pinned on him, and remain unsolved. But still, Sasuke would fight tooth and nail to see this danger to society put away for the rest of his miserable life.
He became aware of the fact he was scowling ferociously and Kakashi was looking at him with raised eyebrows. He looked up and offered the captain a bashful smile. “Just thinking,” he said, and the captain shook his head, returning his gaze to the projection.
“These are amazing,” he said. “We’ll be able to connect Uzumaki to the shirt and the piece we found on Yumato Kurio. He’ll probably confess to the others.”
“Perhaps,” Sasuke murmured, but he wasn’t convinced. In his opinion, getting a confession out of him was going to be like getting blood out of apples. He was going to be arrogant, most likely, he speculated, but sorry and repentive? No. He didn’t think so. Reminded of another matter, he said, “Captain, what about Naruto?”
The use of informal first name wasn’t missed on Kakashi, but he only shrugged. “He’ll be released, of course,” he answered, “Especially in light of these pictures.”
“How soon?” Sasuke said, just barely suppressing the impatience in his voice. Again his boss shrugged.
“I don’t know,” he replied, “But he’ll have to move. The apartment is under official investigation and it may continue to be for well over a year before we convict Gaara Uzumaki and send him to jail. So when Uzumaki-san gets out he’ll have to find another place to live. At least the school is letting him keep his job provided he is cleared of all suspicions, so that won’t be a problem.”
Sasuke nodded, barely listening, a tiny smile on his face.
“Naruto.”
The blonde, lost in thought, didn’t look up. Sasuke scowled and placed his hand over Naruto’s and repeated, “Naruto!”
Startled by the touch, wide, ocean blue eyes blinked up into dark ones and Naruto said, confused, “What?”
Sasuke gestured at the smaller man’s untouched plate. “You haven’t eaten anything,” he half-scolded. “What did they do to you in there, Naruto?”
“What? Nothing! I’m just happy to be out, is all,” Naruto smiled at him, closing his eyes, and Sasuke’s heart warmed up and he grinned good-naturedly back. The small restaurant they
were in wasn’t that crowded for lunch hour, for which Sasuke was happy, and they were alone in the dining area. Naruto had been released that morning, three days after Sasuke checked out of the hospital quite happily, and he’d taken the blonde to lunch for a sort of celebration. Now, he looked at Naruto and noted, not for the first time, the dark circles beneath the tired and rather dead-looking blue eyes. It made Sasuke happy to see him smile, and he could see Naruto’s ghost flitting around in the solemn face, which had grown concerned and guilty-looking. “By the way,” Naruto said softly, staring into the raven-haired detective’s dark orbs, “How is your head?”
Again Sasuke scowled - he had specifically told Kakashi he didn’t want Naruto knowing about Gaara attacking him, but of course the news got to him anyway. The guilt was apparent on Naruto’s sweet face and he knew the teacher blamed himself for what happened. His fingers tightened around the top of Naruto’s hand. “It’s fine,” he said firmly. “Really. Just a small scar.” It was relatively true - although the damage had been rather serious because of the amount of blood he’d lost, he wasn’t that bad to the point of having his head shaved and stitches in.
“I’m sorry,” Naruto muttered, lowering his eyes in a timid manner. “I mean, if only I’d known Gaara...”
“Stop it, Naruto.” Sasuke spoke loudly, firmly, and Naruto’s eyes sprang up to his with surprise, and he even earned a glance from a nearby waitress. He lowered his voice. “This isn’t your fault,” he said. “No matter what. Nothing you did could’ve prevented or caused what your brother did. Listen to me, Naruto,” as the man cast his gaze down, “You have to stop blaming yourself. No one else thinks it’s your fault. We’re going to catch Gaara, we’re gonna prosecute him, and you’ll never see him again.”
“I’ll have to move, won’t I?” Naruto muttered. Sasuke bit his lip.
“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about,” he said. “Naruto... until you do find a place, why don’t you come live with me?”
Again the blue eyes met his, resonating with shock, and the teacher was speechless. “I... can’t,” he said finally. “I’ll be imposing, Sasuke... I just can’t.”
“No, you won’t,” Sasuke hastened to assure him. “I live alone, remember? I need someone around the place. It’ll do me good and you need somewhere to stay. I’m not gonna let you check into some hotel for a month. Please.”
Naruto was silent, undecided, and then he said: “You’re sure I won’t be imposing?”
“Positive,” Sasuke answered.
“Well...” Naruto hesitated. “Okay,” he said finally. “Okay. Thank you, Sasuke.”
Sasuke only smiled, happily, and called for the check.
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Chapter notes: A/N: Sorry for the shortness... but there's a lemon next chapter, so it's worth it. ^^ Review! I need your reviews to fuel me!!!! Anyway, enjoy and review! (For the third time.) SBP