The Replacement
Thirteen: An Altering Decision
"Mornin' Sasuke." Ino said, entering the kitchen and scratching her head. After the night she had with the alcohol, she hardly cared that her hair was bunched in all directions and that the shirt that she borrowed had stains on it from drool.
"Good morning." he said, his head on the table and his hand resting next to his coffee. Ino looked at him pathetically.
"Whoa, you look worse than I do, and that's an accomplishment."
"I didn't sleep."
"What was keeping you up?" she asked, pouring herself a cup of coffee.
"Thinking."
"About what?"
"Itachi asked me to do something." he said, yawning and pulling his head up to sip his cold drink.
". . . And?"
"I have to cheat on Naruto."
"What?!"
"My uncle has this male lover, and Itachi's idea was for me to, quote, "take him away" from my uncle."
"Why would you do that?!"
"To semi-blackmail him and make him step down from his position as Head. I'll give back his lover once he gives up the position."
"And why don't you tell Naruto?"
"If I told you I had to cheat on you because I'm trying to gain control over my family, would you be happy about it?"
"Well, no, but it's better than him finding out later!"
"That's what I thought, but then I kept wondering what if he never found out?"
"What do you mean?"
"Like I did with you when I was with Sakura. She never found out until after we broke up."
"But that was different!" Ino retorted. "She wasn't living with you, and you didn't like her!"
"But that doesn't mean that I can't do it."
"I wouldn't. It's too much of a hassle."
"What would you do then?"
"I wouldn't do any of it. Just tell your uncle that you'll expose him if he doesn't relinquish his position and that you have blackmail."
"Then I'm stooping to his level and blackmailing!" he said, rubbing his eyes.
"Weren't you doing that before?"
"No, it's more like an exchange. I get what I want, and he gets his fuck-buddy back."
"How do you plan on doing that?"
"Keeping this kid tied around my little finger." Sasuke said, his head dropping back on the table. "I wouldn't be surprised if he's stupid. It'll make things easier if he is."
"But what about Naruto?!"
"What?"
"Are you going to tell him or not?" she asked, glaring.
"I don't want to." he said, sighing. "I don't want to tell him that I'm being selfish."
"Well, it's either that or let him find out afterward what you did."
"IF he finds out." Sasuke said, looking up at Ino. "That's the little word that's been keeping me up all night."
"Then fuck the "if" and say the rest!!" she said. Sasuke's head fell against the table again.
"Don't say that, Ino. Not like that."
"Screw the if?"
"Worse, actually." he said, sitting up right and rubbing his face. "Shit, I don't know what else to do. He's got the Uchiha side all blackmailed, and their dirty little secrets are far worse than his. They won't listen to me. They're too afraid of him to do it."
"What about Neji's uncle?"
"He's getting more out of the deal than I am."
"Yeah, Hinata started to cry when she thought that she was going to marry you last night."
"Huh?"
"She got drunk and we started talking. She was bawling in the bathroom because she thought that she might have to marry you after this."
"I don't want to marry her."
"I figured, but she was totally convinced."
"I won't let that happen. I'll figure out some way to have the trade balance out." he promised. Ino smiled and drank her coffee. When Sasuke made a promise, he kept it even if he was a bastard about it.
"Fucking shit." someone said by the door. Ino and Sasuke looked up to find a very frayed-looking Neji leaning in the doorway with a phone. "Don't you have a phone down here?"
"That is the phone." Sasuke said. "I left it in the guest room last night."
"Well, it's Hiashi for you. He says he has news."
"Fucking shit." Sasuke said, taking the phone from Neji and sighing. "Hello?"
"Hello, Sasuke? This is Hiashi."
"Yes, Neji said that you had news."
"Well, mainly that I spoke to the head of your family and he seemed to have been informed about your condition."
"Yes, he is."
"And he also implied that you would likely not be in favor with the rest of the family if he let you become the Head of the Uchiha family."
"Yes, he's blackmailed all of the Uchiha side into staying against me. My Uncle wants to keep his position in the family."
"How unfortunate." Hiashi said, frowning on the other side of the line. "Do you have a plan to deal with this?"
"My brother and I are working on one. We have something that may work, but I'm not liking the situation."
"I trust that everything will work out?"
"Hopefully." Sasuke said, sighing. "Have you spoken to anyone outside of the Head?"
"Yes, with your Aunt Karin." he said, lowering his voice. "She said that there was something preventing the Uchihas from electing you as Head, but she wouldn't say what. She implied it was not by choice, and that she would wish to see your uncle die soon."
"That bad?"
"Yes. Of course, being the Uchiha that she is, she used plenty of dodging words."
"I'm sure she did."
"Anyway, I will try and see if the others feel the same way. Your aunt is a very pleasant woman."
'Thank you."
"Since we are on the topic, have you thought about what you would like for our agreement?"
"Not anything suitable yet."
"I trust you will."
"Yes, I'm sure.'
"All right, then I shall leave you to your morning. Please tell Hinata that she should be home before one this afternoon."
"I will relay your message."
"Thank you." he said, and then hung up. Sasuke sat back down and plopped his head and arms on the table.
"So?" Ino said, nosy as ever.
"He just verified that my uncle is blackmailing the family, but he also found out that there are a few people who don't like it."
"Who does?"
"Well, so much so that they wish he would drop dead."
"Whoa, that's a bit much." she said, shocked.
"What message did you need to relay?" Neji asked.
"That Hinata needs to be home before one."
"There's a family thing." he said. "I'm not invited."
"That sucks." the blonde said, getting up and stretching. "Well, I'll leave you boys to your business. I need to shower badly."
"Just don't take Shikamaru with you." Sasuke said. "I don't want Lolita finding cum anywhere." Ino sweatdropped.
"Uh. . .o-okay." she said, laughing nervously. Sasuke's face dropped.
"What did you do?"
"Well you see. . . Shikamaru was really delirious and Kiba came into the room–"
"Don't say another word, I already know what you did." Sasuke said, rubbing his temples. "How bad are the stains?"
"You'd better burn your sheets."
"Lovely."
Once the entire party was gone, Sasuke's head hit the pillow and he was out cold. There was no way that he could go all day and night without some sleep. Naruto didn't disturb him, and instead chose to stay in the parlor and catch up with Gaara. Neither of them had really spoken in a year at least, and both wanted to save the friendship.
"So, how is it with Sasuke?" Gaara asked, quietly picking at a pillow's lint.
"It's going great!" Naruto said, happily. "He's really nice once you get over the fact that he's a bastard sometimes. I think he's just realy stressed out all the time, and he doesn't know how to relax."
"I see." Gaara said, putting the pillow aside. "Have you attempted sex?"
"No, why?"
"I thought that someone like him would want to right away."
"Well, he hasn't really mentioned it. We cuddle a lot, but sex hasn't ever come up."
"You might want to get on that quickly."
"Why?"
"Ino's mouth was running all night, and she said that Sasuke's an insatiable bastard when it comes to sex. She was his mistress for about a year and a half, so she would know."
"Oh." he said, thinking about this. He hadn't ever thought about it before, but now that Gaara mentioned it it seemed almost critical. If there was anything that he learned when he broke up with his last boyfriend, it was that if he wasn't taking care of something in the relationship his partner could and would find someone else to fill that spot. Naruto didn't think that Sasuke would do something like that behind his back, but it was still an issue. Sasuke only needed him for a month or two longer, and if Naruto wasn't providing more physical attention then Sasuke would have nothing interfering him from breaking up with Naruto.
Naruto didn't want to go through another breakup over something like that.
"Maybe you should talk to him." Gaara said. "It wouldn't hurt anyway."
"Yeah, I think that's a good idea." Naruto whispered, not really liking the idea. In all honesty, he didn't really want to have sex. He had only tried the one time with Gaara, and it had obviously ended up badly. If Sasuke was such a seasoned performer, how was he going to feel if Naruto couldn't meet his expectations? Sex was awkward and uncomfortable in his experience, and there was something initially embarrassing about cumming in front of someone else. He didn't want to, but it was better to grow into something rather than loose a perfectly good relationship.
"You okay?" Gaara asked, worried. Naruto perked up immediately, putting on a face for his friend.
"I'm fine. I'll talk to him tonight when we work!" the blonde said, laughing a little. Gaara seemed convinced, and that was enough for Naruto. Gaara's relaxed face game him at least some hope that he could pull this off. He just hoped that this wouldn't be a decision he would regret.
TBC...
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A/N: OMG! NO NOTES!! XD Hope you enjoyed it! Please rate and review!! ALSO, go to hotwaterfics.net. I have more stuff you can read and review there!! ^___^
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