Covert Affairs Chapter 3

Chapter 3

With the single beacon of light emitting from the flashlight, Sasuke and Naruto ran through the darkness. Their footfalls echoing heavily in the city's sewer system, promising to wake any spirits who dwelled within the sludge filled waters beneath their feet. Mist rose from the depths, wrapping itself around the two men like a suffocating blanket; its tendrils reaching into their noses, and pushing into their eyes in efforts to slow them down. Water filled their shoes at an alarming rate, weighing them down and making running all the more difficult.

A single squeak of a rat, the plopping sound of a stone falling into the water, all led Naruto to believe that their enemies were closing in. He sidled up closer to the Uchiha, seeking refuge from the one person whom he truly believed in…and who also happened to carry a firearm.

Stilling upon reaching a fork, Sasuke pressed himself close to the slime covered brick wall, motioning for the blonde to stay quiet beside him. Together, they strained their ears, trying to pick up any trace of their enemies.

There was nothing.

No dull light rays in the distance.

No splashing or pounding footfalls behind them.

Nothing.

Expelling a large amount of cooped up air in relief, Sasuke leaned down, resting his palms against the soaked fabric of his pants as he took in a deep breath.

Which proved to be a bad idea.

The putrid odor of decaying carcasses and garbage assailed his nasal passages, making him cough violently.

"Hey," Naruto whispered, "You okay?"

Sasuke threw the blonde an angry look between coughs, then motioned for the younger man to step closer. When the blonde was in striking range, the Uchiha slapped the back of his head hard.

"What did-" cough, "I say, damn it!"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head, trying to ease the throbbing, "What do you mean?"

Finally regaining his breath, the Uchiha straightened up, sticking his firearm into the pocket of his pants before turning to glare at his charge. "I said run, and what did you do?"

Growing angry at being accused unjustly, Naruto thrust his finger at the ANBU officer, "I was trying to do the right thing, unlike you!"

"Unlike me?" Sasuke repeated, baffled. "Listen, moron. I just risked my damn life trying to save your ungrateful ass!"

"My ass is grateful!" Naruto shot back, "But I couldn't leave Gaara behind! He's my friend!"

"Idiot!" Sasuke spat, reaching out his hand he grabbed the blonde by his thick navy collar. "What do you think is going to happen to your friend now? Do you honestly think they'll just let this go?"

Naruto stayed silent, blue eyes filled with unspoken animosity.

"Who knows what they'll do to him now because you brazenly thought you could save him!"

"I could have saved him, if you helped me!"

"Wrong!" Sasuke thrust his finger into the other man's chest, livid. "You couldn't have! We were severely outnumbered and outgunned!"

"I could have carried him," Naruto hissed, his voice falling down an octave. "I could have taken him with us if you would have just given me a mi –"

"Unbelievable," Sasuke shook his head, cutting the blonde off. "You wanted to carry him? Did you think your plan through at all? Carrying him would have made the two of you a bull's eye! Hell, even a poor shot could stick a bullet in you!"

"I'm strong!"

"Doesn't matter!" Sasuke fired, "It would've still caused you to lag behind! They would have shot the two of you! Not only would I have then failed my mission, but I'd most likely would've lost my life for my troubles! Is any of this getting through that thick skull of yours?"

"SHUT UP!"

Glaring, the Uchiha grit his teeth. The scorching flames of anger tugged at his insides, tempting him to grab the blonde and punch that ungrateful mug until it became unrecognizable. Shaking his head agitatedly, Sasuke attempted to push down the rage he felt and replace it with a flimsy mask of indifference.

"Do you know where we are?" He finally asked, schooling his features.

Naruto frowned, lifting his head he began to take in their surroundings. Shadows danced in the light of the flashlight. Pipes and other metal tubes twisted and turned their way upwards, climbing towards the ceiling then coming to loop back down like a bothersome pot of ivy. To the right, a wall of brick sat crumbling into the murky current.

Unable to recognize anything from his previous ventures in the sewers, Naruto shook his head.

"Great," Sasuke muttered.

Digging amongst his assortment of pockets, Sasuke pulled out his cell phone, praying that he'd get a signal in order to contact Kakashi. If anything, his senior agent would be able to guide them out of the maze by using the tracking chip in his cell. Pulling out the slightly damp phone, Sasuke flipped it open and cursed.

No signal.

No surprise there.

"Alright," he grumbled, "What we need to do now, is try and find me a signal. My team will be able to lock on our location and get us out."

Naruto nodded his head in understanding.

"Hn," shinning his flashlight towards the left, Sasuke wrinkled his nose. "Well, I guess that's a good direction if any. Come on."

"I'm sorry."

Stopping, the Uchiha turned around, his eyes taking in the dejected appearance of the blonde man.

"I'm sorry," Naruto repeated, "For not listening to you and making trouble. I know you meant well."

Feeling somewhat uncomfortable now, Sasuke shifted his stance. "Hn."

"I just really didn't want to leave him," Naruto spoke quietly, "It doesn't feel right."

"We'll get him out too," Sasuke attempted to reassure the blonde, his previous anger slowly subsiding. "We won't leave him there."

"Promise?" Naruto looked up, eyes as blue as sapphires locked with stones of onyx, weaving a connection between the two men.

"I promise," Sasuke nodded.

Smiling, Naruto stepped towards the ANBU officer and placed his hand gently on the other's shoulder. "You never told me your name, bastard."

Sasuke smirked, his respect for the blonde man slowly increasing.

Naruto knew when to move on.

That was good.

"It's Sasuke Uchiha."

"Sasuke Uchiha," Naruto tested the name, "It's okay."

Raising a brow at that, the Uchiha crossed his arms, "Okay? What do you mean by okay?"

"Geez," Naruto smirked, eyes glowing mischievously, "A little touchy about our name I see."

"Hn."

"Bastard," the blonde wrinkled his nose disagreeably, "Quit grunting at me. It's okay when we're having sex but otherwise, it's just plain weird."

The ANBU officer nearly tripped over his own feet, "What?"

"Stop grunting."

"You're really strange."

"And you're not?"

"No."

"Ha," Naruto threw his head back with a laugh. "Bullshit."

"Excuse me?" The Uchiha said as he headed towards his left, all the while glancing at his cell phone to see if he'd caught a signal.

"How long have you been an agent?" Naruto asked, changing the topic as they continued on.

"The ANBU selected me when I was sixteen," Sasuke sighed wearily, shinning his flashlight at a decaying rat carcass, he wrinkled his nose. "I trained for two years while finishing high school. Then upon graduating, I entered the ANBU academy...and was trained to participate in classified missions. When I turned twenty-one I joined my team and have been working with them ever since."

"So how old are you now?"

"Turned twenty-four this summer."

"Cool," Naruto grinned, "I'll be turning twenty-four in three weeks."

"I know," Sasuke smirked, shining his flashlight at an unidentifiable black mass to his left. "I've read your profile."

"Oh."

"Hn."

Naruto's eye twitched, "You're a bastard, you know that?"

"I try."

"Ass."

"Idiot."

Fuming, Naruto crossed his arms, "Fag."

"Takes one to know one."

Opening his mouth to retort, Naruto realized he had no comeback to parry with. Frowning, he grumbled lowly under his breath and decided to follow the Uchiha in complete silence.

Quietly the two men made their way down the slowly thinning passage. In efforts to catch a signal, Sasuke walked with his phone outstretched before him.

After a grueling fifteen minutes of walking, with only the echo of their footfalls as comfort, the tunnel they had chosen to follow slowly began to rise.

Wiping the accumulating sweat from his brow, Sasuke pushed forward.

"Have you gotten a signal yet?" Naruto asked from behind.

"You think we'd still be here if I had?"

"Touché."

Tiptoeing around a crumbling walkway, Sasuke grunted, lifting his phone over his head to see if there was a signal to be caught; the ceiling overhead has gradually lifted higher as they walked, increasing Sasuke's hope at catching a signal. With a mumbled prayer, Sasuke pressed a key to light up his screen and waited. To his immeasurable delight, the LED screen brightened.

He had managed to capture one measly bar.

"Dobe!"

Perking up, Naruto hurried over to where the Uchiha stood staring up at his phone.

"I got a bar!"

"Great!"

"Shit."

Naruto winced, "That doesn't sound good."

"That's because it isn't," Sasuke sighed, looking at his cell at eye level. "As soon as I bring the phone to my ear I lose the signal."

Anxiety began to bubble within the blonde like a spring. Swallowing thickly, he peered over Sasuke's shoulder, gazing with large blue eyes at the screen. "What now?"

Furrowing his brow, Sasuke proceeded to think.

There had to be a way he could make a call from here.

There had to be…

"Dobe," he said suddenly, "Get down on all fours."

Naruto lifted an eyebrow dubiously, "What?"

"Get down." Sasuke repeated, growing incensed. "I'll stand on your back and make the call."

"Like hell you will," the blonde stuffed his hands into his pockets and stared crossly at the raven haired man, "There's rat shit and god knows what else down there."

"Do you want to stay down here forever?" Sasuke asked in a low growl.

Faltering, Naruto crossed his arms as he stared at the ground. Taking in the many unidentifiable substances, he shivered. "I could get Malaria."

"You could also get my foot up your ass."

"Bastard."

"Moron."

"Asshole."

"Dobe," Sasuke gritted his teeth, trying to keep calm. "Just get down on the damned floor and let me do my job!"

"Why can't you get down on the floor and I make the call?"Naruto countered.

"Because they will not respond to you unless they hear my voice!"

"God, I hate you."

"Likewise."

Resisting the urge to punch the good for nothing Uchiha in the face, Naruto clenched his teeth and got down on his knees. The smell of the stagnant water was even fouler up close. Cringing, the blonde reluctantly lowered his palms to the slime covered asphalt. Muttering an array of curses under his breath, he looked up at the Uchiha.

"You need an invitation, bastard?"

"Hn."

Coming over to the side, Sasuke carefully stepped onto the younger man's back. Using the brick wall as a support, he lifted his other leg onto the blonde's back and stood straight. A few pushes on the keypad had the phone ringing. Smiling in victory, Sasuke held the phone to his ear and waited.

Kakashi picked up on the second ring.

"Where the hell are you, Sasuke?"

"Good question," the Uchiha said, "I was hoping you could tell me."

In the background he could hear Kakashi yell, commanding Shino to put a trace on his cell phone. Below him, Sasuke heard Naruto mutter another profane curse.

"We got a lock on your location," Kakashi said into the phone, "There should be a sewer cap five hundred yards west of you."

Sasuke directed his flashlight to the west, letting the beacon of light illuminate the path. Unable to spot any other sources of light, the Uchiha frowned. "You sure, Kakashi?"

"Yes," the older man responded, "You have Naruto Namikaze with you?"

"Affirmative," Sasuke nodded, "He's right here."

"Good," Kakashi sighed, "We'll be right by you in roughly ten minutes."

Understanding, Sasuke said his goodbye before shutting the cellular device closed. Putting it into his pocket, he stepped off Naruto's back and motioned for the blonde to follow him.

Gritting his teeth, Naruto stood, brushing his dirtied hands against the back of his pants. "A thanks would be appreciated."

"Hn."

"Fucker."

"Thank you," Sasuke grumbled, grabbing Naruto by the sleeve of his shirt and pulling him forwards. "Now can you please just stick close?"

"Fine ,fine," Naruto rolled his eyes, stuffing his hands into his pockets while continuing to rub them against the fabric in order to 'degermify' them.

Picking up the pace, Sasuke headed quickly in the direction Kakashi had instructed. The damp and smell was already becoming a thing of the past as he stepped over a dead cat.

Just a little further…

A few steps more…

Naruto spotted it first even though he was behind the Uchiha. "There it is!"

Shining his flashlight in the direction Naruto was pointing, Sasuke sighed in relief. There was the sewer cap…along with rungs trailing upwards on the wastewater ladder.

"Alright," pulling his gun out, Sasuke rushed over to the rust covered iron rungs. "I'll go first, just in case the men from the club are waiting in ambush above."

Naruto nodded, watching as Sasuke took hold of the rung and began to climb upwards. He shivered, hoping to god that none of the men for the club were waiting for him up there on the street.

There was no way he was going to go back there…they'd have to kill him first.

A whistle from above caught his attention, causing Naruto to look up to see Sasuke's face peering down at him from the street. Apparently the ANBU officer was a fast climber.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto took hold of the rough metal rung and pulled himself up. Not even daring to think of the possible worst case scenarios.

Leaning down to grab the blonde's hand, Sasuke pulled Naruto up onto the street.

"Fresh air!" Naruto moaned, taking in a deep breath, "How I missed you!"

Rolling his eyes, Sasuke smirked, "Yeah."

At that moment, a van turned the corner. The two looked up, watching as it hurriedly rushed towards them, skidding to a stop barely a foot away from them.

Sasuke hurriedly got to his feet, pulling the blonde up with him as Kakashi pushed open the door and stepped out. From within the van Sasuke could already see Sakura's worried face.

"Hurry," Kakashi hissed, "No need to outstay our welcome."

"We were welcome?" Sasuke scoffed as he stepped into the van behind Naruto.

Once inside, Kakashi ordered Shino to drive back to base immediately as Sakura began accessing the cuts and bruises on both men.

"Whore house," Sasuke said once Sakura had stopped buzzing around him, "They were selling young men to the highest bidder for a night."

Kakashi scowled, "Did you recognize anyone there?"

"A few faces," Sasuke nodded.

"You have to get Gaara out!" Naruto butted in as Sakura poured antiseptic over his palms, "You promised!"

The silver haired man looked at the Uchiha questioningly.

With a sigh, Sasuke leaned back against the wall of the van, his leg brushing against Kiba who was busy typing up a report detailing the points of their mission. "There were a few men being sold, one of them happened to be his friend, Gaara."

"His name is Gaara Subaku," Naruto added, "He's been there almost as long as I have."

"I see," Kakashi nodded, "I'll be sure to let the Director know."

Heaving a sigh of relief, Naruto leaned back against the wall of the van and let Sakura continue disinfecting his hands. His eyes traveled across the large surveillance equipment, taking in the assortment of cameras and headgear. As his head turned, he came to stare at the hunched man driving the vehicle. Curious, he nudged Sakura with his foot in an attempt to get her attention.

"Who is that?" He motioned to the driver.

Sakura looked up and peered in the direction Naruto gestured. She smiled, pulling the latex gloves from her hands and tossing them into a disposable bin on her right.

"That's Shino Aburame."

"He seems kind of creepy," Naruto whispered as he continued to stare.

"That's because he is."

The blonde bristled in his seat, feeling an unpleasant shiver run down his spine.

"Over there with the red tats on his cheeks is Kiba Inuzuka."

Hearing his name, Kiba looked up and gave a slight wave.

"Why do you have those?" Naruto touched his own cheeks subconsciously.

Kiba grinned, closing his laptop and moving closer to the blue eyed blonde. Once situated beside him, he rolled up the sleeve of his ANBU uniform and flexed his muscle. "To intimidate when these weaklings need some extra muscle."

"Hn."

"What was that, Uchiha?" Kiba grinned, showing off a perfectly ferocious set of teeth. "Speak up, I don't speak grunt."

Naruto snickered beside him as Sasuke furrowed his brow in annoyance.

"You wish, Inuzuka." Sasuke retorted, broad back flush against the rolling van.

"Yeah, yeah," Kiba rolled his eyes, turning his attention back to the new guy. "So, what was it like there…at the club?"

"Hell," Naruto didn't even blink.

"Oh," Kiba winced, "Stupid question."

Sasuke snorted from his side of the van, "You think?"

Wordlessly, Kiba lifted his hand and showed Sasuke the finger before focusing his attention back on the blonde.

"So," the brunette licked his lips, "Can you read and stuff?"

Naruto smiled, "Yeah…I can also do math. Pretty much everything you can do, I can do better."

"I doubt that," Kiba laughed, "I had to pass a bunch of ass ripping exams to get where I am."

The blonde shrugged, "I had a private tutor and waay to much time on my hands."

Kakashi frowned, brow creasing. "Private tutor?"

"Yeah," the blonde shrugged, "The big guy who ran the whole show wanted me to learn, so I did."

"Just you?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto nodded.

"Strange."

"I hate him though," Naruto's eyes darkened. His hands turning to fists by his sides as memories replayed in his mind's eye.

"I think that would be a normal response," Sakura said as she moved around the van, putting bottles back in their rightful places. "You did suffer under his hands for no good reason."

"That's not why though," Naruto spoke raggedly, "It's because he was the one wh –"

The sound of Kakashi's ringtone startled the blonde. His eyes lost that daunting look of hatred as curiosity took over.

Reaching into his pant pocket, Kakashi pulled his phone out and flipped it open, placing it by his ear. "Hatake."

"Kakashi," Director Tsunade's voice boomed over the line, "Get Sasuke and Minato's son off grid immediately."

The whole crew within the van froze, all except for Shino, who had perked up from behind the wheel. Sitting straight in his seat, he had both ears on high alert.

"What happened?" Kakashi asked. Standing, he hurried over to the computer deck, powering on the system.

"We don't have much time, Kakashi," Tsunade's authoritative voice shook. "There's a mole amongst us."

Kakashi stiffened, "What?"

"Get them off grid right now!"